William Rutherford Mead (AC 1867) and Olga Kilyeni Mead Papers

William Rutherford Mead was born in Brattleboro, Vermont in 1846. Mead graduated from Amherst College in 1867, after which he studied architecture in Boston and in Europe under Russell Sturgis, Jr.

Mead started an architectural partnership with Charles F. McKim in New York City in 1872. In 1879, they were joined by Stanford White to form McKim, Mead, and White, of which he was principal until his death in 1928. The firm designed many of the most notable structures in the country, including the Agricultural and New York State buildings at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893, the Boston Public Library, Rhode Island State Capitol, the old Madison Square Garden (since demolished), and the Columbia University library.

In 1883, Mead wed Olga Kilyeni in Budapest, Hungary. In 1902, King Victor Emmanuel conferred upon Mead the decoration of Knight Commander of the Crown of Italy in recognition of his pioneer work in introducing the Roman and Italian Renaissance architectural style in America. Also in 1902, Amherst College conferred upon Mead the honorary degree of LL.D. In 1909, he recieved a degree of M.S. from Norwich University in Vermont.

The Meads lived abroad in Rome, where Mr. Mead was the President of the American Academy in Rome until his death in 1928. When Olga Mead died in 1936 in New York City, her entire estate was bequeathed to Amherst College. Much of that bequest was used to fund construction of the Mead Art Building, designed by James Kellum Smith of McKim, Mead and White and completed in 1949.