John Galen Howard (1864-1931)

Name

Howard, John Galen

Personal Information

Birth/Death:    b. 05/08/1864 – d. July 1931
Occupation:    American architect
Location (state):    CA

This record has not been verified for accuracy.

AIA Affiliation

Member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 1901-decease
Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) 1901

Biographical Sources

Biographical Directories:
Entry in Henry F. Withey, A.I.A., and Elsie Rathburn Withey, Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased) (Los Angeles: New Age Publishing Company, 1956. Facsimile edition, Hennessey & Ingalls, Inc., 1970)
Entry in Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects (New York: Macmillan, 1982)
Biographical information:
Contributed by the Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley:
John Galen Howard was born May 8, 1864 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. He began his architectural education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the nation's only architectural program at the time, although he left in 1885 before completing his degree. He apprenticed himself to Henry Hobson Richardson in Brookline, Massachusetts, gaining a practical knowledge of drafting. After Richardson's death he left the firm and went to Los Angeles where he worked with the firms Caulkin & Hass, and James M. Wood. Unhappy with the prospects in Los Angeles after a year, Howard left to tour Europe in 1888. Returning to the United States, he went to work for McKim, Mead & White, first in Boston then in New York. Encouraged by the partners of the firm, who offered financial assistance, Howard left for Paris to attend the Ecole des Beaux-Arts from 1890 to 1893. Although he left shortly before completing the training, he brought the tradition and style of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts back to the United States.
In 1893 Howard opened a private practice with Samuel Cauldwell in New York. The partners built residential and commercial buildings in New York and New Jersey. In 1898, Howard & Cauldwell entered the Phoebe Hearst International Competition for the plan for the University of California in Berkeley. Emile Bénard won the competition, however, he did not wish to leave Paris for Berkeley. Howard, whose entry with Cauldwell came in fourth place, was appointed to the Advisory Board of Architects for the Perpetuation of the Phoebe Hearst Architectural Plan for the University of California. Phoebe Hearst hired Howard to design the Hearst Mining Building, sending him on a tour of Europe in 1900 to study University buildings, particularly those relating to mining. Because Bénard proved too difficult for the Regents to work with, President Wheeler, a strong supporter of Howard's talents, offered Howard the position of Supervising Architect of the University in 1901. The Howards moved to California in 1902. In 1903, the University of California provided funding for a department of architecture. Howard was appointed professor at the new school, and settled into life in the Bay Area.
Because of Howard's work on the University, he soon had a growing private practice. In 1906 he opened an office in San Francisco in partnership with engineer John Debo Galloway. He was also an advisory member of the Reconstruction Committee of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. Away from his work at the University, Howard was the supervising architect for the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle. Howard was also involved with the Panama-Pacific Exhibition of 1915 in San Francisco. He was a member of the Exposition advisory committee as well as a member of the board that supervised the plan for the San Francisco Civic Center. He also designed the San Francisco Civic Auditorium for the Exposition. Howard also designed a variety of residential and commercial buildings in Berkeley and San Francisco.
In 1913 Howard was appointed Director of the School of Architecture at the University. In his capacity as Supervising Architect for the University, Howard completed the Hearst Memorial Mining Building, the Greek Theater, Boalt Hall, California Hall, Agriculture Hall, the University Library, the Sather Tower (known as the Campanile), Sather Gate, Wheeler Hall, Hilgard Hall, Gilman Hall, Hesse Hall, Le Conte Hall and Haviland Hall, thoroughly adapting the Phoebe Hearst Architectural plan to display his preferred designs.
In 1917, Howard took a sabbatical to live and write poetry in Carmel, California. In 1918, he went on "war leave" to Europe. There he helped establish the American Expeditionary Forces University, which was intended to educate soldiers as they awaited transport home. Returning in 1919, he found the University reluctant to spend money and saw his authority as Supervising Architect start to deteriorate. Howard was officially dismissed by the Regents of the University in 1924, and in 1926 resigned as Director of the School of Architecture. He and his wife, Mary Robertson Bradbury, moved to San Francisco, residing on Russian Hill, where Howard continued to write and publish his own poetry. He died suddenly from a heart attack in 1931.
Sources: Partridge, Loren, John Galen Howard and the Berkeley Campus: Beaux-Arts Architecture in the "Athens of the West," Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association, 1978.
Moss, Stacey, The Howards: First Family of Bay Area Modernism, The Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA 1988.

Related Records

Father of Henry Temple Howard

Archival Holdings

The American Institute of Architects Archives
      Membership file may contain membership application, related correspondence. Contact the AIA Archives at archives@aia.org for further information.

Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

Collection Number: 1955-4. Extent: 11 boxes, 20 flat file drawers, 13 tubes, 2 flat boxes, 5 folios. Microfilm containing selected records and drawings from the collection is available in the Bancroft Library: BANC FILM 2554 and in the Environmental Design Library: MICROFILM 78314 NA.
The collection, which spans the years 1884-1931 (bulk 1891-1927), consists of records, drawings, and photographs relating to John Galen Howard's architectural career. The collection comprehensively documents the buildings for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exhibition in Seattle, Washington. It also shows Howard's architectural influence on the University of California, Berkeley campus beginning with the Phoebe Hearst Competition and continuing through his 22 years as Supervising Architect. This collection contains no records pertaining to his work as a Professor or as the Director of the School of Architecture. The collection is organized into seven series: Personal papers, Professional papers, Office records, Project records, University of California, Berkeley records, Art and Artifacts, and Additional Donations.
Notable papers in the first series are the assignments and student drawings from his studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. This series also contains examples of his watercolors, pastels, and sketches, a hobby he pursued for much of his life. The professional papers series is small with the most significant group of correspondence relating to the San Francisco American Institute of Architects "trial" and chapter reorganization.
The office records contain scrapbooks and clipbooks, with a few photographs collected for research purposes. The scrapbooks contain photographs of completed buildings, project sketches, terrazzo sketches, newspaper clippings about projects, and obituaries of Howard. The clipbooks were books of architectural journal clippings used as idea books in Beaux-Arts offices. Included in Howard's books are drawings and illustrations of exterior and interior views, plans, plates, and articles, generally taken from The Architectural Review, The Brickbuilder, and American Country Homes. (Please note: Clipbooks are stored off site at NLRF. Call number: ENVI \f\ NA 737.H6 S37).
The project records include specifications, photographs, and drawings from the private commissions and the public buildings from his architectural career. Projects in this series include the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exhibition Complex, commercial and residential buildings for the Spreckles family, and the Gregory family residences.
The fifth series focuses on the planning and design work by Howard for the University of California, Berkeley. The records begin with the designs for the Phoebe Hearst Architectural Competition and go through his retirement as Supervising Architect for the University in 1923. The project records include drawings for the Competition, as well as files and designs for numerous buildings including California Hall, Boalt Hall (original), Gilman Hall, the Hearst Mining Building, and the Agricultural building.
The final series is an additional donation of a watercolor of an unidentified rendering for a proposed hotel.
Link to online finding aid: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf1b69n5kh

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