Henry Murphy

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

Contents 1 Early life 2 Architecture 3 References 4 Further reading

[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

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.