Author Description

The career of Robert Mills (1781-1855) provides a fascinating account of the beginnings of an independent American architecture--Mills described himself as "altogether American"--and of the socio-political and cultural development of the Republic prior to the Civil War. Although a Southerner by birth, Mills espoused abolitionist and enlightened views, in part learned from his chief mentors Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin H. Latrobe. He actively promoted the establishment of national artistic institutions and published on a variety of issues, particularly transportation. The range of Mills's interests matched the typological and geographical breadth of his practice. He executed commissions from Newburyport, Massachusetts, to Mobile, Alabama, and worked in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Columbia, South Carolina, and Washington D.C. In the capital he designed the first truly monumental Federal buildings and the most enduring symbol of the United States, the Washington Monument. Combining architectural history and biography, this book relates Mills's professional achievement and eventful private life to the wider historical context by selectively utilizing the extensive archival records, most of which remain unpublished. The text is written to satisfy those familiar with architecture, but avoids technical language, and so will also appeal to those interested in creativity and historical biography.