16 Facts About Henry Bacon

Henry Bacon was an American Beaux-Arts architect who oversaw the engineering and design of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, built between 1915 and 1922, which was his final project before his 1924 death.

Henry Bacon studied briefly at the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1884, but left to begin his architectural career as a draftsman.

Henry Bacon traveled with another fellowship student, Albert Kahn from Detroit, Michigan, who went on to become a leading industrial architect.

In 1897, Henry Bacon left with James Brite, a younger architect from the firm, to found the partnership of Brite and Henry Bacon Architects.

Brite was in charge of financial, administrative, and contracting aspects of the partnership, while Henry Bacon was in charge of the architectural design and construction.

In 1897, following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Henry Bacon was approached by a group, which had organized to raise public and private funds to build a monument in Washington, DC, to memorialize President Abraham Lincoln.

Henry Bacon began his conceptual, artistic, and architectural design for the Lincoln Memorial that year.

Henry Bacon continued in the effort, although the funding to build the project was not secured until years later.

The Brite and Henry Bacon Partnership dissolved in 1902, partly resulting from Brite's disagreement over Henry Bacon's passion and the unpaid time he spent on the memorial design.

In 1913, Henry Bacon was elected into the National Academy of Design as an associate member, and he became a full member in 1917.

Henry Bacon was very active as a designer of monuments and settings for public sculpture.

Henry Bacon designed the Court of the Four Seasons for the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, and the World War I Memorial at Yale University.

Henry Bacon skillfully integrated into a residential setting many of his signature Greek Revival and Roman Renaissance elements and proportions.

The third Henry Bacon-designed private residence is Chesterwood House, which he designed for his friend, the noted sculptor Daniel Chester French, as his summer home and studio at Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Henry Bacon served as a member of the US Commission of Fine Arts from 1921 until his death in 1924.

Henry Bacon died of cancer in New York City, and he is buried at Oakdale Cemetery in Wilmington, North Carolina.