The "Life of H. H. Richardson" at WMHS Monday

This Monday, October 6th at the Woburn Memorial High School at 6 PM, a guest speaker will be talking about Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886).  He was aprominent and well known architect who was best known in this area for his design of our own Woburn Public Library as well as the Trinity Church in Boston.  Richardson was the most influential figure in late 19th-century American architecture.  Having received a superior education at Harvard and the first American to be trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Richardson returned to the United States to open a practice in New York, eventually settling in Brookline, Massachusetts.  His innovative style and his search for cohesion out of the popular Victorian eclecticism set a pioneering direction for American architecture.  Richardson created a new standard for ecclesiastical, domestic, commercial, civic, educational and cultural edifices.  "Richardsonian Romanesque" echoed loudly throughout the United States as well as Europe.  The illustrated lecture on Oct. 6 will highlight Richardson's major works, such as Trinity Church in the City of Boston (1872-77) and Marshall Field Wholesale Warehouse in Chicago (1885-87).  The evening's program will include a special segment on the design of the landmark Woburn Public Library (1876-79), completed when Richardson was at the height of his career as builder.

          The speaker, Milda Richardson, received her Ph.D. from Boston University in the history of art and architecture and teaches in the School of Architecture at Northeastern University and the Fine Arts Department at Emmanuel College.  She is currently serving as President of the Society of Architectural Historians, New England Chapter.  A frequent lecturer, she is the author of a chapter on the decoration of the chancel space in The Makers of Trinity Church, Boston, edited by James F. O'Gorman (University of Massachusetts Press, 2004).

 
 
Rodney Flynn
Woburn High '64 Reunion Committee
www.GoWREN.org
www.angelflightne.org
www.woburnhistoricalsociety.com