William Martin Aiken papers

William Martin Aiken was born July 1, 1855 in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1872, Aiken attended the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, leaving in 1874 to teach at the Charleston High School and, later, returning to Tennessee to teach on the faculty at the University of the South. Moving to Boston in 1877, Aiken continued his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating two years later. After graduating, Aiken worked in several Boston architects offices, including the office of Henry Hobson Richardson, a prominent 19th century architect. Leaving Boston in 1886 for Cincinnati, Ohio, Aiken started his own practice, partnering with E. H. Ketcham until 1895. During this time Aiken also began teaching at the Cincinnati Art Academy. In 1895, Aiken became the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department, a position he would hold for two years. As the Supervising Architect, Aiken would design many post offices, court houses, and customs houses across the U.S. Aiken also supervised the planning and construction of the U.S. Mints in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Denver, Colorado, as well as the government buildings erected at the Atlanta Exposition of 1895 and the Nashville Exposition of 1897. After leaving his position as Supervising Architect, Aiken began practicing in New York City with Bruce Price, and from 1901 to 1902, worked in the office of the President of the Borough of Manhattan as a consulting architect. As consulting architect, Aiken remodeled the interior of the City Hall and the New York County Court House. Aiken passed away on December 7, 1908, in New York City.