Shay, Howell Lewis, 1884-1975

Howell Lewis Shay (b. Dec. 24, 1884, Alexandria, Va.-d. Aug. 18, 1975, Rose Valley, Pa.), architect, was a designer of numerous public buildings in Pennsylvania. He was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He designed the Philadelphia Art Museum, and was the winner of a number of architectural awards. Though born in Virginia, he moved with his family to Seattle, Washington, where is he was raised. He married Eunice M. Quimby in 1909 and then began a career as an architect at the University of Pennsylvania. At the University, he talked his way into being accepted as a "partial" student for he had not finished high school. When graduated in 1913, he was the first student in the school's history to receive his masters degree before his bachelor's. Shortly after graduation, he went to work for Philadelphia Architect Horace Trumbauer, who had been appointed architect for the Philadelphia Art Museum. He submitted a design for the art museum within two weeks and construction on the Museum began in 1919 and was opened to the public in 1928. He formed his own firm in 1916 and practiced as an individual until 1920 when he formed Ritter & Shay with Verus T. Ritter. In 1948, he formed Howell Lewis Shay & Associates and took in his two sons, Howell Lewis Jr. and William Dixon Shay as junior partners. Subsequently, his son-in-law, William M. Conron, Jr., also joined the firm. His principal works include the Packard Building (1925) at 15th and Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, with its outstanding main banking room (for which he received the AIA Gold Medal for design); the Admission Building and many others at the Norristown State Hospital; Mercy Douglass Hospital; University of Delaware's Morris Library; North Allen Homes Housing Project, Nether Providence High School; and the Chester YMCA.