Drawings and Documents Archive > Collections > Richard E. Bishop Collection

Richard E. Bishop Collection
COLLECTION NO.:	1-
SIZE:	Ca. 482 sheets of drawings; 13 document cases (5 cu. ft.)
COLLECTION DATES:	1924-1969
PROVENANCE:	Ruth (Mrs. Richard E.) Bishop, 5940 N. Sherman Dr., Indianapolis, Indiana, 14 April 1974 and 7 May 1974
RESTRICTIONS:	None
FINDING AIDS:	The collection has been cataloged and can be searched on the ARCAT database or in the card catalog. An Inventory (PDF) is available.

Biographical Sketch

Richard Edgar Bishop (1892-1973) was born in Walton, Indiana, son of George Washington and Vora (Watson) Bishop. He attended Wabash College in 1911-12, received a B.S. degree from Purdue University in 1914, and a B.S. in architecture from the University of Illinois in 1922. He was employed as a teacher in Walton for a time after graduating from Purdue and as a renderer for several architectural offices in Indianapolis after receiving his architectural degree.

Bishop practiced independently for a few years in the mid 1920s.[1] From ca. 1927 to 1934 he was a principal in the firm of Bishop, Knowlton & Carson, Indianapolis.[2] He then served five years in the Indiana regional office of the National Park Service as Supervisor of State Park and Recreational Planning. Following a brief private practice, 1940-42, he re-entered government service as Planning Director for the Indiana Department of Conservation, a post he held from 1942 to 1946. He returned again to private practice in 1946 and remained in business until his retirement in 1971.[3]

Bishop designed many buildings for Indiana's state parks and forests during his career, and it is this work for which he is best known. He also received first prize in a national competition sponsored by the Chicago Tribune for the design of a six-room house, in 1927. From 1949 to 1952 he was general planner for the Indianapolis Home Show.

Bishop saw military service during the First World War as First Lieutenant in the 329th Field Artillery, U.S. Army, 1917-19, and was stationed in France. He was a member of the American Institute of Architects, Indiana Society of Architects, American Legion, Delta Tau Delta, and the Service Club of Indianapolis. He held Indiana architectural registration number 18. He was married on May 5, 1917 to Ruth Trueblood of Marion, Indiana, and had three children.

Sources:

National Cyclopedia of American Biography vol. 57, p. 154.

Indiana Architect, Sept./Oct. 1973, p. 14

Indiana Biography Series vol. 58, p. 54 (Indianapolis Star, 2 Nov. 1973, p. 47)

American Architects Directory 1970, p. 74

Scope and Content

This collection consists of drawings, specifications, reference material, and scrapbook material from the office of Richard E. Bishop, Indianapolis architect. It covers the period 1924-1969.

The drawings are mostly designs for park and recreational facilities. Several sets are for inns and lodges at Indiana state parks. Several children's camps are represented, too. Other drawing sets are for private residences, a fraternity house, and additions and alterations to Indianapolis Public School 56. Most of the work is by Bishop but a few projects are by other architectural firms: Lennox & Matthews, August C. Bohlen, and Allen & Kelley. The drawings are arranged chronologically.

Specifications for the Public School 56 projects, written in 1961 and 1962, are also included.

One binder of reference material consists of plans and renderings for modest-size houses designed by the Architectural Guild of Indianapolis, ca. 1933. Another binder contains letter-size blueprints showing "standard construction details" for recreational and other conservation areas issued by the Indiana Department of Conservation in 1943 and 1944 (with one sheet dated 1955).

Five document cases contain additional reference materials—magazine clippings and pamphlets about architecture collected by Bishop for office use. These are grouped according to building type or subject.

Seven document cases hold scrapbooks of newspaper clippings dating from 1958 to 1961. The clippings are arranged chronologically.

Andrew R. Seager
12 Feb. 1985
7 Sept. 1990

1 July 2003

[1]In 1925 his office was at 1134 Hume Mansur Building, Indianapolis.

[2]With Lynn O. Knowlton, mechanical and structural engineer. The firm was located at 312 N. Meridian St. during 1927-29.

[3]Bishop had offices at 627 Board of Trade Building from at least 1949 to 1951, then at 1535 Central Ave. from about 1952 to 1958. From ca. 1959 until retirement he practiced from his home at 5940 N. Sherman Dr.