History's Hook Episode #58: J.E.R. Carpenter, Father of the Luxury High-Rise
Born and raised in Columbia, Tennessee, James Edwin Ruthven Carpenter attended MIT and the Ecole des Beaux Arts before becoming one of America's premier architects. Remembered in his home state for such buildings as The Hermitage Hotel and The Stahlman Building in Nashville, he also built the Maury County Courthouse, Carpenter would arrive in New York City just as mansions on Millionaires Row were being torn down. Knowing the wealthiest in the city still needed places to live that befit their economic and social station, Carpenter devised the idea of building luxury apartments where each floor was a mansion. This appealed to the "1%'ers" and even today, Carpenter's apartments are highly sought after or the craftsmanship and attention to detail.
Tom Price interviews Tom Vickstrom, the historian of the Hermitage Hotel, author and architectural historian Andrew Alpern, and Carpenter's great grand-daughter Leslie Doyle.
What is Front Porch Radio - History's Hook?
History’s Hook is a weekly audio-media series that uses local stories…stories found in everyone’s backyard…to explore national and world history. The show features experts and eye-witnesses to events that make those connections in history. The show’s host, Tom Price is a veteran historian who has spent nearly 30 years working in museums and archives finding those documents and objects that tell the stories of all of us. He has published numerous articles on U.S. History and has curated fifteen major exhibitions related to American History and culture.