Henry Murphy

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Henry Murphy (right) with his wife.
Henry Murphy (right) with his wife.
For other persons named Henry Murphy, see Henry Murphy (disambiguation).

Henry Killam Murphy (1877–1954) was an American architect who was hired by Chiang Kai-shek for a variety of projects.

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[edit] Early life

Henry Killam Murphy was born in 1877[1] in Connecticut to parents Alice Button Killam and John Murphy.[2] Murphy graduated from Hopkins School in 1895 and went onto Yale University. Murphy then graduated from Yale, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, in 1906. He began working as an architect in New York, taking on jobs such as designing the early Loomis Chaffee campus in 1912.[3]

[edit] Architecture

An plan from 1922 by Murphy's firm for the Hopkins School campus
An plan from 1922 by Murphy's firm for the Hopkins School campus

Henry Murphy built a wide range of buildings throughout his career, including several[4][5][6] buildings in his home state of Connecticut. Murphy even worked for his alma mater Hopkins School, designing the early campus in 1922 and center building Baldwin Hall in 1925.[3]

Murphy attracted the attention of Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek and was hired in 1928 to design a modern capital for China in the ancient city of Nanjing. One of his more notable proposals was to save the wall around the city as a concourse. Murphy designed other Chinese buildings such as the Memorial Hall for Revolutionary Martyrs, Sun Yat-sen's mausoleum, and a massive pagoda on Purple Mountain over Nanjing.[3] Chiang Kai-shek was not Murphy's only connection to China. Murphy also designed a small "Chinese village" of eight homes in Coral Gables, Florida, as well as the Chinese Nationality Room in the Cathedral of Learning[7]

Murphy returned to the United States in 1935 and retired to a house he designed in Branford, Connecticut. He was finally married for the first time in 1949 and died in that house in 1954.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Primary Sources for the Study of Art, Architecture, and Drama In Manuscripts and Archives from the Yale Library. Retrieved April 11, 2006.
  2. ^ Descendants of Benjamin King from Rootsweb in August 2000.
  3. ^ a b c d "From Hopkins' Baldwin Hall to China's Memorial Hall" for Views on the Hill Spring/Summer '06 by Thom Peters.
  4. ^ Derby Neck Library for New England Carnegies by Corinne H. Smith. Retrieved April 11, 2006.
  5. ^ Crown Street, 305 for Yale Buildings and Ground. Retrieved April 11, 2006.
  6. ^ Whitney Avenue, 175 for Yale Buildings and Ground. Retrieved April 11, 2006.
  7. ^ Sightseeing Opportunities in Coral Gables for Pedestrian Guides. Retrieved April 11, 2006.

[edit] Further reading

  • Building in China: Henry K. Murphy's "Adaptive Architecture", 1914-1935. By Jeffrey W. Cody. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press; Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2001.
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