Rexford Newcomb

{{short description|American architect}} '''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.<ref name=illio>{{cite book | title = The Illio | publisher = University of Illinois | year = 1932 | hdl = 10111/UIUCOCA:illio193239univ | page = 28}}</ref> He married Ruth Bergen on October 24, 1911 in Wichita, Kansas; they had three children.<ref>{{cite news | title = Princeton – Mrs. Ruth Newcomb, 79 | newspaper = Dixon Evening Telegraph | date = August 21, 1968 | url = https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/74633544/ | via = Newspapers.com }}</ref>

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,<ref name=illio/> 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.<ref name="colpapers"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://faa.illinois.edu/rexford-newcomb|title=Rexford Newcomb|publisher=University of Illinois|department=College of Fine & Applied Arts|access-date=November 21, 2020}}</ref> He was also the second president of the Society of Architectural Historians.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Fazio | first = Michael | date = August 1991 | doi = 10.2307/1425144 | issue = 4 | journal = Journal of Architectural Education | jstor = 1425144 | pages = 225–234 | title = Interpreting Southern Antebellum Architecture in the 1990s | volume = 44}}</ref>

Newcomb died on March 16, 1968, at Princeton, Illinois.<ref>{{cite magazine | url = https://alpharhochi.org/archi-files/backissues/1969-Spring-Archi/1969-Spring-Archi-opt.pdf | page = 20 | magazine = The Archi | publisher = Alpha Rho Chi | date = Spring 1969 | title = Deaths}}</ref>

==Recognition== Newcomb was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1940,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aiahistoricaldirectory.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/AHDAA/pages/35298306/ahd1032463|title=Rexford Newcomb|work=AIA Historical Directory of American Architects|id=ahd1032463|access-date=2020-11-21}}</ref> and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1928.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aaas.org/fellows/historic|title=Historic Fellows|publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science|access-date=November 22, 2020}}</ref> His book ''Architecture of the Old Northwest Territory'' was the 1950 winner of the Alice Davis Hitchcock Award.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sah.org/conferences-and-programs/award-programs/publication-awards/hitchcock-book-award-recipients|title=Alice Davis Hitchcock Book Award Recipients |publisher=Society of Architectural Historians|access-date=2020-11-21|work=Publication Awards}}</ref>

Newcomb's collected papers are held by the University of Illinois library system.<ref name="colpapers">{{cite web|url=https://archon.library.illinois.edu/?p=collections/controlcard&id=2888|title=Rexford G. Newcomb Papers, 1902-65|publisher=University of Illinois|department=University Library|access-date=November 21, 2020}}</ref>

==Selected books== * {{cite book | last = Newcomb | first = Rexford | title = The Franciscan Mission Architecture of Alta California | year = 1916 | url = https://archive.org/details/gri_33125001116611 | location = New York | publisher = Architectural Book Publishing Co.}} Reprinted by Dover Publications in 1973, {{ISBN|0-486-21740-X}}. * {{cite book | last = Newcomb | first = Rexford | title = Outline of the History of Architecture | publisher = University of Illinois | year = 1922}}. Republished as ''Outlines of the History of Architecture'' in four separate volumes by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1931–1939.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Morgan | first1 = Keith N. | last2 = Cheek | first2 = Richard | journal = Studies in the History of Art | jstor = 42620496 | pages = 61–75 | title = History in the service of design: American architect-historians, 1870–1940 | volume = 35 | year = 1990}} Review of ''Outlines of the History of Architecture'': *{{cite journal | author = T. K. H. | date = April 1933 | issue = 3 | journal = Landscape Architecture Magazine | jstor = 44662231 | page = 212 | title = none | volume = 23}} </ref> * {{cite book | last = Newcomb | first = Rexford | title = The Old Mission Churches and Historic Houses of California: Their History, Architecture, Lore | publisher = J.B. Lippincott Company | location = Philadelphia | year = 1925}}<ref>Reviews of ''The Old Mission Churches and Historic Houses of California'': *{{cite journal | date = December 1925 | issue = 12 | journal = The American Magazine of Art | jstor = 23929089 | page = 679 | title = none | volume = 16}} *{{cite journal | author = P. W. B. | date = January 1926 | issue = 4 | journal = The Catholic Historical Review | jstor = 25012259 | pages = 730–735 | title = none | volume = 11}} *{{cite magazine | last = Coy | first = Owen C. | date = January 1926 | magazine = The Grizzly Bear | url = https://archive.org/details/grizzlybe381925391926nati/page/n129 | pages = 8–9 | title = Architecture: Art and lore of the mission churches | volume = 38 | issue = 225 }} *{{cite journal | last = Purdy | first = Helen Throop | date = December 1925 | doi = 10.2307/25177786 | issue = 4 | journal = California Historical Society Quarterly | jstor = 25177786 | pages = 394–396 | title = none | volume = 4}} *{{cite journal | last = Robertson | first = James A. | date = August 1927 | doi = 10.2307/2505864 | issue = 3 | journal = The Hispanic American Historical Review | jstor = 2505864 | pages = 347–349 | title = none | volume = 7| hdl = 2027/mdp.39015013176519 | hdl-access = free }} </ref> * {{cite book | last = Newcomb | first = Rexford | title = Hispanic Architecture: The Spanish House For America. Its Design, Furnishing and Garden. | publisher = J.B. Lippincott Company | location = Philadelphia | year = 1927}}<ref>Reviews of ''Hispanic Architecture: The Spanish House For America'': *{{cite news | title = Hispanic Architecture: The Spanish House For America. Its Design, Furnishing and Garden. By Rexford Newcomb (review) | work = New York Times | date = March 27, 1927 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1927/03/27/archives/hispanic-architecture-the-spanish-house-for-america-its-design.html | access-date = November 21, 2020}} *{{cite journal | date = April 1927 | issue = 4 | journal = The American Magazine of Art | jstor = 23930449 | page = 224 | title = none | volume = 18}} *{{cite journal | last = Robertson | first = James A. | date = August 1927 | doi = 10.2307/2505865 | issue = 3 | journal = The Hispanic American Historical Review | jstor = 2505865 | pages = 349–350 | title = none | volume = 7}} </ref> * {{cite book | last = Newcomb | first = Rexford | title = In the Lincoln Country: Journeys to the Lincoln Shrines of Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Other States | year = 1928 | publisher = J.B. Lippincott Company | location = Philadelphia }}<ref>Reviews of ''In the Lincoln Country'': *{{cite journal | author = R. N. R. B. | date = May 1929 | doi = 10.2307/1784661 | issue = 5 | journal = The Geographical Journal | jstor = 1784661 | pages = 480–481 | title = none | volume = 73}} *{{cite journal | author = E. W. J. | date = June 1929 | issue = 2 | journal = Geography | jstor = 40557296 | page = 172 | title = none | volume = 15}} </ref> * {{cite book | last = Newcomb | first = Rexford | title = Mediterranean Domestic Architecture in the United States | year = 1928 | publisher = Acanthus Press LLC | isbn = 0-926494-13-9 }} * {{cite book | last1 = Newcomb | first1 = Rexford | last2 = Foster | first2 = William A. | title = Home Architecture: A Textbook for Schools and Colleges, a Manual for the Home Builder and Home Owner | location = New York | publisher = John Wiley & Sons, Inc. | year = 1932}}<ref>Review of ''Home Architecture'': *{{cite journal | last = Strong | first = William A. | date = January 1935 | issue = 2 | journal = Landscape Architecture Magazine | jstor = 44658392 | pages = 110–111 | title = none | volume = 25}} </ref> * {{cite book | last = Newcomb | first = Rexford | title = Spanish-Colonial Architecture in the United States | year = 1937 | publisher = JJ Augustin | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-486-26263-5 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/spanishcoloniala00newc}} Reprinted by Dover Publications in 1990. * {{cite book | last = Newcomb | first = Rexford | title = Ceramic Whitewares: History, Technology and Applications | location = New York | publisher = Pitman | year = 1947}} * {{cite book | last = Newcomb | first = Rexford | title = Architecture of the Old Northwest Territory: A Study of Early Architecture in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Part of Minnesota | year = 1950 | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press}}<ref>Reviews of ''Architecture of the Old Northwest Territory'': *{{cite journal | last = Buley | first = R. Carlyle | date = September 1951 | issue = 3 | journal = Indiana Magazine of History | jstor = 27787965 | pages = 299–301 | title = none | volume = 47}} *{{cite journal | last = Cater | first = Harold Dean | title = Review | journal = Minnesota History | url = http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/32/v32i02p109-128.pdf | volume = 32 | issue = 2 | date = June 1951 | jstor = 20175599 | pages = 109–110}} *{{cite journal | last = Drury | first = John | title = none | journal = The Mississippi Valley Historical Review | volume = 37 | issue = 3 | year = 1950 | jstor = 1893336 | doi = 10.2307/1893336 | page = 527}} *{{cite journal | last = Hamlin | first = Talbot | date = April 1951 | doi = 10.2307/1916912 | issue = 2 | journal = The William and Mary Quarterly | jstor = 1916912 | pages = 260–262 | title = none | volume = 8}} *{{cite journal | last = Hamlin | first = Talbot | date = Winter 1951 | doi = 10.2307/772330 | issue = 2 | journal = College Art Journal | jstor = 772330 | pages = 209–210 | title = none | volume = 10}} *{{cite journal | last = Jenkins | first = John W. | date = Spring 1952 | issue = 3 | journal = The Wisconsin Magazine of History | jstor = 4632416 | pages = 221–222 | title = none | volume = 35}} *{{cite journal | last = Kocher | first = A. Lawrence | date = October 1951 | issue = 4 | journal = Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies | jstor = 27769265 | pages = 352–354 | title = none | volume = 18}} </ref> * {{cite book | last = Newcomb | first = Rexford | title = Architecture in Old Kentucky | publisher = University of Illinois Press | location = Urbana | year = 1953 }}<ref>Reviews of ''Architecture in Old Kentucky'': *{{cite journal | last = Clark | first = Thomas D. | date = February 1954 | doi = 10.2307/2954593 | issue = 1 | journal = The Journal of Southern History | jstor = 2954593 | pages = 114–115 | title = none | volume = 20}} *{{cite journal | last = Creese | first = Walter L. | title = none | journal = Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians | publisher = University of California Press | volume = 12 | issue = 2 | date = 1953-05-01 | jstor = 987547 | doi = 10.2307/987547 | pages = 30–31}} *{{cite journal | last = Garvan | first = Anthony N. B. | date = January 1954 | doi = 10.2307/1923167 | issue = 1 | journal = The William and Mary Quarterly | jstor = 1923167 | pages = 143–144 | title = none | volume = 11}} *{{cite journal | author = B. E. H. | date = April 1953 | issue = 175 | journal = The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society | jstor = 23373748 | pages = 176–177 | title = none | volume = 51}} *{{cite journal | last = Lancaster | first = Clay | title = none | journal = College Art Journal | volume = 13 | issue = 2 | date = Winter 1954 | doi = 10.1080/15436322.1954.11465856 | pages = 150–151 | jstor = 773529| s2cid = 164009723 }} *{{cite journal | last = Richardson | first = A. E. | date = October 1953 | issue = 4911 | journal = Journal of the Royal Society of Arts | jstor = 41365589 | pages = 868–869 | title = none | volume = 101}} *{{cite journal | last = Zucker | first = Paul | date = December 1953 | doi = 10.2307/426883 | issue = 2 | journal = The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism | jstor = 426883 | pages = 268–269 | title = none | volume = 12}} </ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{Authority control}} {{commons category|Rexford Newcomb}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newcomb, Rexford}} Category:1886 births Category:1968 deaths Category:American architectural historians Category:University of Kansas alumni Category:University of Illinois School of Architecture alumni Category:University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Category:University of Southern California faculty Category:Texas A&M University faculty Category:American university and college faculty deans Category:Fellows of the American Institute of Architects Category:Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Category:Historians from Texas Category:Historians from California Category:20th-century American historians