John A. Bryant

John A. Bryant (1880–1938) was a co-founder of the Detroit-based construction firm Bryant & Detwiler which erected many of southeastern Michigan's prominent buildings including the General Motors Technical Center, Warren, Mich.; Northland Mall, Southfield, Mich.; and the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center (a.k.a. Detroit's City-County Building).

Early life

Born December 31, 1880, in Lake George, New York, Bryant was the son of Presbyterian Rev. William and Caroline Bryant. His father was called “a potent force in the intellectual and moral progress of the race and his influence is far reaching,” according to C.M. Burton's City of Detroit. Bryant's parents were natives of England; his father was born in Brighton and mother in Bath. Coming to America, Rev. Bryant graduated from Oxford University and received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Princeton University. For many years, Rev. Bryant was a prominent Presbyterian minister in Brooklyn, NY, then Iowa, before moving to Michigan.

Prior to moving to Ferndale, Mich., Rev. Bryant "acted as a confidential man for H.B. Claflin & Co. of New York city," according to City of Detroit. The minister became president of the school board and state clerk of the Presbyterian Synod of Michigan.

An avid golfer, automobile enthusiast and tennis player, Bryant also had been a member of the Wolverine Automobile Club which merged with the Detroit Athletic Club. Among his activities, he had been a trustee of Harper Hospital, a director of Detroit YMCA, The Detroit Board of Commerce, the Detroit Institute of Arts' Founders' Society and the Society of Arts and Crafts.

Education & family

Graduating from the University of Michigan in 1902, John A. Bryant worked as a construction engineer for three years before becoming a co-founder of Bryant & Detwiler, later serving as the firm's treasurer. He also married Helen Spier of Mt. Clemens in 1905, and had a son, Robert William Bryant, and daughter, Margaret Louise (Bryant) Duffield.

John A. Bryant's brothers and sister included Rev. George W. Bryant, D.D., who was registrar and assistant to the president of Coe College at Cedar Rapids, IA; Mrs. P.W. Martin of Bay City, MI; and William Gordon Bryant.

Co-founder of Bryant & Detwiler

Now defunct, Bryant & Detwiler was one of Detroit's most important construction companies with projects that included the Ford World Headquarters (the “Glass House”) in Dearborn, One Woodward Avenue, Chase Tower, the Detroit Institute of Arts, much of the Ford Rouge industrial center, Ford's Willow Run bomber plant, National Shrine of the Little Flower Catholic Church (Royal Oak, MI), Packard Motor Car Co.'s Detroit plant, and Detroit's J.L. Hudson store. The company also had previously worked with architect Albert Kahn to create the Dodge Bros. Hamtramck Plant in 1910.

Bryant & Detwiler headquarters in 1915 was located in the Dime Bank Building. Its top managers included Rollo W. Detwiler and Ward Arnold Detwiler.

During the Great Depression, on February 24, 1939, the University of Michigan awarded a $647,817 contract to Bryant & Detwiler, as part of a federal Public Works Program (PWP), to construct the 143,977-square-foot (13,375.9 m²) East Quadrangle dormitory, according to the Bentley Historical Library.

Death

John Bryant died Tuesday, November 15, 1938 at Detroit's Harper Hospital. He had been ill since February, according to his obituaries in the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press. At the time of his death he had also been vice president of Ferro Stamping and Manufacturing. Funeral services were held at his residence in Grosse Point Park and he was buried in Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery.