Solon S. Beman and Spencer S. Beman Collection, 1892-1985

SOLON SPENCER BEMAN (1853-1914)

Solon Spencer Beman was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1853. He began his architectural studies at age seventeen, under Richard M. Upjohn, in New York City. In 1879, he traveled to Chicago at the request of George M. Pullman, the wealthy manufacturer of Pullman train cars, to be the architect of the first planned industrial town in America. Over the course of four years, Beman, along with landscape architect Nathan Barrett, designed the whole of the industrial, commercial, and residential neighborhood for the Pullman Palace Car Company and its workers. The town fittingly came to be known as Pullman. Beman's successes there led him to a similar commission to plan the Proctor and Gamble community of Ivorydale, Ohio.

Beman went on to design major commercial projects including the Studebaker Michigan Avenue Building, later the Fine Arts Building, in Chicago, and the Pabst Building in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was also the architect of the Mines and Mining Building and the Merchant Tailors' Building at the1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It was the latter design that would ultimately influence the remainder of his career, as well as his son's. S.S. Beman was one of twelve architects invited to submit a design for Chicago's first Church of Christ, Scientist. Modeled after the Classical Revival Merchant Tailors' Building, and inspired by the tenets of Christian Science, his design was selected. It was the first of many Christian Science buildings Beman would design in Chicago and throughout the United States.

SPENCER SOLON BEMAN (1887-1952)

Spencer Solon Beman, son of Solon Spencer Beman, was born in 1887. Spencer followed in his father's architectural footsteps. He practiced alongside Solon Beman until his father's death in 1914. Beman's professional association with the Church of Christ, Scientist spanned forty years. He successfully solicited commissions from branch churches, and together the Bemans designed over ninety religious buildings. Under Spencer, the style of the Christian Science church departed from his father's strict Classicism to reflect his own Georgian and Colonial Revival leanings. Church commissions were highly sought and the younger Beman often found himself in competition with Charles Draper Faulkner (1893-1979), who had also been in the employ of his father. Though Spencer Beman was known primarily for his Christian Science buildings, he also designed opulent Tudor and French Revival residences in northern Illinois.

The Solon S. Beman and Spencer S. Beman collection includes one scrapbook containing advertisements, photographs, and newspaper articles spanning more than sixty-five years; three photograph albums containing photographs and photostats of the residential and religious buildings of Spencer Solon Beman; a book, Grand Central Station, Chicago, autographed by Solon S. Beman; drawings of Solon S. Beman's United Methodist Church of Batavia, prepared by Dixon Associates for a HABS drawing contest sponsored by the LPCI and HABS; a book containing photographs and photostats of the residential and religious buildings of Spencer Solon Beman; and architectural reprographic prints of plans for the Kimball Residence. Also included is Spencer Solon Beman's leather portfolio case.

SERIES I: SCRAPBOOKS. A scrapbook containing documentation of works by both Solon Spencer Beman and Spencer Solon Beman.

SERIES II: PHOTOGRAPHS. Photographs that are focused on specific projects are listed first then followed by photograph albums which contain multiple projects. Photograph albums are arranged in chronological order. Within each album, items are arranged thusly: images from Works of S.S. Beman, Vol. I. and Vol. III are listed as they appear within each album [a bound Vol. II was lacking in this gift]. Loose items from the Works of S.S. Beman, Vol. 1 and Works of S.S. Beman, Vol. II are housed in individual folders and portfolios and are listed alphabetically by project name or subject. Unless otherwise noted, all images are black and white photographs.

SERIES III: PROJECT PAPERS. Papers relating to architectural projects done by one or both Bemans. Materials are arranged alphabetically by project name and then chronologically within those projects. Materials pertaining to multiple projects reside after the alphabetical grouping.

SERIES IV: PERSONAL EFFECTS. A leather portfolio case.

APPENDIX: BEMAN RESIDENCE LIST. An inventory of residences designed by Spencer Solon Beman, as determined from the documents in this collection, is available separately.

• Names
  • Beman, S. S. (Solon Spencer), 1853-1914.
  • Beman, S. S. (Spencer S.), d.1952.
  • Beman, S. S. (Solon Spencer), 1853-1914--Archives.
  • Beman, S. S. (Spencer S.), d.1952--Archives.
• Subject
  • Pullman (Ill.)--Buildings, structures, etc.--History--Sources.
  • Pullman (Ill.)--History--Sources.
  • Architecture--Illinois--Chicago--19th century--Sources.
  • Architecture--Illinois--Chicago--20th century--Sources.
  • Church architecture--United States--20th century--Sources.
  • Architects--Illinois--Chicago--Archives.

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Solon Spencer Beman papers (Chicago History Museum).

Solon Spencer Beman papers (Chicago History Museum).

Solon Spencer Beman papers (Chicago History Museum).

This collection may be accessed by users in the Reading Room of the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries at The Art Institute of Chicago. Collections maintained on-site are available for patron use without prior arrangement or appointment. Collections maintained in off-site storage will be retrieved with advance notification; please consult the Archivist for the current retrieval schedule. For further information, consult https://www.artic.edu/archival-collections/contact-usage-and-faq.

The Art Institute of Chicago is providing access to the materials in the Archives' collections solely for noncommercial educational and research purposes. The unauthorized use, including, but not limited to, publication of the materials without the prior written permission of the Art Institute is strictly prohibited. All inquiries regarding permission to publish should be submitted in writing to the Director, Art Institute of Chicago Archives. In addition to permission from the Art Institute, permission of the copyright owner (if not the Art Institute) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distribution, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item. The Art Institute makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose.

Solon S. Beman and Spencer S. Beman Collection, Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives, The Art Institute of Chicago.

The provenance of the majority of this material is unknown at this time. One photo, gift of Kerry Vautrot, was added to the collection in 2007. Ten architectural reprographic prints of the Kimball Residence, gift of Hasbrouck, were added to the collection in 2011. Additional materials were donated by First Church of Christ, Scientist, Toronto, 01/2013; Michael Dixon; Jackie Griffith, 2016; and J. Abendschien.

The collection was processed by Christa Aube of the Ryerson and Burnham Archives. The finding aid was revised and expanded by Annemarie van Roessel in 2003, Nathaniel Parks and Susan Bazargan in 2008, Heather Tennison in 2013, Julie Murray in 2013 and Carly Lawrence in 2019.

The Solon S. Beman and Spencer S. Beman Collection was transferred to the Ryerson and Burnham Archives from Ryerson and Burnham Libraries' Special Collections in 2001. The drawings of the Methodist Church of Batavia were received later from an unknown source and added to the collection in 2005.

New materials may be added to this collection on an irregular basis.

An inventory of residences designed by Spencer Solon Beman, as determined from the documents in this collection, is available.