John Russell Pope

John Russell Pope (1874-1937), American architect, born in New York. Pope studied at the College of the City of New York and at Columbia University, after which he went to the American Academy in Rome on a fellowship. He completed his professional studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Opening an office in New York City in 1900, Pope employed a chaste variety of classic design in his public works but used a less formal approach in his many town and country residences. Among his most important public commissions are the Scottish Rite Temple, the Archives Building, and Constitution Hall for the Daughters of the American Revolution, all in Washington, D.C. In addition, Pope is well known for his design of the Lincoln Memorial in Hodgenville, Kentucky; the Plattsburg (New York) City Hall; the Terminal Railway Station, Richmond, Virginia; and the American Battle Monument in Montfaucon, France. Pope was a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and the recipient of many honorary degrees, medals, and citations. He died in 1937 while his designs for the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the original gallery of the National Gallery of Art, both in Washington, D.C., were under construction.