User:JPRiley/Carlson

Coolidge & Carlson was formed in 1901 as the partnership of J. Randolph Coolidge Jr. and Harry J. Carlson as the successor to Coolidge & Wright, formed in 1894 and dissolved in 1900. It was led by Coolidge and Carlson until their retirements, and thereafter by Carlson's son, John E. Carlson, into the 1960s. The firm specialized in large institutional projects, designing major buildings for Bates College, Berry College, Hamilton College, Radcliffe College, Wellesley College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in addition to extensive domestic and commercial work.

Joseph Randolph Coolidge Jr. was born May 17, 1862 in Boston to Joseph Randolph Coolidge and Julia (Gardner) Coolidge, both members of wealthy Boston Brahmin families. Coolidge was descended from Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, through his eldest daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph. The eldest of five to live to adulthood, his brothers were John Gardner Coolidge, Archibald Cary Coolidge, Harold Jefferson Coolidge Sr. and Julian Coolidge. He attended Harvard University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1883 and a Master of Arts in 1884. In 1894 he returned to Boston and began to practice architecture, forming the partnership of Coolidge & Wright with Vernon A. Wright. Their largest project together was Randolph Hall in Cambridge in 1897, now part of Adams House of Harvard. They dissolved their partnership in 1900. The following year he formed a new partnership, Coolidge & Carlson, with Harry J. Carlson.^[1] Coolidge retired from the partnership in 1924.

Coolidge was married in 1886 to Mary Hamilton Hill of Boston, and they would have eight children. They lived in the Boston area, and maintained additional homes in Manchester and Center Sandwich, New Hampshire. Upon his retirement the couple moved to Sandwich full-time. In 1925–26 he served a term in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, and in 1926 he and his wife were among the founders of the Sandwich Home Industries, a local craftsmen's cooperative formed primarily through the efforts of Mrs. Coolidge. He died August 8, 1928 in Center Sandwich following a brief illness. Mrs. Coolidge continued her work in supporting local craftsmen and was the founder of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen in 1932. She died October 6, 1952 in Groton, Massachusetts.

Harry Johan Carlson was born November 8, 1869 in St. Paul, Minnesota. He worked for Cass Gilbert in St. Paul before moving to Boston to enroll in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating in 1892. After two years in New York City with McKim, Mead & White, he returned to Boston in 1894 to work for contractor Walter S. Sampson. In 1896 he rejoined Gilbert to supervise construction of the Second Brazer Building, completed in 1898. He then spent three years in private practice until joining Coolidge in 1901. His most notable work during this brief period was Kona Farm, the Moultonborough, New Hampshire estate of Herbert Dumaresq.^[2] Their partnership lasted until Coolidge's retirement in 1924. Carlson was the sole partner in the firm until 1937, when he admitted his son, John E. Carlson, into the partnership. The younger Carlson was born in 1897 and had worked for the firm since 1924. Harry J. Carlson retired from the partnership in 1946, but was a consultant for the firm until 1950.

Carlson was married in 1896 to Carrie Elizabeth Cornforth, and they had four children. After their marriage, they lived in Newton. In 1901 he designed and had built a Colonial Revival house at 91 Bishopsgate Road, where he lived until his retirement. He died June 16, 1957 in Newton.

John Edwin Carlson was born July 9, 1897 in Newton to Harry J. Carlson and Carrie (Cornforth) Carlson. He was educated in the public schools and at Harvard University, graduating from the school of architecture in 1923. The next year he joined his father's office as a drafter. He was then head drafter from 1926 until 1937, when he became his father's business partner. After his father's retirement in 1946 he ran the firm of Coolidge & Carlson into the 1960s.

Carlson was married in 1926 to Josephine Freeman Cogswell, and they had three children. They lived in Belmont. Carlson died May 29, 1968 in a hospital in Cambridge.