Richard E. Bishop Architectural Records Collection

Collection

Identifier: DADA-001

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of drawings, specifications, reference material, a report, postcards, and scrapbook material from the office of Richard E. Bishop, Indianapolis architect. It covers the period 1924-1969.

The drawings are mostly designs for parks and recreational facilities. Several sets are for inns and lodges at Indiana state parks. Several children’s camps are represented, too. Other drawing sets are for private residences, a fraternity house, and additions and alterations to Indianapolis Public School 56. Most of the work is by Bishop but a few projects are by other architectural firms: Lennox and Matthews, August C. Bohlen, and Allen and Kelley. The drawings are arranged chronologically.

Specifications for the Public School 56 projects, written in 1961 and 1962, are also included. One binder of reference material consists of plans and renderings for modest-size houses designed by the Architectural Guild of Indianapolis, ca. 1933. Another binder contains letter size blueprints showing “standard construction details” for recreational and other conservation areas issued by the Indiana Department of Conservation in 1943 and 1944 (with one sheet dated 1955).

Five document cases contain additional reference materials—magazine clippings and pamphlets about architecture collected by Bishop for office use. These are grouped according to building type or subject.

Seven document cases hold scrapbooks of newspaper clippings dating from 1958 to 1961. The clippings are arranged chronologically.

Dates

Creation: 1924 - 1969

Creator

Bishop, Richard E. (Richard Edgar) (Architect, Person)

Language of Materials

Materials entirely in English.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Copyright Notice

Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Drawings and Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries, Muncie, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Drawings and Documents Archive.

Biographical Note

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.

Extent

11.9 Cubic Feet (2 flat file drawers, 13 manuscript boxes)

Additional Description

Arrangement

The Richard E. Bishop Architectural Records are arranged chronologically.

Custodial History

The Richard E. Bishop Architectural Records were received by Drawings and Documents Archive as a donation from Ruth (Mrs. Richard E.) Bishop on 1974/4/14 and 1974/5/7; additional materials were received from Mary Bishop Coan on 2011/2/4.

Accruals

No further additions are expected.

Sources

National Cyclopedia of American Biography vol. 57, p. 154.

Indiana Architect Sept./Oct. 1973, p. 14.

Indiana Biography Series vol. 58, p. 54 (Indianapolis Star, 2 Nov. 1973, p. 47).

American Architects Directory 1970, p. 74.

Processing Information

Collection processing completed 1985/2/12 by Andrew R. Seager. Finding aid created 2003/6/1 by Andrew R. Seager; revised 2011/9/29 by Carol A. Street.