Ralph Adams Cram : biography
December 16, 1863 – September 22, 1942
Ralph Adams Cram, FAIA (December 16, 1863 – September 22, 1942) was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partnerships in which he worked. Together with an architect and artist, he is honored on December 16 as a feast day in the Episcopal Church of the United States.
Veneration
Cram is honored on December 16 as a feast day, together with the architect Richard Upjohn and artist John LaFarge, on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA).
Works
Cram’s buildings include:
- The Birches, Garrison, New York, 1882
- Rehoboth, Chappaqua, New York, 1891–1892
- All Saints’ Church, Ashmont, Massachusetts, 1892
- Christ Church (Hyde Park, Massachusetts), 1892
- Church of St. John Evangelist, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1892
- Lady Chapel, Church of the Advent, Boston, Massachusetts, 1894
- Richmond Court, Brookline, Massachusetts, 1896
- Philips Church, Exeter, New Hampshire, 1897
- Public Library, Fall River, Massachusetts 1899
- Deborah Cook Sayles Public Library, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, 1899
- Emmanuel Church, Newport, Rhode Island, 1900
- Calvary Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1904
- Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, New York, with Henry Vaughan, 1904
- All Saints’ Chapel, Sewanee: The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, begun 1904, finished 1959
- The Mather School, Dorchester, Massachusetts, 1905
- La Santisima Trinidad pro-cathedral, Havana, Cuba, 1905
- Saint Thomas Church, New York City, 1905–1913
- First Unitarian Society in Newton, Massachusetts, 1905–1906
- Many buildings at Sweet Briar College, including Mary K. Benedict Hall, Fletcher Hall, Mary Harley Student Health and Counseling Center, Mary Helen Cochran Library. Sweet Briar, Virginia, 1906–1928
- Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Detroit, Michigan, 1908
- Russell Sage Memorial Church, Far Rockaway, New York, 1908-1910
- St. Florian Church, Hamtramck, Michigan, 1910, expanded by Cram 1928
- master plan and multiple buildings at Rice University, Houston, Texas, 1910–1916
- All Saints Cathedral, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1910
- Park Avenue Christian Church, NYC, 1911
- Church of the Covenant in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland, 1911
- Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York City, begun 1912, unfinished
- All Soul’s Congregational Church, Bangor, MaineBangor, Maine, 1912
- remodeling of Richard Upjohn’s Grace Church, Providence, Rhode Island, 1912
- Masters Hall at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, NY, 1921
- multiple buildings at Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, including the 1917 Cleveland Tower, the 1928 Princeton University Chapel, Campbell Hall, McCormick Hall, and multiple buildings of the Graduate College, 1913–1927
- , Malden, Massachusetts, begun 1913, unfinished,
- Fourth Presbyterian Church, Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, 1914
- multiple buildings, including Ryland Hall, Jeter Hall and North Court, all at University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, 1914
- multiple buildings at the Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, including the 1914 Academy Building
- Chapel of St. Anne, Arlington, Massachusetts, 1915
- All Saints Church (Peterborough, New Hampshire), ca 1916-1920
- Chapel of Mercersburg Academy, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, 1916–1928
- Cole Memorial Chapel, Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts, 1917
- Trinity Episcopal Church, Houston, Texas, 1919
- St. Mark’s Episcopal Pro-Cathedral, Hastings, Nebraska, 1921–1929
- Second Presbyterian Church (Lexington, Kentucky), 1922
- Sacred Heart Church, Jersey City, New Jersey, 1923
- buildings at The Choate School, Wallingford, Connecticut, 1924–1928, including St. Andrews Chapel (now Seymour St. John Chapel) and Archbold Infirmary (now Archbold House)
- St. James’ Episcopal Church, New York City, rebuilt, 1924
- First Presbyterian Church, Utica, New York, 1924
- First Presbyterian Church, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1925–27
- Julia Ideson Building of the Houston Public Library, Houston, Texas, 1926
- Chapel at St. George’s School, Newport, Rhode Island, 1928
- Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1928
- First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, Glens Falls, New York, 1928
- St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Winston-Salem, NC Winston-Salem, 1928
- Concordia Lutheran Church, Louisville, Kentucky, 1930
- Knowles Memorial Chapel, on the campus of Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida, 1931–1932
- chancel, Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, Maryland, 1931
- Doheny Library, Campus of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1931
- Saint Mary’s Academy, Glens Falls, New York, 1932
- Cathedral of Hope, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1932–1935
- U.S. Post Office and Courthouse aka J.W. McCormack Post Office and Courthouse, Boston, Massachusetts, 1933
- Conventual Church of St. Mary and St. John, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1936
- buildings at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial, Belleau, France, 1937
- buildings at the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial, Fère-en-Tardenois, Aisne department, France, c. 1937
- Berkeley Building, Boston, Massachusetts, 1947