H. Mather Lippincott Jr.

H. Mather Lippincott Jr.
Born
Horace Mather Lippincott Jr.

(1921-11-06)November 6, 1921
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
DiedSeptember 20, 2010(2010-09-20) (aged 88)
EducationHaverford College
University of Pennsylvania School of Architecture
OccupationArchitect
PracticeCope & Lippincott
Cope, Lippencott, & Silfer

Horace Mather Lippincott Jr. (November 6, 1921 – September 20, 2010) was an American architect. He is best known for his work on Quaker meeting houses and schools. His practice was Cope & Lippincott Architects in Philadelphia.

Early life

Lippincott was born on November 6, 1921, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] His parents were Sarah Styer Jenkins and Horace Mather Lippincott, the latter a Quaker editor, author, and historian.[2][3][1] He was raised a Quaker.[4]

Lippincott attended Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia.[4] He graduated high school in 1939 from Westtown School.[4] He attended Haverford College, graduating with a B.A. in history in 1943.[1] While at Haverford, he was elected class president.[4]

During World War II, Lippincott served as an ambulance driver in the American Field Service for two years.[4] He then enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania School of Architecture, graduating with a B.Arch. in 1948.[3][1] While at the University of Pennsylvania, he was a member of St. Anthony Hall.[4][5]

Career

Lippincott started his architectural career with Oscar Stonorov near Philadelphia in 1948 from 1951.[1] He also established a private practice in 1948.[6] From 1952 to 1965, Lippincott lectured on architectural engineering at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts.[1]

In February 1957, Lippincott formed Cope & Lippincott Architects in Philadelphia with Paul M. Cope, a Quaker who was his college roommate.[4][1] Later, the firm was known as Cope, Lippencott, & Silfer.[7] The firm received several design and preservation awards.[4] They designed the Fred W. Noyes Foundation Museum, the Friends Neighborhood Guild House, NYU Conservation Center, and the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Friends Center Complex.[6]

Lippincott was known as a designer of Quaker educational and spiritual buildings.[4] His meeting house projects include Damariscotta, Maine; Germantown, Pennsylvania; Media, Pennsylvania; Moorestown, Pennsylvania; New Garden, North Carolina; New Providence, New Jersey; Radnor, Pennsylvania; and Summit, New Jersey.[4] His school project includes Atlantic City Friends School, Germantown Friends School, Greene Street Friends School, Moorestown Friends School, Sidwell Friends School, Solebury Friends School, and Westtown School.[4]

From 1958 to 1966, Lippincott collaborated with Robert Venturi for several projects; Lippincott met Venturi while working for Shonorov.[1] They renovated the James B. Duke House and worked on the Guild House.[1] In 1979, he collaborated with Robert T. Crane III to design the Walter Burley Griffin memorial on Mount Ainslie in Canberra, Australia.[8]

In 1978, Lippincott designed the Friends' Center on Cherry Street in Philadelphia.[4] This project included designing the headquarters for the national Quaker organization along with a conference center.[4] The new complex connects with the historic Quaker meetinghouse that was built by Lippincott's great-great-grandfather.[4] In 1985, he designed the municipal building for Birmingham Township, Pennsylvania.[7] After he retired, Lippincott oversaw the renovation of the St. Anthony Hall House at the University of Pennsylvania.[4]

Lippincott became a fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1972.[4] He was president of the Philadelphia chapter of AIA in 1969.[4]

Personal life

Lippincott married Margaret "Peg" Louise Walker in 1949.[4] Her father was the headmaster of Westown School.[4] They had four sons: Hugh Walker Lippincott, Robert Mather Lippincotts, James Bell Lippincott, and Evan Jenkins Lippincott.[4] They lived in a house in the Rose Valley section of Media, Pennsylvania, designed by Lippencott.[4]

Lippincott was an active Quaker and served on the Friends General Conference Central Committee and American Friends Service Committee.[4] He was a trustee of the Thomas H. and May Williams Shoemaker Fund for more than fifty years and was a founding trustee of the Abraham Lincoln Foundation.[4]

Lippincott was a member of the Union League of Philadelphia where he played tennis and participated in the glee club.[4] He was also a member of the Rose Valley Chorus, was president of the Savoy Opera Company, and performed in the Rose Valley Folk Variety Show from 1965 until he died.[4] He was a master building with the Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia.[4]

Lippincott died on September 20, 2010, aged 88, at the Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Pennsylvania, after being injured in an traffic collision.[4][9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Whitaker, William. "Lippincott, Horace Mather, Jr. (1921-2010)". Philadelphia Architects and Buildings. Retrieved 2026-02-28.
  2. ↑ "Lippincott, H. Mather, Jr. (Horace Mather), 1921-2010 | Archives & Manuscripts". TriCollege Libraries Archives & Manuscripts. Archived from the original on 2025-02-14. Retrieved 2026-02-28.
  3. 1 2 "Horace Mather Lippincott Papers". University Archives and Records Center. Retrieved 2026-02-28.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 "H. Mather Lippincott Jr., 88,". Delco Times. 2010-09-25. Retrieved 2026-02-27.
  5. ↑ "Necrology". The Review (Fall). St. Anthony Hall. 2010.
  6. 1 2 "Cope & Lippincott". University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design. Retrieved 2026-02-28.
  7. 1 2 Wilson, Ellen Dean (1986-11-23). "Township Dedicates Municipal Building". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 408. Retrieved 2026-02-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Lederer, Edith (1979-03-07). "'Modern' City Designed in 1912". The Tribune. Seymour, Indiana. p. 28. Retrieved 2026-02-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ Downey, Sally A. (2010-09-29). "H. Mather Lippincott Jr., 88, Quaker architect". Inquirer.com. Retrieved 2026-02-28.