Cain, Walker O., 1915-1993

Cain was an American architect associated with the firms of McKim, Mead & White (1940-1961), Steinmann, Cain & White (1961-1965), Steinmann & Cain (1965-1967), Walker O. Cain & Associates (1967-1978), and Cain, Farrell and Bell (1978-1986).

Walker O. Cain (1915-1993) was an American architect associated with the firms of McKim, Mead & White (1940-1961), Steinmann, Cain & White (1961-1965), Steinmann & Cain (1965-1967), Walker O. Cain & Associates (1967-1978), and Cain, Farrell and Bell (1978-1986). Among Cain’s most notable buildings are St. Vartan Cathedral, the Armenian Church at Second Avenue and 34th Street, the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of History and Technology in Washington, and the Jadwin Gymnasium and Computer Center at Princeton.

Cain was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland where he held the Trustees’ Scholarship for five years. In 1937 he was a recipient of the Schweinfurth Scholarship to study in Fontainebleau, France.

In 1939 he won the Henry Adams Prize of the American Institute of Architects and was a finalist in the Paris Prize competition the same year.

In 1938 and 1939, he won honorable mention in architecture in the competition for the Rome Prize of the American Academy in Rome.

Then, in 1940, while a candidate for a master’s degree in fine arts at Princeton University, Cain won the Rome Prize. After moving to New York City, he served as chairman of the board of the American Academy in Rome from 1974 to 1984. Cain also served as the chairmen of the New York chapter of Save Venice, Inc. during the 1970s.

Walker O. Cain died in Southhampton, L.I. in 1993.