Francis Whitaker
Francis Whitaker | |
---|---|
Born | (1906-11-29)November 29, 1906 Woburn, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Died | October 23, 1999(1999-10-23) (aged 92) Glenwood Springs, Colorado, U.S. |
Occupation | blacksmith |
Francis Whitaker (November 29, 1906 – October 23, 1999) was a blacksmith in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, where he established The Forge in the Forest. He had The Mountain Forge, in Aspen, Colorado, which he later relocated when he was named an artist-in-residence at the Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale, Colorado.[1]
Early life
Whitaker was born in Woburn, Massachusetts, on November 29, 1906. His father, Charles Harris Whitaker (1872–1938) was the editor of a journal for the American Institute of Architects. His mother was Celia Huntington Rogers (1878–1960).[2][3]
Career
His training as a smith included a one-year apprenticeship under Philadelphia based blacksmith Samuel Yellin followed by a two-year apprenticeship under Julius Schramm in Berlin, Germany in the mid-1920s. Upon his return to the states in 1927, he began working as a smith in a career that spanned eight decades.[4]
In 1928, M.J. Murphy designed and built the Francis Whitaker Cottage in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The American Craftsman-style cottage is located on the west side of Mission Street, the second house north of Vista Avenue.[5][6]
Whitaker completed the five engine bay doors and inside iron handrails for the Carmel Fire Station in 1937.[7][8]
During World War II, Whitaker was hired by the US Navy to teach welding at the Naval Base San Diego.[4]
The Francis Whitaker Blacksmith Shop at the John C. Campbell Folk School is named in his honor. Whitaker taught classes at the school for decades and launched the folk school's annual fundraising auction.[9]
Whitaker was friends with the blacksmith mayor John C. Catlin in Carmel. Whitaker operated the Forge in the Forest from 1940 to 1963. He made the wrought hardware for many of the historic buildings in Carmel. He worked on the dragon-headed wrought iron grille work at the Kocher Building in Carmel. The work is the best example of wrought iron work of Whitaker in the Monterey Peninsula.[10] He became friends with authors John Steinbeck and Leon Uris in Carmel. They both created characters based on Whitaker in their books.[3]
He served on the Carmel City Council for 13 years helping to preserve Big Sur and Point Lobos. When Whitaker left Carmel in 1963, the Forge became an artist's studio, then converted to a restaurant and saloon in the fall of 1970, called Forge in the Forest. Photographs of Whitaker and the original Forge building are on display inside the current Forge restaurant.[11][12] He moved to Aspen, Colorado, where he opened the Mountain Forge. He gave workshops across the county and established two Francis Whitaker Schools.[3]
In 1976, Whitaker was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Colorado.[13] In 1995, he received the Colorado Council on the Arts Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts. In 1997, he received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.[14]
Death
Whitaker died, at age 92, on October 23, 1999, in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.[3][15]
Books
He wrote or co-wrote four books on blacksmithing.
- (1986) The Blacksmith's Cookbook: Recipes in Iron. Jim Fleming Publications. ISBN 0-939415-00-3
- (1995) My Life as an Artist-Blacksmith. F. Whitaker. ISBN 0-9646389-0-8
- (1997) Beautiful Iron: The Pursuit of Excellence by Francis Whitaker [16]
- (2004) A Blacksmith's Craft: The Legacy of Francis Whitaker. Volume 1. by George F Dixon.[17]
References
- ^ "Francis Whitaker: Blacksmith/Ornamental Ironworker". National Endowment for the Arts. n.d. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- ^ Govenar, Alan (2001). "Francis Whitaker: Anglo-American Blacksmith and Ornamental Ironworker". Masters of Traditional Arts: A Biographical Dictionary. Vol. 2 (K-Z). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio. pp. 669–671. ISBN 1576072401. OCLC 47644303.
- ^ a b c d "Blacksmith: Francis Whitaker Master Dies". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. November 5, 1999. p. 28. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
- ^ a b Whitaker, Francis (1995). My Life As an Artist Blacksmith. Mansfield, Gary. F. Whitaker. ISBN 0964638908. OCLC 38935884.
- ^ Dramov, Alissandra; Momboisse, Lynn A. (2016). Historic Homes And Inns Of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California: Arcadia Publishing. p. 19. ISBN 9781467103039. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
- ^ "Homes of Famous Carmelites" (PDF). ci.carmel.ca.us. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. 1992. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
- ^ Kent L. Seavey (April 25, 2002). "Department Of Parks And Recreation" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
- ^ Seavey, Kent (2007). Carmel, A History in Architecture. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California: Arcadia Publishing. p. 123. ISBN 9780738547053. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
- ^ "A short and incomplete history of blacksmithing at the John C. Campbell Folk School" (Press release). Brasstown, North Carolina: John C. Campbell Folk School. November 4, 2023.
- ^ Kent L. Seavey (September 4, 2002). "Department Of Parks And Recreation" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
- ^ "Forge History". www.forgeintheforest.com. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
- ^ "Historic Inns Carmel-by-the-Sea" (PDF). Carmel Historical Survey. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. April 1992. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
- ^ "Honorary Degrees, University Medals and Distinguished Service Awards Full List A-Z". University of Colorado. Colorado. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
- ^ "NEA National Heritage Fellowships 1997". National Endowment for the Arts. Archived from the original on August 13, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- ^ Douglas Martin (October 31, 1999). "Francis Whitaker, Blacksmith, Dies at 92". The New York Times. p. 1 51. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
- ^ Whitaker, Francis (1997). Beautiful Iron: The Pursuit of Excellence. OCLC 38935839.
- ^ Dixon, George F (2004). A Blacksmith's Craft: The Legacy of Francis Whitaker. Volume 1. Huntingdon, PA: Blue Moon Press. ISBN 9780970766472. OCLC 57121328.
External links
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Anvil Magazine, 1997 interview
- HGTV, "Blacksmithing Dean". Modern Masters: Episode MAS-112.
- National Heritage Award
- Folkways, Francis Whitaker was filmed in 1981 at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina for the Folkways series episode "Fire and Forge". The original camera tapes from this interview have been preserved digitally by UNC-TV.
- v
- t
- e
- Adda Husted Andersen
- Dorothy Meredith
- Ed Rossbach
- Frans Wildenhain
- Harvey Littleton
- Lenore Tawney
- Lili Blumenau
- Peter Voulkos
- Sam Maloof
- Toshiko Takaezu
- Trude Guermonprez
- Florence Eastmead
- Francis Sumner Merritt
- Margaret Patch
- Mary Lyon
- Maurine Roberts
- Rudolph Schaeffer
- Arline Fisch
- George Nakashima
- Gerry Williams
- Hans Christensen
- Katherine Westphal
- Joan Mondale
- Margery Anneberg
- Rose Slivka
- William Brown
- Bernard Kester
- Joel Myers
- Margret Craver
- Mary Nyburg
- Tage Frid
- Warren MacKenzie
- Eudorah Moore
- Robert W. Gray
- John Mason
- Kay Sekimachi
- Marianne Strengell
- Maurice Heaton
- Richard Thomas
- Ted Randall
- Harold Brennan
- Sydney Butchkes
- Dale Chihuly
- Kenneth Ferguson
- Wendell Castle
- Beatrice Wood
- Claire Zeisler
- Dominic Di Mare
- Edward Moulthrop
- Heikki Seppä
- June Schwarcz
- Richard DeVore
- Robert Sperry
- Val Cushing
- Carlyle Smith
- James Wallace
- Jonathan Fairbanks
- LaMar Harrington
- Albert Green
- Arthur Carpenter
- C. Carl Jennings
- Frances Senska
- Fritz Dreisbach
- Glen Kaufman
- Harrison McIntosh
- Mark Peiser
- Mary Scheier
- James McKinnell
- Nan Bangs McKinnell
- Paul Soldner
- Phillip Fike
- Polly Lada-Mocarski
- Ted Hallman
- Walter G. Nottingham
- William Daley
- C. Malcolm Watkins
- James Melchert
- Lloyd Herman
- Marion Stroud Swingle
- Paul J. Smith
- Rudy Turk
- Edris Eckhardt
- Frances Higgins
- Francis Whitaker
- Gertrud Natzler
- Lillian Elliott
- Margaret Tafoya
- Michael Higgins
- Otto Heino
- Otto Natzler
- Viktor Schreckengost
- Vivika Heino
- Blanche Reeves
- R. Leigh Glover
- Cynthia Schira
- David Shaner
- Edgar Anderson
- Joyce Anderson
- James 'Mel' Someroski
- Karl Martz
- Kurt Matzdorf
- Marvin Lipofsky
- Robert Arneson
- Stanley Lechtzin
- Walker Weed
- Helen Drutt English
- Mildred Constantine
- Ruth DeYoung Kohler
- Betty Woodman
- Gerhardt Knodel
- Jere Osgood
- John Marshall
- Kenneth Price
- Margarete Seeler
- Oppi Untracht
- Robert G. Hart
- Albert Paley
- Henry Halem
- John McQueen
- Merry Renk
- Patti Warashina
- Robert Ebendorf
- Rude Osolnik
- Stephen De Staebler
- Viola Frey
- Lee Nordness
- Betty Cooke
- Claude Horan
- Garry Knox Bennett
- Helena Hernmarck
- Jun Kaneko
- Kenneth Bates
- Mark Levine
- Mary Lee Hu
- Jean Griffith
- Virginia Harvey
- Chunghi Choo
- Jack Earl
- Ka Kwong Hui
- Lia Cook
- Bob Winston
- Ron Nagle
- Tommy Simpson
- William Keyser
- Sandra Blain
- Dan Dailey
- Edwin Scheier
- Eleanor Moty
- James Bassler
- Judy McKie
- Richard Mawdsley
- Richard Shaw
- William Harper
- Paulus Berensohn
- Dorothy Barnes
- Helen Shirk
- Irena Brynner
- Nancy Crow
- Paul Marioni
- Ralph Baccera
- Therman Statom
- Fred Marer
- Adrian Saxe
- Anne Wilson
- Cynthia Bringle
- Eugene Pijanowski
- Hiroko Sato-Pijanowski
- James Krenov
- Joyce Scott
- Marjorie Schick
- Paul Stankard
- Christa C. Mayer Thurman
- Theodore Cohen
- David Ellsworth
- Gary Noffke
- Joan Livingstone
- John Glick
- Michael James
- Norman Schulman
- Thomas Patti
- Warren Seelig
- Alice Rooney
- Harlan Butt
- Jane Sauer
- John Cederquist
- Paula Winokur
- Robert Winokur
- Garth Clark
- Ana Lisa Hedstrom
- James Tanner
- Kurt Weiser
- Norma Minkowitz
- Tom Joyce
- Albert LeCoff
- Akio Takamori
- Howard Ben Tré
- Jason Pollen
- Kiff Slemmons
- Walter Hamady
- Stuart Kestenbaum
- Arturo Sandoval
- Marilyn da Silva
- Mark Lindquist
- Richard Notkin
- Robert Brady
- William Morris
- Nanette Laitman
- Adela Akers
- Glenda Arentzen
- Gyöngy Laky
- John Horn
- Robyn Horn
- Tony Hepburn
- Toots Zynsky
- Wendy Maruyama
- Lois Moran
- Benjamin Moore
- Bernard Bernstein
- Carol Shaw-Sutton
- Jamie Bennett
- Louis Marak
- Rosanne Somerson
- Robert Pfannebecker
- Ginny Ruffner
- John Garrett
- John Stephenson
- Rebecca Medel
- Ron Ho
- Susanne Stephenson
- William Hunter
- Janet Koplos
- Andrea Gill
- Anne Currier
- Dante Marioni
- Lewis Knauss
- Sharon Church
- Sherri Smith
- Thomas Loeser
- Bruce Pepich
- John Gill
- Jane Lackey
- Michael Hurwitz
- Judith Schaechter
- Bruce Metcalf
- William Carlson
- Tina Oldknow
- Nick Cave
- Michael Cooper
- Françoise Grossen
- Chris Gustin
- Myra Mimlitsch-Gray
- Hank Murta Adams
- Edward S. Cooke Jr.
- Mark Burns
- Thomas Gentille
- Thomas Hucker
- Mary Jackson
- Beth Lipman
- Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
- Susan Cummins
- Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada
- Sonya Clark
- Lisa Gralnick
- Katherine Gray
- Annabeth Rosen
- Bob Trotman
- Patricia Malarcher
- Teri Greeves
- Karen Hampton
- Nancy Koenigsberg
- Keith Lewis
- Kristina Madsen
- Mark Pharis
- Preston Singletary
- Tip Toland
- Carolyn Mazloomi
- Howard Risatti
- Lowery Stokes Sims
- Syd Carpenter
- Michael A. Cummings
- Einar and Jamex de la Torre
- Yuri Kobayashi
- Mark Newport
- Michael Puryear
- Diego Romero
- Lynda Watson
- Diana Baird N'Diaye
- Cindi Strauss
- Recipients of the Gold Medal for Consummate Craftsmanship
- Dorothy Liebes (1970)
- Anni Albers (1981)
- Harvey Littleton (1983)
- Lucy M. Lewis (1985)
- Margret Craver (1986)
- Peter Voulkos (1986)
- Gerry Williams (1986)
- Lenore Tawney (1987)
- Sam Maloof (1988)
- Ed Rossbach (1990)
- John Prip (1992)
- Beatrice Wood (1992)
- Alma Eikerman (1993)
- Douglass Morse Howell (1993)
- Marianne Strengell (1993)
- Robert C. Turner (1993)
- John Paul Miller (1994)
- Toshiko Takaezu (1994)
- Rudolf Staffel (1995)
- Bob Stocksdale (1995)
- Jack Lenor Larsen (1996)
- Ronald Hayes Pearson (1996)
- June Schwarcz (1996)
- Wendell Castle (1997)
- Ruth Duckworth (1997)
- Sheila Hicks (1997)
- Kenneth Ferguson (1998)
- Karen Karnes (1998)
- Warren MacKenzie (1998)
- Rudy Autio (1999)
- Dominic Di Mare (1999)
- L. Brent Kington (2000)
- Cynthia Schira (2000)
- Arline Fisch (2001)
- Gertrud Natzler (2001)
- Otto Natzler (2001)
- Don Reitz (2002)
- Kay Sekimachi (2002)
- William Daley (2003)
- Fred Fenster (2005)
- Dale Chihuly (2006)
- Paul Soldner (2008)
- Katherine Westphal (2009)
- Albert Paley (2010)
- Stephen De Staebler (2012)
- Betty Woodman (2014)
- Gerhardt Knodel (2016)
- Jun Kaneko (2018)
- Joyce J. Scott (2020)
- Jim Bassler (2022)
- Lia Cook (2022)
- Richard Marquis (2022)
- Judy Kensley McKie (2022)
- John McQueen (2022)
- Patti Warashina (2022)
- Nick Cave (2024)
- Wendy Maruyama (2024)
- Anne Wilson (2024)