Oak Park/River Forest Infant Welfare Society |
Oak Park/River Forest Infant Welfare Society |
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320 Lake Street Oak Park, IL 60302 Phone: 708-848-0528 Fax: 708-848-5855 Email: infantwelfareop@sbcglobal.net ---- get_html_dgst(); ?> |
Proceeds benefit the OPRF Infant Welfare Clinic Call (708) 848-0528 for additional information on reserving space and tickets. |
GEORGE WASHINGTON MAHER 1864-1926 Maher
(pronounced MAY her) was born in 1864 in Mill Creek, West Virginia and
moved as a child with his family to New Albany, Indiana where he
attended public schools. Maher
began his architectural education in 1878 as an apprentice to the
Chicago firm of Bauer & Hill and relocated in 1887 to the office of
Shingle style architect Joseph Lyman Silsbee where he worked with
fellow draftsman Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1888 he formed a short-lived
partnership with Cecil Corwin. After Corwin left in 1893, Maher went to
Europe for a year of study and sketching. After returning from Europe
he married Elizabeth Brooks in 1894. He resumed architectural practice
that year, then worked alone until alone until 1921 when his son,
Philip joined him for a brief period. During
the 1890s, Maher worked in a variety of styles. His Shingle and Queen
Anne projects were widely reviewed in the journal Inland Architect
during this period. Maher modeled his design for the Fresno (Calif.)
Library and Water Tower (1894) on a Medieval Romanesque tower. By the
late 1890s, his work began to reflect Prairie-style characteristics. He
was one of the Prairie School pioneers along with Frank Lloyd Wright,
Purcell & Elmslie and Water Burley Griffin. * Looking for university admissions essay ? MyAdmissionsEssay.com - best writing service! Maher's
most important and productive period came after 1904. His bold and
idiosyncratic residential interpretations of the Prairie ideal were
built throughout Chicago's suburbs, including Oak Park, Evanston,
Kenilworth and Winnetka. He is believed to have designed more
than 40 structures in Kenilworth where he lived. In
Oak Park, Maher designed seven houses, including Farson House now known
as Pleasant Home. An eighth house was planned but never constructed.
Maher developed the campus plan for Northwestern University in 1907 and
designed Swift Hall and Patten gymnasium on that campus. He also worked
in California, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Tennessee and Wisconsin. In
the post-World War I era, Maher became a vocal proponent of community
planning and prepared development plans for Glencoe and Kenilworth. He
is also credited with forming the committee that kaunched the first
efforts to restore the Fine Arts Building designed by Charles Atwood
for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Subject
to lifelong bouts of depression, Maher became despondent in 1925
and never fully recovered. He committed suicide in 1926. |
Showcase House 2004 Architect |
