Samuel Yellin
Encyclopedia
University of the Arts (Philadelphia)
The University of the Arts is one of the United States' oldest universities dedicated to the arts. Its campus makes up part of the Avenue of the Arts in Center City, Philadelphia...
and within a year was teaching classes there, a position that he maintained until 1919.
In 1909 he opened his own shop and in 1915 the firm of Mellor, Meigs and Howe, for whom he designed and created many commissions, designed Yellin a new studio at 5520 Arch Street in Philadelphia where he was to remain until his death in 1940. The building continued to act as a functioning business under Yellin’s son Harvey’s direction. After his demise it served as the Samuel Yellin Museum.
During the building boom of the 1920s Yellin’s studio employed as many as 250 workers, many of them European artisans. Although Yellin appreciated traditional craftsmanship and design, he always championed creativity and the development of new designs. He was no slave to the past. Samuel Yellin’s handiwork can be found on some of the finest buildings in America.
Selected Universities, Colleges and Schools
- Annapolis Colored High School, Annapolis MD
- Art Institute of ChicagoArt Institute of ChicagoThe School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
IL - Bowdoin CollegeBowdoin CollegeBowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...
- Bryn Mawr CollegeBryn Mawr CollegeBryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
- California Institute of TechnologyCalifornia Institute of TechnologyThe California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
, PasadenaPasadena, CaliforniaPasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, CA - Drexel InstituteDrexel UniversityDrexel University is a private research university with the main campus located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a noted financier and philanthropist. Drexel offers 70 full-time undergraduate programs and accelerated degrees...
, Philadelphia PA - Eastman School of MusicEastman School of MusicThe Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
, RochesterRochester, New YorkRochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, NY - Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, CambridgeCambridgeThe city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
MA - Haverford CollegeHaverford CollegeHaverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
- Jewish Theological SeminaryJewish Theological Seminary of AmericaThe Jewish Theological Seminary of America is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.JTS operates five schools: Albert A...
, NY NY - Oberlin CollegeOberlin CollegeOberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, OberlinOberlinOberlin may refer to:Places in the United States* Oberlin, Kansas* Oberlin, Louisiana* Oberlin, Ohio** Oberlin College** Oberlin ConservatoryPeople*Oberlin...
OH - Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, PrincetonPrinceton, New JerseyPrinceton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
NJ - Swarthmore CollegeSwarthmore CollegeSwarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
- University of ChicagoUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
IL - University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, Ann Arbor MI - University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, Philadelphia PA - University of PittsburghUniversity of PittsburghThe University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
, PittsburghPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
PA - University of Texas at AustinUniversity of Texas at AustinThe University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
, AustinAustin, TexasAustin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
TX - University of TulsaUniversity of TulsaThe University of Tulsa is a private university awarding bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. It is currently ranked 75th among doctoral degree granting universities in the nation by US News and World Report and is listed as one of the "Best 366 Colleges" by...
, Tulsa OK - University of VirginiaUniversity of VirginiaThe University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
, Charlottesville VA - Vanderbilt UniversityVanderbilt UniversityVanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
, NashvilleNashville, TennesseeNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
TN - Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, New Haven CT
Selected Institutional/Commercial Works
- Federal Reserve Bank of New York33 Liberty Street33 Liberty Street is the current home of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It is located in downtown Manhattan in New York City, New York State, USA. Built in 1924, it is where the monetary policy of the United States is executed by trading dollars and United States Treasuries...
, NY - Central Savings BankApple Bank for SavingsThe Apple Bank for Savings provides private and commercial banking services to the greater New York City area. It is the 4th largest New York-based bank and has 50 branches in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx, as well as Westchester, Suffolk and Nassau counties...
, NY - Ford Motor Company, NY
- Dime Savings Bank, NY
- Detroit Public LibraryDetroit Public LibraryThe Detroit Public Library is the second largest library system in Michigan by volumes held , and is the 20th largest library system in the United States. It is composed of a Main Library on Woodward Avenue, which houses DPL administration offices, and twenty-three branch locations across the city...
- General Motors Co., NY
- Victor Talking Machine Co,
- Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Atlantic City, NJ
- Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts
- Harkness Memorial Library, Yale University, New Haven CT
- Union Station, Indianapolis, IN
- Peabody Museum, New Haven, CT
- American Radiator BuildingAmerican Radiator BuildingThe American Radiator Building is a landmark skyscraper located at 40 West 40th Street, in midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was conceived by the architects John Howells and Raymond Hood in 1924 and built for the American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Company...
, NY - Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit MI
- International Business Machine (IBM) NY NY
- Barclay-Vesey Building, NY
- Morristown Memorial, Morristown NJ
- Sarasota Court House, Sarasota FL
- Union Pacific RR Station, Boise ID
- Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company Building, Philadelphia PA
- Allegheny County CourthouseAllegheny County CourthouseAllegheny County Courthouse is a government building of Allegheny County located in the county seat, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.- Early structures:...
, Pittsburgh PA - Fidelity Bankers Trust, Knoxville TN
- Grand Rapids Art Gallery, Grand Rapids MI
- Salvation Arm Headquarters, NY NY
- Aetna Life Insurance Co, Hartford CT
- Law Library, Ann Arbor MI
- Seattle Art Museum, Seattle WA
- The CloistersThe CloistersThe Cloisters is a museum located in Fort Tryon Park, New York City. The building, which is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was reconstructed in the 1930s from the architectural elements of several European medieval abbeys...
(Metropolitan Museum of New York), NY NY - San Diego Air Station, San Diego CA
- Candoro Marble WorksCandoro Marble WorksThe Candoro Marble Works is a marble cutting and polishing facility located in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Established as a subsidiary of the John J. Craig Company in 1914, the facility's marble products were used in the construction of numerous monumental buildings across the United States during...
(showroom door), Knoxville TN - Baltimore Trust Company, Baltimore MD
Selected Ecclesiastical works
- St. Patrick’s Church, Philadelphia, PA
- Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron, OH
- Washington Memorial ChapelWashington Memorial ChapelLocated in Valley Forge National Historical Park in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, the Washington Memorial Chapel is both an active Episcopal Parish and a tribute to General George Washington. Designed by Milton B. Medary, the Chapel resulted from a sermon preached by founder, the Rev. Dr. W...
, Valley ForgeValley ForgeValley Forge in Pennsylvania was the site of the military camp of the American Continental Army over the winter of 1777–1778 in the American Revolutionary War.-History:...
PA - St. Vincent Ferrer, NY
- St. Bartholomew’s Church, NY
- Washington National CathedralWashington National CathedralThe Washington National Cathedral, officially named the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. Of neogothic design, it is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world, the second-largest in...
, Washington D.C. - St. Patrick’s Cathedral, NY
- Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, Detroit, MI
- Bok Singing Tower, Lake Wales FL
- St John’s Cathedral, Denver CO
- Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New YorkNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, NY - Grace Cathedral, San Francisco CA
- Baltimore Pro-Cathedral, Baltimore MD
- Cathedral of St. John the Divine, NY
- St Thomas ChurchSt Thomas ChurchSt Thomas Church, Southwark, London, England. The first church was part of the original St. Thomas' Hospital which was located to the area around the present St Thomas Street, from the infirmary at St Mary Overie priory in 1212. The hospital was therefore also an Augustinian house. The hospital/...
, NY - Salt Lake City Cathedral, Salt Lake City, UT
Selected Residential Works
- Gates for Long Island estate of J.P. Morgan
- Frick Residence, NY
- Isaac Guggenheim residence, Port Washington, NY
- DuPont residence
- Reynolda House, Winston-Salem, NC
- Havemeyer Residence
- Walter Rosen, CaramoorCaramoor Center for Music and the Arts Inc.Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is a former estate near Katonah, New York United States, that has since become a venue for classical music performances and an art museum. Both are legacies of the house's original owners, Walter and Lucie Rosen. The Caramoor International Music Festival is...
, Katonah, NY - George G. Booth residence
- Edward Bok residence, Philadelphia, PA
- Elie NadelmanElie NadelmanElie Nadelman was an American sculptor, draughtsman and collector of Polish birth.-Early years:...
NY - Fred Fisher, Detroit, MI
- Andrew W. MellonAndrew W. MellonAndrew William Mellon was an American banker, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector and Secretary of the Treasury from March 4, 1921 until February 12, 1932.-Early life:...
, Pittsburgh, PA - Mrs. P.A. Rockefeller, Fayetteville, NY
- Cyrus McCormickCyrus McCormickCyrus Hall McCormick, Sr. was an American inventor and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which became part of International Harvester Company in 1902.He and many members of the McCormick family became prominent Chicagoans....
, Chicago, IL - Cornelius VanderbiltCornelius VanderbiltCornelius Vanderbilt , also known by the sobriquet Commodore, was an American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads. He was also the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family and one of the richest Americans in history...
Whitney, Deer Run, PA - E.W. Marland Estate, Ponca City, OK
- George H. Christian Mansion, Minneapolis, MN (current home of Hennepin County History Museum)
- William E. Scripps Estate, Lake Orion, MI
- Stan Hywet HallStan Hywet Hall and GardensStan Hywet Hall & Gardens is a notable country estate, with gardens, located at 714 North Portage Path in Akron, Ohio. It ranks seventh on the list of largest houses in the United States....
, Charles Seiberling Residence, Akron, OH
Architects whose names appear in Yellin’s Job Book
- Cram & Ferguson Offices, NY NY
- Ralph Adams CramRalph Adams CramRalph Adams Cram FAIA, , 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.-Early life:Cram was born on December 16, 1863 at Hampton Falls, New...
- Paul Cret
- Charles Day
- George Howe
- Benno JanssenBenno JanssenBenno Janssen was an American architect.-Childhood, Education and Career:Benno Janssen was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Oscar Janssen and Thekla Susenbeth. Janssen studied at the University of Kansas. In 1899, he began working in architecture in Boston, Massachusetts. He also continued...
- Charles KlauderCharles KlauderCharles Zeller Klauder was an American architect best known for his work on university buildings and campus designs, especially his Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh, the first educational skyscraper.-Biography:...
- Cass GilbertCass Gilbert- Historical impact :Gilbert is considered a skyscraper pioneer; when designing the Woolworth Building he moved into unproven ground — though he certainly was aware of the ground-breaking work done by Chicago architects on skyscrapers and once discussed merging firms with the legendary Daniel...
- Bertram GoodhueBertram GoodhueBertram Grosvenor Goodhue was a American architect celebrated for his work in neo-gothic design. He also designed notable typefaces, including Cheltenham and Merrymount for the Merrymount Press.-Early career:...
- Arthur Meigs
- Alfred Mellor
- Horace TrumbauerHorace TrumbauerHorace Trumbauer was a prominent American architect of the Gilded Age, known for designing residential manors for the wealthy. Later in his career he also designed hotels, office buildings, and much of the campus of Duke University...
- Walker and Gillette, NY
- Alfred Zantzinger, Haverford PA
Sources
- Andrews, Jack, Samuel Yellin – Metelsmith, Skipjack Press, Ocean Pines Maryland, 2000
- Andrews, Jack, Samuel Yellin, Metalworker, Anvil’s Ring, Summer, 1982
- Architecture magazine, April 1929
- Bach, Penny Balkin, Public Art in Philadelphia, Temple University Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1992
- Bedford, Steven McLeod, John Russell Pope – Architect of Empire, Rizzoli International Publications, NY, NY 1998
- Bok, Edward W., America’s Taj Mahal – The Singing Tower of Florida, The Georgia Marble Company, Tate, Georgia c. 1929
- Davis, Myra T., Sketches in Iron, no publishing information
- Detroit Institute of Arts – The Architecture, The Detroit Institute of Arts 1928
- Fariello, Anna, "Samuel Yellin: Sketching in Iron," Metalsmith Magazine Fall 2003 http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/samuel-yellin.htm
- Federman, Peter, The Detroit Public Library, Classical America IV, Classical America 1977
- Gallery, John A., Editor, Philadelphia Architecture – A Guide to the City, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1984
- Heilbrun, Margaret, The Architecture of Cass Gilbert, Inventing the Skyline, Columbia University Press, New York, NY 2000
- Kvaran, Einar Einarsson, Architectural Sculpture of America, unpublished manuscript
- Teitelman, Edward & Richard W. Longstreth, Architecture in Philadelphia – A Guide, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1981
- Wattenmaker, Richard J., Samuel Yellin In Context, Flint Museum of Arts, Flint, Michigan 1985
- Wister, Cret, Gilchrist et al., Melor Meigs & Howe, Graybooks, Boulder Colorado 1991 (reprint of 1923 work)