Charles Follen McKim (1847-1909), American architect, was the founding partner in the firm of McKim, Mead & White, which set the standard for architectural taste in the United States between 1879 and 1909.

Charles Follen McKim was born at Isabella Furnace, Pa., on Aug. 24, 1847. His father was a fervent abolitionist and his mother was a Quaker. After attending the Weld School in New Jersey and Philadelphia public schools for 3 years, McKim entered Harvard's Scientific School in 1866. Finding his studies difficult and disagreeable, he tried instead the architectural course in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts and spent 3 happy years there (1867-1870).

On his return to America, McKim began working in the architectural office of Gambrill and Richardson in New York City. Here McKim learned from Henry Hobson Richardson that architecture was a "fine art" and should be practiced as such. In 1872 McKim opened his own office in New York. His...