Personal Data

William Truman Aldrich was born on February 16, 1880, in Washington DC, the son of US Senator Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich and his wife, Abby Pearce Truman Chapman.

He married on March 28, 1910, in Boston, to Dorothea Davenport (b. 12Aug1886 in MA; d. 7Sep1977, prob. in Brookline MA), daughter of George Howe Davenport and his wife Camilla Chase (daughter of James Henry Chase)

William Aldrich died on June 2, 1966, in Brookline.

Career

William Aldrich graduated from MIT in 1901, after which he studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.  He then joined Carrère and Hastings in New York.

In about 1910, he opened his own office in Boston.  In 1911, he joined Robert Peabody Bellows in the firm of Bellows and Aldrich.  They remained pariners until about 1924, after which they both continued as a sole practitioners.  He also was an accomplisted watercolorist and worked with his sister. Abby Rockefeller (wife of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.) in establishing the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Among Bellows and Aldrich’s works were Robinson Chapel of the Boston University School of Theology (1916); the Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art (1920); and the Lumbermen’s Mutual Fire Insurance Company building at Beacon and Raleigh streets (1920-1921).

Among William Aldrich’s later works were the Art Deco remodeling of 330 Boylston for Shreve, Crump & Low (1930), and the American Military Cemetery and Memorial in Brittany, France.

Back Bay Work