Roscoe DeWitt

Roscoe DeWitt (1894–1975) was an American architect. He designed many buildings in Texas, including houses, libraries, hospitals, schools, churches and several buildings on the campus of Southern Methodist University.

Roscoe DeWitt
Born1894
Died1975
NationalityAmerican
EducationDartmouth College
Harvard University
Occupationarchitect

Early life

Roscoe Plimpton DeWitt was born 1894.[1] He was the first student enrolled at the school that eventually became St. Mark's School of Texas,[2] graduating in 1910. He graduated from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire in 1914 and received his MA in architecture from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1917.[1]

Military

During the First World War, DeWitt served as a captain in the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps.[1] During the Second World War, he served as a major in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program, safeguarding historical buildings in the French countryside.[1] Their efforts were described in the book, Monuments Men.

Architecture
The Sam Rayburn Library and Museum, designed by DeWitt.

DeWitt designed the hospital in Marshall, Texas in 1927.[3] He designed the Sam Rayburn Library and Museum in Bonham, Texas in the Classical Revival architectural style in 1955.[4] In the latter part of his career, DeWitt helped restore the original Senate and Supreme Court buildings and the James Madison Memorial Building of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.[1] He also helped design the Dallas neighborhood of Wynnewood, under the direction of businessman Angus G. Wynne.[5]

Together with Mark Lemmon, DeWitt designed the Sunset High School, the Woodrow Wilson High School, some buildings on the campus of Southern Methodist University, and the Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas.[1][6][7]

Together with Arch B. Swank, Jr., DeWitt designed buildings of the Parkland Memorial Hospital, two Neiman Marcus stores, Stanley Marcus's private residence, all in Dallas.[1] Additionally, in Jacksonville, Florida, they designed the St. Vincent's Medical Center.[1]

Affiliations

DeWitt served on the Boards of Directors of the Dallas Opera and on the Advisory Board for the Texas Commission on Arts and Humanities.[1] Additionally, he was a member of the Dallas Historical Society, the Texas Philosophical Society, the Royal Society of Arts, the American Federation of Arts, the Harvard Club of New York, and the Cosmos Club, a gentlemen's club in Washington, D.C..[1]

Death

DeWitt died on November 2, 1975.[1]

References
  1. Roscoe Plimpton DeWitt ( 1894–1975 ), Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art
  3. "$200,000 Structure To Be Erected Here By The T.&P. Railway". The Marshall Messenger. Marshall, Texas. July 27, 1927. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Sam Rayburn Library Near Reality; Bids to be Opened". Grand Prairie Daily News. Grand Prairie, Texas. October 25, 1955. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Wilonsky, Robert (November 7, 2008). "A Coffee-Table Tribute to Those Who Built This City (Not on Rock and Roll)". The Dallas Observer. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  6. Winters, Willis, “Mark Lemmon,” Texas Architect, November–December 1989
  7. Robert Wilonsky, As Marcus House Works Its Way Toward Historic Designation, Lessons Learned, Dallas Observer, January 21, 2010
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