Frederick W. Garber
Encyclopedia
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and the principal architect in the Garber & Woodward firm with Clifford B. Woodward (1880–1932). The firm operated from 1904 until it was dissolved in 1933 Their work has been described as in the Beaux-Arts tradition and included buildings on the University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
campuses, schools, hospitals, commercial buildings, "fine residences" and public housing.
Background
Garber was the eldest son of Frederick H.C. Garber who was born in Hanover Germany and worked at a German newspaper.Garber and Woodward were students together, business partners in their architectural firm, and brothers-in-law. They attended Cincinnati Technical School, worked as draftsmen for Elzner & Anderson in Cincinnati; and attended a two-year course in architecture at M.I.T. (studying with Beaux-Arts-trained Professor C.D. Despradelle). Garber won a Rotch Scholarship and studied abroad. He may have traveled with Bertram Goodhue
Bertram Goodhue
Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue was a American architect celebrated for his work in neo-gothic design. He also designed notable typefaces, including Cheltenham and Merrymount for the Merrymount Press.-Early career:...
while in Europe, as well as with a partner in the firm of Cass Gilbert
Cass Gilbert
- Historical impact :Gilbert is considered a skyscraper pioneer; when designing the Woolworth Building he moved into unproven ground — though he certainly was aware of the ground-breaking work done by Chicago architects on skyscrapers and once discussed merging firms with the legendary Daniel...
.
Woodward was born in the Walnut Hills area of Cincinnati and spent most of his life in the Glendale section of town. He was the third son of Henry L. Woodward who worked for First National Bank.
Garber was a fellow of the AIA
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
and a member of its Board of Directors, a member of the Corporation of M.I.T., and a member of the visiting committee of the art and archaeological department of Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
Firm
The Garber & Woodward firm's design for Withrow High School (1915–1919) at 2488 Madison Road in Hyde Park included "an agricultural section with conservatories and a poultry house, a manual-training shop, and a fine gymnasium" on a 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) campus Garber & Woodward "made the difficult challenge of a ravine across the front of the site into a dramatic asset by means of a Palladian bridge leading to the tall bell tower, which resembles the campanile in St. Mark’s Piazza in Venice. The main building is graceful, balanced composition with horizontal lines. Two matching wings are attached at a slight angle so that they spread across the wide entrance court to embrace the visitor."The firm collaborated with Cass Gilbert
Cass Gilbert
- Historical impact :Gilbert is considered a skyscraper pioneer; when designing the Woolworth Building he moved into unproven ground — though he certainly was aware of the ground-breaking work done by Chicago architects on skyscrapers and once discussed merging firms with the legendary Daniel...
and John Russell Pope
John Russell Pope
John Russell Pope was an architect most known for his designs of the National Archives and Records Administration building , the Jefferson Memorial and the West Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.-Biography:Pope was born in New York in 1874, the son of a successful...
of New York on the design of the Union Central Life Insurance Co. Building (now the PNC bank building) and on the Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. (Cinergy/Duke Energy) headquarters (Duke Energy Building
Duke Energy Building
The Duke Energy Building in Cincinnati is a historic 18-story structure completed in 1929. It was designed by Cincinnati architectural firm Garber & Woodward and John Russell Pope....
).
Garber & Woodward designed the Phelps Apartment House (The Phelps) at 506 East Fourth Street for the Taft family and remodeled the Baum-Longworth-Sinton-Taft House as the Taft Museum, after the deaths of Charles Phelps
Charles Phelps Taft
Charles Phelps Taft I was an American lawyer and politician.-Biography:He was born on December 21, 1843 in Cincinnati, Ohio to Alphonso Taft, and his brother was President William Howard Taft....
and Anna Sinton Taft (ca. 1930). The firm "restored much of the Victorianized interior according to a fairly authentic but Deco-flavored Federal style." The firm also designed the Anna Louise Inn for Girls (originally the Union Bethel) on Pike St. near the Taft Museum and a work that may have been carried out in association with Elzner & Anderson. Mr. and Mrs. "Charles P. Taft" also funded construction of the operation for the Cincinnati Union Bethel (CUB) to run a non-profit offering 120 "working young women, who had come to Cincinnati seeking employment from various rural areas, both security and affordable housing" on Third and Lytle Streets.
During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
F.W. Garber was head of the Associated Architects
Associated Architects
thumb|right|Associated Architects' Offices at [[The Mailbox]], Birminghamthumb|right|RIBA Award Winner 2009, David Wilson LibraryAssociated Architects is a leading architectural firm based in Birmingham, England. The practice has a broad portfolio of work including arts, commercial offices, housing...
responsible for the design of the early WPA
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
Projects: Laurel Homes and Lincoln Court (formerly on Ezzard Charles Drive) west of Music Hall (replaced by City West ca. 2002-2003), and later the English Woods and Winton Terrace housing projects.
Phoenix Building
Phoenix Building is an historic building at 315–321 Union Street in Rockland, Massachusetts.The building was built in 1929 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989....
, now known as the Cincinnati Club, a 1924 former hotel and private club in Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
that is now used as a banquet hall. It was listed in the National Register
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on January 11, 1985 and is also recognized as a historic landmark by the Miami Historical Preservation Association.
The firm's Chamber of Commerce Building on 1-11 Capitol Street in Charleston, West Virginia was later demolished. It was a six floor rigid frame steel structure user as a commercial office.
The nine-story Vernon Manor Hotel was built in 1924 the Avondale neighborhood "for wealthy Cincinnatians longing to get away from the hustle and bustle of downtown". Perched atop one of the cities’ Seven Hills it overlooks the city skyline. It was featured in the 1986 film Rainman
Rainman
Rainman, which stands for Remote Automated Information Manager, is the proprietary publishing platform of AOL . It was conceptualized and coding started by Marc Seriff and completed by Craig Dykstra, both AOL founders....
starring Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
and Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
.
Garber & Woodward were involved in planning with landscape architect
Landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....
John Nolen
John Nolen
John Nolen was an American landscape architect. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, John Nolen was orphaned as a child and placed in the Girard School for Orphaned Boys by the Children's Aid Society...
for a recreation center in the Mariemont
Mariemont, Ohio
Mariemont is a planned community village in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. It includes one or two historic districts, Village of Mariemont and Mariemont Historic District. Founded in the 1920s by Mary Emery, Mariemont exhibits English architecture from Norman to classic Georgian style...
project development, "an essential component" but after Nolen's services were terminated the commission was never fulfilled, and it was designed by New York architect George B. deGersdorff instead who was an old classmate and friend of Charles Livingood. Architect Edward Kruckemeyer worked with Garber & Woodward for a time before joining with another MIT classmate, Charles Strong
Charles Strong
Charles Strong was a Scottish-born Australian preacher and first minister of the Australian Church.-Early life:...
in 1915 after they traveled together in Europe.
Garber practiced with John Postler and Lawrence Lefken from 1933–1938 and on his own from 1939-1952. His son Woodie (Woodward) Garber also had a firm "with a more contemporary approach" from 1949-1971.
Legacy (Woodie Garber)
Frederick William Garber's son Woodie Garber (often spelled Woody) took a more contemporary approach to architecture. He designed Cincimnati's first post World War II main library building at the corner of Eighth and Vine using a plan with a lot of open space. The building is "the cornerstone of the present Main Library complex". He also designed Sander Hall at the University of Cincinnati (since imploded). He also authored a 1973 guide called "An architectural program for adult corrections facilities for Cincinnati and Hamilton County".Projects
- Main Library building, Cincinnati
- Moore House in Cincinnati, a 5160 square feet (479.4 m²) wood-and-glass house on a 5.4 acres (21,853 m²) site (1952). It was being video taped, documented and salvaged prior to demolition in 2007.
- Woodie Garber residence Glendale, Ohio
- Procter Hall, University of Cincinnati (1968), used for the College of Nursing.
- All Saints Chapel addition, Christ Church Glendale (1959–1960)
Frederick W. Garber and Woodward & Garber projects
Residences, churches, and other buildings
- William Cooper ProcterWilliam Cooper ProcterWilliam Cooper Procter was the grandson of William Procter, the co-founder of Procter & Gamble Company. He was notable for creating a profit-sharing program for employees, the first in America...
's Glendale, Ohio residence (1904) and his summer house in Devon, L.I. (1909). - Anna Louise Inn (1909) on the 300 block of Lytle Street in Cincinnati's central business district, a five-story concrete and brick building for women who came to Cincinnati to find employment
- Price Hill Library (1909) at 3215 Warsaw Avenue is a French Renaissance style brick and limestone building with a tin decked roof withslate slopes, fleur-de-lisFleur-de-lisThe fleur-de-lis or fleur-de-lys is a stylized lily or iris that is used as a decorative design or symbol. It may be "at one and the same time, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic", especially in heraldry...
grid over the doors, bird-head door handles, and cherry wood shelves. It was funded by the Andrew Carnegie Foundation. - Avondale Library (1913) in Cincinnati, a Spanish Colonial style building featuring a Rookwood tile entry, decorative iron work, and a domed ceiling. A Rookwood drinking fountain was presented to the branch by the Avondale Improvement Association to mark its opening at 3566 Reading Road. It was funded by the Andrew Carnegie Foundation
- Taft Museum (ca. 1930) remodel of the residence into a museum.
- Bethlehem Methodist Church (now Calvary United) in Evanston, a "somewhat austere but handsome and site-specific work in the Collegiate Gothic Revival style"
- Christ Church Episcopal Chapel, Fourth Street
- Elks Temple (later Crosley Square, but now home to a charter school), NEC Ninth and Elm streets.
- Aurora Public LibraryAurora Public Library (Aurora, Indiana)The Aurora Public Library was first organized by voluntary contributions. When the town was incorporated in 1819 a lot on Fifth Street was set aside for a public library, but it took time for enough funds to be raised for its establishment.In 1882 fundraising by the sale of stock in the library...
, a Renaissance style building at 414 Second Street in Aurora, IndianaAurora, IndianaAurora is a city in Lawrenceburg and Center townships of Dearborn County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 3,965 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Aurora is located at ....
. Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1993. - additions to J.W. McLaughlin's Cincinnati Art Museum including the Emery, French, and Hanna wings
- Addition to Herbert Greer French House (1930), expanded the east addition after demolition of a smokehouse and a greenhouse.
Commercial and apartment buildings
- F. W. Woolworth BuildingF. W. Woolworth Building (Lexington, Kentucky)The Woolworth, F.W., Building was a historic department store building located in Lexington, Kentucky, that served as a retail location for the F. W. Woolworth Company from 1946 to 1990. It was designed by Frederick W...
in Lexington, KentuckyLexington, KentuckyLexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region... - Phoenix Building/Cincinnati Club (Piatt Park Center) an 11-story neo-classical building designed by Garber & Woodward with Samuel Hannaford & Sons (1924)
- Dixie Terminal Building (1921) on Fourth Street in downtown Cincinnati including a "superb Adamesque barrel vault"
- The Vernon Manor Hotel (1924), a nine-story English Renaissance Revival "modeled after the stately Hatfield HouseHatfield HouseHatfield House is a country house set in a large park, the Great Park, on the eastern side of the town of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The present Jacobean house was built in 1611 by Robert Cecil, First Earl of Salisbury and Chief Minister to King James I and has been the home of the Cecil...
in England" on the 400 block of Oak Street in Cincinnati's Avondale neighborhood. Renovated in 1999. - Laurel Homes Historic District list on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. (mostly demolished in 2002)
- Several public buildings in Wyoming (near Glendale), Ohio
- Milford, OhioMilford, OhioMilford is a city in Clermont and Hamilton counties in the U.S. state of Ohio, along the Little Miami River in the southwestern part of the state. It is a part of Greater Cincinnati. Milford, an abbreviated form of mill ford, was so named because it was the first safe ford across the Little Miami...
National Bank - Chamber of Commerce Building in Charleston, West VirginiaCharleston, West VirginiaCharleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
- Duke Energy Building (1929) on East Fourth Street and Main Street in Cincinnati, an 18-floor Neoclassical building designed with John Russell PopeJohn Russell PopeJohn Russell Pope was an architect most known for his designs of the National Archives and Records Administration building , the Jefferson Memorial and the West Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.-Biography:Pope was born in New York in 1874, the son of a successful...
- Phelps Apartment House (The Phelps), a 13-floor beaux-arts apartment building on the 500 block of East Fourth Street (1926)
- PNC Tower (1913) and the PNC Building (1927) on West 4th Street that has housed S.N. Phelps Realty and the Union Central Life Insurance Company. May have been designed with Cass GilbertCass Gilbert- Historical impact :Gilbert is considered a skyscraper pioneer; when designing the Woolworth Building he moved into unproven ground — though he certainly was aware of the ground-breaking work done by Chicago architects on skyscrapers and once discussed merging firms with the legendary Daniel...
Schools
- Walnut Hills High School, "based on Thomas Jefferson’s University of Virginia Rotunda" in Walnut Hills overlooking Victory Parkway in Evanston (1929–1931)
- Western Hills High SchoolWestern Hills High School (Cincinnati, Ohio)Western Hills High School is a high school located in the Western Hills area of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is part of the Cincinnati Public Schools district. The school was the location used to film Airborne, a movie filmed in the Cincinnati area....
- Westwood Public School (1909) (now Westwood Elementary and undergoing renovation)
- Guilford SchoolGuilford School buildingGuilford School on the eastside of downtown Cincinnati was designed by Frederick W. Garber. The building is on the site of Fort Washington and was also once a place of residence for Stephen Foster...
on E. Fourth St. opposite Lytle Park (1911) - Frederick DouglassFrederick DouglassFrederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
and Rothenberg SchoolRothenberg SchoolRothenberg School is a historic school building in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, designed by local architect Frederick W. Garber's firm, which was also responsible for Withrow School, Walnut Hills High School, Western Hills High School and Westwood School...
s (1914), and a High School in Lexington, Kentucky. - Withrow High School (1919) on Madison Rd. opposite Erie Avenue
- Rothenberg SchoolRothenberg SchoolRothenberg School is a historic school building in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, designed by local architect Frederick W. Garber's firm, which was also responsible for Withrow School, Walnut Hills High School, Western Hills High School and Westwood School...
was named after Louis Rothenberg its first principal.
University of Cincinnati buildings
- Nippert StadiumNippert StadiumNippert Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio is the University of Cincinnati's football stadium, home to their Bearcats football team in rudimentary form since 1901, and as a complete stadium since 1924, making it the fourth oldest playing site and fifth oldest stadium in college football.In 1895, the...
(1912) (since remodeled) - Dyer Hall (1931) at the University of Cincinnati, a wing of the Teachers College
Further reading
- Cincinnati Times-Star obituary 8/7/1950;
- Cincinnati Enquirer obituary 8/8/1950;
- Goss, III (1912), 951-52;
- Menefee (1926), 73;
- Langsam (1997), 19, 71, 128, 154;
- Painter, Sullebarger, AIC (2006), 21, 152, 153, 189, 193, 206, 207, 214, 215, 230;
- Selections from Work Designed and Executed by Garber and Woodward Architects (Cincinnati, Ohio, July 1924);
- Architectural Catalog Co., Main Office, 15 W. 38th Street, New York, Architectural, Engineering, and Building Publications), copy from Woodie Garber archives at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio);
Conversations with Dr. Stanley T. Garber and Woodie Garber, sons of F.W. Garber;
- Christen (April 2008);
- Nuxhall, SGC, 113, Lot 205.