D. Everett Waid

For the linguist, see Daniel Everett.

D. Everett Waid
(1887)
Born	March 31, 1864 Gouverneur, New York
Died	October 31, 1939(1939-10-31) (aged 74–75) Old Greenwich, Connecticut
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Monmouth College
Occupation	Architect
Buildings	Metropolitan Life North Building, New York City; Wellington Building, House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Projects	Architect to the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church; Mount McGregor Sanitarium, Wilton, New York

Dan Everett Waid (1864–1939) was a prominent 20th-century architect operating primarily in Illinois and New York. As chief architect for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (New York City), he and his partner designed the Home Office Building at 11 Madison Avenue along with dozens of other commercial, religious, residential and academic structures. He was appointed architect for the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church. He was also president of the American Institute of Architects (1924–1926).^[1]

Early life

Waid was born in Gouverneur, New York, on March 31, 1864. At the age of 14, his family moved to Monmouth, Illinois, and after high school, he studied architecture at Monmouth College.^[2]

Waid graduated from Monmouth College in Illinois in 1887. The son of a dentist, he began his career as a bookkeeper at the site of the construction of a large grain elevator at Dubuque, Iowa, where he gained knowledge of practical construction methods.

Career

In 1888, he moved to Chicago, securing a position as a draftsman in the office of prominent architects Jenney & Mundie, where he rose to the position of head draftsman.

The Library of the Medical Society of the County of Kings was designed in Ionic Greek Revival style by Waid and built in 1897. (Photo from 1903)

In 1894, after taking a course at The Art Institute of Chicago, he became an independent architect. Shortly thereafter, Waid submitted two designs for buildings at Monmouth College (Illinois). Having moved to New York City by 1898, Waid and an associate submitted the winning design in a competition for the Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, New York where they acted as their own draftsmen and specification writers. When that job was completed, they opened a small office on Fifth Avenue in New York City and were also appointed architect for the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church, which had offices in the same building. This led to his design of hospitals in Alaska and Puerto Rico as well as schools in the western United States and Cuba.^[2]

During World War I, Waid served as deputy director of production and as one of the executives of the organization of architects that designed and built housing structures for some twenty-five shipbuilding yards.^[3]

Monmouth College Auditorium designed by Waid and built in 1897. (Engraving, Old English Chapel/Gothic Revival)

Waid's career reached its pinnacle when he became chief architect for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and designed, with his business partner Harvey Wiley Corbett, the Home Office Building at 11 Madison Avenue and now known as the Metropolitan Life North Building. Originally planned to be the tallest building in the world at 100 stories, it was a victim of the depression and was capped off at 29 floors. In stark contrast with his early work, the modern office building would eschew, "extraneous ornament or embellishment which has not a rational meaning and practical use" and that it would be "unhampered by archaeological precedent."^[4]

He was president of the New York state Board of Examiners and Registration of Architects from 1915 until 1923.^[1]

The Umbria, built 1910–1911 in the Italian Renaissance style; Northwest Corner West End Avenue and 82nd Street, New York City

Elevations for Competition Design for U.S. Post Office in the Ionic Greek Revival style, New Haven, Connecticut submitted by Waid (1913, not built)

Waid was also a consulting architect for the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center in New York City.^[5] He also was involved with the B.F. Goodrich Company buildings in Manhattan.^[6]

Later life, awards and philanthropy

Waid was president of the American Institute of Architects from 1924 to 1926^[7] and was elevated to a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He was awarded a gold medal by the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Mount McGregor Sanitarium built largely in the American Craftsman style, Wilton, New York

He endowed a fine arts department at Monmouth College in memory of his first wife Eva Clark Waid (January 1869 – June 1929). He also donated $80,000 towards a new gymnasium that his firm was designing and then topped off that gift with another $10,000 to build the Waid Swimming Pool in that building. At the time of his death, the Waids were the largest donors in the history of the college.

He married a second time, to Phyllis Fellowes Colmore, a British subject, on Feb. 2, 1934 but had no children from either marriage.^[3]

Waid died on October 31, 1939, at Old Greenwich, Connecticut.^[1] He left $300,000 to the American Institute of Architects.^[2]

The Beaux-Arts style Wellington Building designed by Waid in 1924. It is now occupied the Canadian House of Commons in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Projects

Among the many buildings Waid designed were:

• Girl's Mutual Benefit Club, Chicago (1892, Richardsonian Romanesque)
• Monmouth College Auditorium & Gymnasium, Monmouth, Illinois (1895, Richardsonian Romanesque, not built)
• Monmouth College Auditorium & Chapel, Monmouth, Illinois (designed 1895 built 1897, Old English Chapel/Gothic Revival)^[8]
• Fifth Presbyterian Church, Chicago (1896, Gothic Revival)
• Free Public Library of the Medical Society of the County of Kings, Brooklyn, New York (1897, Ionic Greek Revival)^[9]
• Numerous residences in the Chicago area including in Evanston, Illinois, in 1900^[10] and his own residence in Chicago at 9332 S. Damen Avenue (1894, American Queen Anne)^[11]
• The Umbria, a residential co-op in the Riverside-West End Historic District Extension, New York City (1910–1911, Italian Renaissance)^[12]
• McGregor Sanitarium near Saratoga Springs, New York, a complex of over 30 buildings (started 1911, American Craftsman; chapel built in Mission Revival)^[2][13]
• U.S. Post Office, New Haven, Connecticut (1913, Ionic Greek Revival, not built)^[14]
• Dwight Mission, Administration Building and Auditorium, Sallisaw, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma (1917, Shingle)^[15][16]
• Perrot Library, Old Greenwich, Connecticut, inspired by Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson (Jeffersonian Neo-Classical)^[17][18]
• Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Hall of Records, Yonkers, New York, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014^[19] (1906, Classical Revival)^[20]
• Monmouth College Gymnasium, Monmouth, Illinois (1923, Classical Revival)
• Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, northern annex, in New York City (1921); demolished to make way for Metropolitan Life North Building also designed by Waid

  

  Mosaic ceiling in lobby of Wellington Building (1924)

  Metropolitan Life Building now Wellington Building, House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (1924, Beaux-Arts)^[21][22][23]
• Buildings at The College of Wooster, Ohio, including President's House (c. 1926, Gothic Revival), Douglass Hall (1929, Collegiate Gothic), Galpin Hall (1932, Gothic Revival), Babcock Hall (1936, Collegiate Gothic) and at least one of the Henderson Memorial Apartments (1939)^[24]
• Home Office Building, also known as the Metropolitan Life North Building, New York City (started 1928, finished 1950, Art Deco)^[25]
• Numerous redesigns of the interior and exterior of buildings and landscape architecture in New York City including the bronze and marble Pulitzer Fountain (in 1936);^[26][27] the Peninsula Hotel bronze-and-glass recessed storefronts at ground level plus a new dining room, the hotel's offices, and exhibitions space on the second floor;^{[28][29][30][31]} and a complete renovation of the interior of midtown Manhattan's The Wilbraham converting it to an apartment building (1935).^[32][33]

References

Metropolitan Life North Building, New York City (Art Deco)

The Peninsula New York hotel at Fifth Avenue and 55th Street in Manhattan, New York, seen in December 2022. Pictured is the Fifth Avenue facade of which the ground floor storefronts and numerous interiors on the first and second floor were redesigned by Waid in 1938.

1. White, James Terry (1893). The National Cyclopædia of American biography. New York, New York: J. T. White & company. pp. 347–348. ISBN 9780883710401.
2. Vosbeck, R. Randall. "A Legacy of Leadership" (PDF). The American Institute of Architects, Washington, D.C. pp. 58–59. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 7, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
3. Special to THE NEW YORK TZMS (1934-02-03). "MRS. OOLrqlORE WED TO D. EYERETT WAID; Descendant of Old English Family Is Married to New York Architect. FIFTY ATTEND CEREMONY Bride Is Given by Commodore Fellowes, Brother, Who Led First Flight Over Everest". The New York Times. New York City. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
4. Gray, Christopher (April 23, 2009). "Ghost Buildings of 1929". The New York Times. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
5. "Trail End's Architects". Trail End Guilds, Inc. Trailend. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
6. Postal, Matthew A. (November 10, 2009). "B. F. Goodrich Company Building" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 2, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
7. "AIA Presidents". American Institute of Architects. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
8. Spring of 1897: semi-annual trade list of the Rumson & Monmouth Nurseries /. Little Silver, New Jersey: Lovett Company. 1897. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.95011.
9. Soule, Charles Carroll (January 1, 1902). Modern Library Buildings. Bates & Guild Company. p. 41.
10. Of Chicago, The Art Institute. "Archival Images & Media Collection – Waid, Dan Everett". The Art Institute Of Chicago. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
11. Wolff, Harold. "Historic Home Tour". Beverly Area Planning Association. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
12. "Growing up on West End Avenue", In the Field, Routledge, pp. 15–30, 2017-07-05, doi:10.4324/9780203788806-3, ISBN 978-0-203-78880-6, retrieved 2023-04-01.
13. "Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower", Manhattan Skyscrapers, New York, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 13–14, 2005, doi:10.1007/1-56898-652-1_6, ISBN 978-1-56898-545-9, retrieved 2023-04-01.
14. "57856, 1900-02-26, MARSH (Prof. O.C.), Yale University, New-Haven (Conn.) †". Art Sales Catalogues Online. doi:10.1163/2210-7886_asc-57856. Retrieved 2023-04-01.
15. Smalling Jr., Walter (October 1979), Front and side of the Dwight Mission, located southwest of Marble City in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, United States. Built in 1905, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places., retrieved 2024-03-01
16. Smalling Jr., Walter (1933), AUDITORIUM, THIRD FLOOR, LOOKING EAST, Dwight Mission, Administration Building, Rural Route, Sallisaw, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, retrieved 2024-03-01
17. "Greenwich Landmark Series | Greenwich Historical Society". Greenwich Historical Society. Archived from the original on October 26, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
18. "A Very Brief History of the Library". Perrot Memorial Library. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
19. "National Register of Historic Places Listings". Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 9/01/14 through 9/05/14. National Park Service. 2014-09-12.
20. "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)". Archived from the original on 2015-03-28. Retrieved 2023-04-01.
21. Van de Wetering, Marion (1997). An Ottawa album: glimpses of the way we were. Hounslow Press. ISBN 978-1-55488-075-1. OCLC 277614180.
22. MacKinnon, Maggie; Zari, Maibritt Pedersen; Brown, Daniel K. (2021-08-14). "Architecture as Habitat: Enhancing Urban Ecosystem Services Using Building Envelopes". Advances in Environmental and Engineering Research. 02 (4): 1. doi:10.21926/aeer.2104029. ISSN 2766-6190. S2CID 244168620.
23. Wellington, Sheila W. (1997–2009). "Breaking the glass ceiling". Leader to Leader. 1997 (6): 37–42. doi:10.1002/ltl.40619970611. ISSN 1087-8149.
24. "buildings grounds architects" (PDF). Wooster College. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 5, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
25. "Waid, Daniel Everett". Biographical Dictionary Of Architects In Canada. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
26. "To Save Pulitzer Fountain; Art Commission Approves Plans for Waterproofing Its Base". The New York Times. November 11, 1931. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 1, 2024. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
27. "Grand Army Plaza Monuments – Pulitzer Fountain: NYC Parks". NYC Parks. New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
28. "Alteration Job Develops Many Odd Situations: Story Back of Gotham Hotel Project Indicates Details Were Considered Fifth Avenue Side of Gotham With Stores Installed". New York Herald Tribune. July 31, 1938. p. C2. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1243086815.
29. "Hotel To Have Five New Stores". Women's Wear Daily. Vol. 56, no. 99. May 20, 1938. p. 2. ProQuest 1727938690.
30. "5th Ave. To Have Distinctive Shops; Five Artistic Stores in Hotel Gotham Will Be Ready for Tenants in October". The New York Times. July 31, 1938. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
31. "Stores for the Hotel Gotham". The New York Times. May 29, 1938. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
32. Landmarks Preservation Commission 2004, p. 6.
33. "Alter Apartment in Mid-fifth Av.: Old Wilbraham on Thirtieth Street Corner is Modernized With Small Suites". The New York Times. September 1, 1935. p. RE1. ISSN 0362-4331. ProQuest 101374217.

External links

• Media related to D. Everett Waid at Wikimedia Commons