Rexford Newcomb Explained

Rexford G. Newcomb (April 24, 1886 – March 16, 1968) was an American architectural historian.

Biography

Newcomb was born in Independence, Kansas, on April 24, 1886. After undergraduate study at the University of Kansas, he earned both a second bachelor's degree in architecture and a master's in architecture at the University of Illinois, and a master of arts at the University of Southern California.^[1] He married Ruth Bergen on October 24, 1911 in Wichita, Kansas; they had three children.^[2]

After stints teaching at the Long Beach Polytechnic High School and Long Beach Evening High School, University of Southern California and Texas A&M University,^[1] Newcomb returned to the University of Illinois as a faculty member in 1918. He remained there until 1954. He served as dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts from 1932 to 1954.^[3] He was also the second president of the Society of Architectural Historians.^[4]

Newcomb died on March 16, 1968, at Princeton, Illinois.^[5]

Recognition

Newcomb was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1940,^[6] and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1928.^[7] His book Architecture of the Old Northwest Territory was the 1950 winner of the Alice Davis Hitchcock Award.^[8]

Newcomb's collected papers are held by the University of Illinois library system.^[9]

Selected books

• Book: Newcomb, Rexford . The Franciscan Mission Architecture of Alta California . 1916 . New York . Architectural Book Publishing Co.. Reprinted by Dover Publications in 1973, .
• Book: Newcomb, Rexford . Outline of the History of Architecture . University of Illinois . 1922. . Republished as Outlines of the History of Architecture in four separate volumes by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1931–1939.^[10]
• Book: Newcomb, Rexford . The Old Mission Churches and Historic Houses of California: Their History, Architecture, Lore . J.B. Lippincott Company . Philadelphia . 1925. ^[11]
• Book: Newcomb, Rexford . Hispanic Architecture: The Spanish House For America. Its Design, Furnishing and Garden. . J.B. Lippincott Company . Philadelphia . 1927. ^[12]
• Book: Newcomb, Rexford . In the Lincoln Country: Journeys to the Lincoln Shrines of Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Other States . 1928 . J.B. Lippincott Company . Philadelphia . ^[13]
• Book: Newcomb, Rexford . Mediterranean Domestic Architecture in the United States . 1928 . Acanthus Press LLC . 0-926494-13-9 .
• Book: Newcomb . Rexford . Foster . William A. . Home Architecture: A Textbook for Schools and Colleges, a Manual for the Home Builder and Home Owner . New York . John Wiley & Sons, Inc. . 1932. ^[14]
• Book: Newcomb, Rexford . Spanish-Colonial Architecture in the United States . 1937 . JJ Augustin . New York . 978-0-486-26263-5 . registration . Reprinted by Dover Publications in 1990.
• Book: Newcomb, Rexford . Ceramic Whitewares: History, Technology and Applications . New York . Pitman . 1947.
• Book: Newcomb, Rexford . Architecture of the Old Northwest Territory: A Study of Early Architecture in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Part of Minnesota . 1950 . Chicago . University of Chicago Press. ^[15]
• Book: Newcomb, Rexford . Architecture in Old Kentucky . University of Illinois Press . Urbana . 1953 . ^[16]

Notes and References

1. Book: The Illio . University of Illinois . 1932 . 10111/UIUCOCA:illio193239univ . 28.
2. News: Princeton – Mrs. Ruth Newcomb, 79 . Dixon Evening Telegraph . August 21, 1968 . Newspapers.com .
3. Web site: Rexford Newcomb. University of Illinois. College of Fine & Applied Arts. November 21, 2020.
4. Fazio . Michael . August 1991 . 10.2307/1425144 . 4 . Journal of Architectural Education . 1425144 . 225–234 . Interpreting Southern Antebellum Architecture in the 1990s . 44.
5. Deaths. 20 . The Archi . Alpha Rho Chi . Spring 1969 .
6. Web site: Rexford Newcomb. AIA Historical Directory of American Architects. ahd1032463. 2020-11-21.
7. Web site: Historic Fellows. American Association for the Advancement of Science. November 22, 2020.
8. Web site: Alice Davis Hitchcock Book Award Recipients . Society of Architectural Historians. 2020-11-21. Publication Awards.
9. Web site: Rexford G. Newcomb Papers, 1902-65. University of Illinois. University Library. November 21, 2020.
10. Morgan . Keith N. . Cheek . Richard . Studies in the History of Art . 42620496 . 61–75 . History in the service of design: American architect-historians, 1870–1940 . 35 . 1990. Review of Outlines of the History of Architecture:
    • T. K. H. . April 1933 . 3 . Landscape Architecture Magazine . 44662231 . 212 . none . 23.
11. Reviews of The Old Mission Churches and Historic Houses of California:
    • December 1925 . 12 . The American Magazine of Art . 23929089 . 679 . none . 16.
    • P. W. B. . January 1926 . 4 . The Catholic Historical Review . 25012259 . 730–735 . none . 11.
    • Coy . Owen C. . January 1926 . The Grizzly Bear . Architecture: Art and lore of the mission churches . 8–9 . 38 . 225 .
    • Purdy . Helen Throop . December 1925 . 10.2307/25177786 . 4 . California Historical Society Quarterly . 25177786 . 394–396 . none . 4.
    • Robertson . James A. . August 1927 . 10.2307/2505864 . 3 . The Hispanic American Historical Review . 2505864 . 347–349 . none . 7. 2027/mdp.39015013176519 . free .
12. Reviews of Hispanic Architecture: The Spanish House For America:
    • News: Hispanic Architecture: The Spanish House For America. Its Design, Furnishing and Garden. By Rexford Newcomb (review) . New York Times . March 27, 1927 . November 21, 2020.
    • April 1927 . 4 . The American Magazine of Art . 23930449 . 224 . none . 18.
    • Robertson . James A. . August 1927 . 10.2307/2505865 . 3 . The Hispanic American Historical Review . 2505865 . 349–350 . none . 7.
13. Reviews of In the Lincoln Country:
    • R. N. R. B. . May 1929 . 10.2307/1784661 . 5 . The Geographical Journal . 1784661 . 480–481 . none . 73.
    • E. W. J. . June 1929 . 2 . Geography . 40557296 . 172 . none . 15.
14. Review of Home Architecture:
    • Strong . William A. . January 1935 . 2 . Landscape Architecture Magazine . 44658392 . 110–111 . none . 25.
15. Reviews of Architecture of the Old Northwest Territory:
    • Buley . R. Carlyle . September 1951 . 3 . Indiana Magazine of History . 27787965 . 299–301 . none . 47.
    • Cater . Harold Dean . Review . Minnesota History . 32 . 2 . June 1951 . 20175599 . 109–110.
    • Drury . John . none . The Mississippi Valley Historical Review . 37 . 3 . 1950 . 1893336 . 10.2307/1893336 . 527.
    • Hamlin . Talbot . April 1951 . 10.2307/1916912 . 2 . The William and Mary Quarterly . 1916912 . 260–262 . none . 8.
    • Hamlin . Talbot . Winter 1951 . 10.2307/772330 . 2 . College Art Journal . 772330 . 209–210 . none . 10.
    • Jenkins . John W. . Spring 1952 . 3 . The Wisconsin Magazine of History . 4632416 . 221–222 . none . 35.
    • Kocher . A. Lawrence . October 1951 . 4 . Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies . 27769265 . 352–354 . none . 18.
16. Reviews of Architecture in Old Kentucky:
    • Clark . Thomas D. . February 1954 . 10.2307/2954593 . 1 . The Journal of Southern History . 2954593 . 114–115 . none . 20.
    • Creese . Walter L. . none . Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians . University of California Press . 12 . 2 . 1953-05-01 . 987547 . 10.2307/987547 . 30–31.
    • Garvan . Anthony N. B. . January 1954 . 10.2307/1923167 . 1 . The William and Mary Quarterly . 1923167 . 143–144 . none . 11.
    • B. E. H. . April 1953 . 175 . The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society . 23373748 . 176–177 . none . 51.
    • Lancaster . Clay . none . College Art Journal . 13 . 2 . Winter 1954 . 10.1080/15436322.1954.11465856 . 150–151 . 773529. 164009723 .
    • Richardson . A. E. . October 1953 . 4911 . Journal of the Royal Society of Arts . 41365589 . 868–869 . none . 101.
    • Zucker . Paul . December 1953 . 10.2307/426883 . 2 . The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism . 426883 . 268–269 . none . 12.