Talk:William J. Dodd

Sources

Until recently, data on W.J. Dodd was scarce and difficult to verify, especially biographical information. Likewise, a dearth of actual blueprints and building permit reports from the period before 1900 in Louisville has naturally made many casual attributions of this or that structure to Dodd suspect and often they are no more than folklore or worse, a real estate agent's or a seller's attempt to enlarge the glamour of property without doing their own homework and provenance. The Chroniclerk.

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I got my data about Dodd designing the Chat. house on 4th Street from a house rehabilitation info banner in front of the blue house at the corner of 4th & Belgravia Ct. It states that Dodd designed the house for jeweler Joseph Wyrne. I can upload a picture of the banner if you want it. My landlord was also state that Dodd is the designer of the Chat. grouping. The Br3 02:32, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

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Thanks for giving background on your posted attribution of the entire set of Chateauesque town houses at 4th and Hill streets in Louisville. However, meaning no disrespect, try to go deeper than what your landlord claims or what Ele Grigsby posts on his promotional sign at 402 Belgravia Ct (a photo of the sign taken and kept in the Fall 2005 in anticipation of this very controversy.) I have tried to get Mr. Grigsby to provide more than hearsay support for the carefully worded claim on his sign - "this structure...has been attributed to...William J. Dodd" - but he has not done so and nolonger replies to my inquiries. In front of me is "Old Louisville: The Victorian Era" by Samuel Thomas and Will Morgan. They discuss the chateauesque buildings around Old Louisville and though they identify Dodd as the designer with Mason Maury of several more restrained examples in this style at Park and also near St. Catherine, they do not do the same with the "notable Chateauesque ensemble", a.k.a. "the group at Fourth and Hill" (quotes are their wording); they leave those structures unattributed. I believe Sam Thomas still lives in Louisville. You might check with him to see if new data has come forth. Or perhaps your landlord has found the building permit record or blueprints or newspaper articles announcing the new building. Such primary source material would really seal this issue, fix the year of construction and be most welcome by anyone researching Dodd's work. I'd love to look at those records if they exist. Please note that I don't deny the possibility of your posted attribution to Dodd, afterall who else would do that kind of high-styled design in Louisville ca 1895; I just want to see the historical provenance. The Chroniclerk 22:45, 27 June 2006 (UTC)

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Sam Thomas died October 4, 2012. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/louisville/obituary.aspx?pid=160294872#fbLoggedOut Chroniclerk (talk) 17:20, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

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Changes

I reviewed this article, found it to be unencyclopedic in many ways and did quite a lot of re-organisation and some rewriting.

• Many important facts were stated as phrases introducing a secondary point. More straightforward statements were needed like: Between 18** and 18** Dodd worked at City, State.
• Some of the biographical material was not written in the past tense. "Dodd is doing this and that" instead of "Dodd was doing this and that."
• Words like "precise craftsmanship" which are accurately descriptive will generally get through, but if you use a word like "magnificent", "beautiful", and the like, they are always deleted as "peacock words" unless they are direct quotations, eg. Architectural historian Joanne Bloggs described the library as "one of the most magnificent architectural works of its era in this city".(ref)Joanne Bloggs, The Chigago Style, (2009)(/ref)
• Concerning the lengthy notes under the thumbnails in the gallery. The speculation about the style and authorship were really too much. One reason is that there is no description whatsoever within the article itself of any building that Dodd is known to have designed. He style is not articulated for the reader. Therefore it is quite out of place to say that this building isn't in Dodd's usual style. Tell us, somewhere, what sort of buildings he designed!

POV. This is my point of view entirely. For stylistic reasons, I would say that the building is definitely Dodd or a close associate. Regardless of the fact that the designer is using a different architectural "vocabulary", the basic elements of the "language" are the same.

I have made a fairly detailed edit summaries, describing why I have made each change. These can be found on the history page of the article. Amandajm (talk) 12:17, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

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Thanks for the editing and guiding comments.Chroniclerk (talk) 15:45, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

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Areas for further research: folklore and unexamined anecdotes

1. Why did Dodd not stay in Chicago and pursue a career there?

2. Was Dodd actually employed by the firm McKim, Mead and White? If so, was it in New York or in Portland OR?

3. Did Dodd leave Louisville for California under professional or personal opprobrium? Local lore describes him as a gadfly.

4. Ione Estes Dodd made frequent visits to homeopathic sanatoria/baths, though not uncommon for people of her class. She lived into her late 80s and suffered from end-of-life dementia (psychosis). There is also local lore from California that she had a breakdown of a sort in public, consequent to William's death and the liquidation of their assets during the early years of the Great Depression. Does the historic record offer a larger frame for viewing these particulars?

5. Did Dodd's relationship with Jews and Judaism transcend a merely professional disinterest?

Beautiful New Home in St. James Court. Mantel in library of WJ Dodd's last residence in Louisville featuring a central, prominent Star of David. Click on pic to enlarge.

Chroniclerk (talk) 10:49, 12 June 2024 (UTC)

References