Richard E. Bishop Architectural Records Collection

Richard Edgar Bishop (1892-1973) was born in Walton, Indiana, son of George Washington and Vora (Watson) Bishop. He attended Wabash College in 1911-12, received a B.S. degree from Purdue University in 1914, and a B.S. in architecture from the University of Illinois in 1922. He was employed as a teacher in Walton for a time after graduating from Purdue and as a renderer for several architectural offices in Indianapolis after receiving his architectural degree.

Bishop practiced independently for a few years at his office at 1134 Hume Mansur Building, Indianapolis, in the mid-1920s. From ca. 1927 to 1934 he was a principal in the firm of Bishop, Knowlton and Carson, located at 312 N. Meridian Street (1927-29) in Indianapolis. He then served five years in the Indiana regional office of the National Park Service as supervisor of State Park and Recreational Planning. Following a brief private practice, 1940-42, he re-entered government service as planning director for the Indiana Department of Conservation, a post he held from 1942 to 1946. He returned to private practice in 1946 and remained in business in Indianapolis until his retirement in 1971. His offices were located at 627 Board of Trade Building from at least 1949 to 1951, then at 1535 Central Avenue until ca. 1959, when he practiced from his home at 5940 N. Sherman Drive.

Bishop designed many buildings for Indiana's state parks and forests during his career, and it is this work for which he is best known. He designed the Nancy Hanks Lincoln Memorial, which is part of the National Park Service’s Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. He also received first prize in a national competition sponsored by the Chicago Tribune for the design of a six-room house, in 1927. From 1949 to 1952 he was general planner for the Indianapolis Home Show.

Bishop saw military service during the First World War as First Lieutenant in the 329th Field Artillery, U.S. Army, 1917-19, and was stationed in France. He was a member of the American Institute of Architects, Indiana Society of Architects, American Legion, Delta Tau Delta, and the Service Club of Indianapolis. He held Indiana architectural registration number 18. He was married on May 5, 1917, to Ruth Trueblood of Marion, Indiana, and had three children.