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Hewitt & Emerson

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Hewitt & Emerson was an architectural firm based in Peoria, Illinois. It was founded in 1909 as the partnership of architects Herbert E. Hewitt and Frank N. Emerson. After 1927 it was known successively as Hewitt, Emerson & Gregg; Emerson, Gregg & Briggs and Gregg & Briggs. It was active until at least the 1960s.

Hewitt & Emerson
Practice information
PartnersHerbert E. Hewitt FAIA; Frank N. Emerson FAIA; Richard S. Gregg AIA; Cecil C. Briggs AIA
FoundersHerbert E. Hewitt FAIA; Frank N. Emerson FAIA
Founded1909
LocationPeoria, Illinois
The Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall in Peoria, designed by Hewitt & Emerson and completed in 1909.
The John C. Proctor Recreation Center in Peoria, designed by Hewitt & Emerson and built in 1913.
The Peoria Life Building, later the Commerce Bank Building, designed by Hewitt & Emerson and completed in 1920.
The Scottish Rite Cathedral in Peoria, designed by Hewitt & Emerson and completed in 1925.
The Peoria Marriott Pere Marquette, designed by Horace Trumbauer and associate architects Hewitt & Emerson and completed in 1927.
The former YWCA Building in Peoria, designed by Hewitt, Emerson & Gregg and completed in 1929.
The Health Education Building at Eastern Illinois University, designed by Hewitt, Emerson & Gregg and built in 1938.

Partners and history

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Hewitt & Emerson was formed in 1909 as the partnership of two architects, Herbert E. Hewitt and Frank N. Emerson.

Herbert Edmund Hewitt was born July 20, 1871, in Bloomington, Illinois, to Charles Edmund Hewitt and Helen (Thompson) Hewitt. He was raised in Peoria, where he attended the public schools. In 1889 he entered the University of Illinois but soon transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He left without graduating in 1894. This was followed by a year of study at the University of Chicago and from 1895 to 1897 he worked as a drafter for a Chicago architect. In 1897 he returned to Peoria, where he formed the partnership of Wechselberger & Hewitt with architect Joseph Wechselberger. In 1898 Hewitt bought out his partner and continued as a sole practitioner until 1909, when he formed the partnership of Hewitt & Emerson with Frank N. Emerson.[1][2]

Frank Nelson Emerson was born September 18, 1876, in Peoria to George Francis Emerson and Harriet (Woodruff) Emerson. He was educated in the Peoria public schools and at Princeton University and MIT, graduating with a AB from the former in 1898 and a SB in architecture from the latter in 1901. He then worked as a drafter in New York City before traveling to Paris in 1903, where he entered the Beaux-Arts atelier of architect Gustave Umbdenstock. He was admitted to the second, or junior, class of the École des Beaux-Arts itself in 1904.[3] In late 1905 he returned to the United States where he joined the New York office of Carrère & Hastings. In 1909 he returned to Peoria, where he joined Hewitt.[4][5]

Hewitt's association with the Beaux-Arts-trained Emerson may have prompted him to complete his own studies, as he returned to MIT and was awarded an SB in architecture in 1911.[6] In 1927 they were joined in partnership by Richard S. Gregg, forming Hewitt, Emerson & Gregg.

Richard Seaton Gregg was born February 28, 1891, in Peoria. He was educated at the University of Illinois, graduating with a BS in architectural engineering in 1913. He worked for architects Temple & Burrows of Davenport, Iowa, until 1919, when he joined Hewitt & Emerson as a superintendent and specification writer.[7]

Hewitt died October 24, 1944, at the age of 73.[8] In 1945 the surviving partners were joined in partnership by Cecil C. Briggs, forming Emerson, Gregg & Briggs.[9]

Cecil Clair Briggs was born April 10, 1904, in Waukee, Iowa. He was educated at Simpson College and Columbia University, graduating from the latter in 1928 with a BArch. Later that year he was awarded the Rome Prize which enabled him to study for three years at the American Academy in Rome. In 1931 he returned to Columbia in New York City, where he became a member of the architecture faculty. In 1940 he was appointed supervisor of the Pratt Institute School of Architecture, where he remained until relocating to Peoria in 1945.[10]

Emerson retired in 1948 and died June 4, 1959, at the age of 82.[11] His partners continued as Gregg & Briggs until 1958, when Gregg retired. Briggs continued the practice alone until at least the 1960s.[12]

All four named partners of the firm were members of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Hewitt and Emerson both were respected by their AIA peers and were elected fellows in 1932 and 1940, respectively.[13]

Legacy

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The firm designed a number of works that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[14][15]

N. Bruce Hazen, later a founder of Hazen and Robinson of Lincoln, Nebraska, worked for Hewitt & Emerson from 1922 to 1924.

Architectural works

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All dates are date of completion.

Herbert E. Hewitt, 1898–1909

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Hewitt & Emerson, 1909–1927

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Hewitt, Emerson & Gregg, 1927–1945

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Emerson, Gregg & Briggs, 1945–1948

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Gregg & Briggs, 1948–1958

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Cecil C. Briggs, after 1958

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Herbert Edmund Hewitt" in Peoria, City and County, Illinois 2 (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912): 661-662.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Hewitt, Herbert Edmund" in Who's Who in America (Chicago: A. N. Marquis, 1946): 1065.
  3. ^ E. Delaire, Les Architectes: Élèves de l'École des Beaux-Arts (Paris: Librairie de la Construction Moderne, 1907): 254.
  4. ^ "Frank Nelson Emerson" in The Class of Eighteen Ninety Eight, Princeton University, Twenty-fifth Year Record (Princeton: Princeton University Class of 1898, 1923): 109.
  5. ^ "Emerson, Frank Nelson" in Who's Who in America (Chicago: A. N. Marquis, 1942): 757.
  6. ^ "Class Notes" in Technology Review 48, no. 1 (November, 1945): xiv.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Gregg, Richard Seaton" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1956): 210.
  8. ^ Emil Lorch, "Herbert Edmund Hewitt, F.A.I.A." in Weekly Bulletin, Michigan Society of Architects 18, no. 46 (November 14, 1944): 11-12.
  9. ^ "Emerson, Gregg & Briggs" in Weekly Bulletin, Michigan Society of Architects 19, no. 41 (October 9, 1945): 11.
  10. ^ a b "Briggs, Cecil Clair" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1956): 62.
  11. ^ "Frank Nelson Emerson '98" in Princeton Alumni Weekly 60, no. 1 (September 18, 1959): 32.
  12. ^ a b c "Briggs, Cecil Clair" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1962): 79.
  13. ^ The American Institute of Architects College of Fellows History and Directory (Washington: American Institute of Architects, 2019)
  14. ^ "Pere Marquette Hotel Archived 2007-12-03 at the Wayback Machine," (PDF), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, HAARGIS Database. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  16. ^ "Illinois's Pretty Home". News and Courier. Charleston, South Carolina. August 14, 1901. p. 8.
  17. ^ Rexford Newcomb, "The Country Club of Peoria, Illinois" in Western Architect 33, no. 7 (July, 1924): 80.
  18. ^ Kenyon, Leslie H.; Davis, Larry D. (1981-04-14). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory — Nomination Form: Peoria Cordage Company" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-01-12.
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