In the first half of this century, Philadelphian John McShain (1898-1989) created one of the largest building companies in the United States. From the beginning of his career as a general contractor in 1926 to his retirement in 1976, McShain's firm completed more than 300 projects in Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C.., Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, and New York.
McShain was most active in Washington, D.C., in the period during and after the New Deal, when the rapid growth of the federal government created a demand for new buildings. Whether the structures celebrated American culture or housed the expanding agencies of the welfare and regulatory state or the military, McShain's construction signs were likely to be found on them. From the 1930s through the 1960s, McShain's company completed more than 85 projects in the national capital area. One 1950s journalist commented that Pierre Charles L'Enfant may have planned the nation's capital, but John McShain built it.
McShain's most noteworthy projects in Washington include the Jefferson Memorial (1939-41), the Pentagon (1941-42), the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (1959), and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (1971). McShain also completed an extensive renovation of the White House (1949-52), which involved gutting the entire central section of the building while leaving the outer walls intact. Other government buildings constructed by McShain include the General Accounting Office (1950), the National Institutes of Health (1949-1955), the State Department (1961), and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (1968).
Yet despite all his accomplishments McShain is not widely known today. Although many Washingtonians probably cannot identify L'Enfant, there is at least a L'Enfant Plaza stop on Washington's Metro; there is no "McShain Plaza." Visitors to Washington can see McShain's brass plaques on numerous buildings, but few probably bother to read such plaques or even know where to find them. Indeed, it is doubtful that many people can name the great builders in history, as opposed to the great architects or planners. Even if a builder is famous in his own day, he usually fades into obscurity. The great architects and planners are remembered, memorialized, and studied, while the great builders are forgotten and ignored.
Born on December 21, 1898 in Philadelphia, PA, John McShain was the son of John and Catherine (Mooney) McShain, two Irish Catholic immigrants. McShain's father founded a successful construction company based in the Philadelphia area, working mainly on projects sponsored by the Catholic Church. From his father, John inherited a strong faith in the Catholic Church, and he would continue to be a devout Catholic throughout his life. He attended both La Salle College High School and St. Joseph's Preparatory School, graduating in 1918. After briefly considering a career in the priesthood, McShain decided to attend at Georgetown University. Unfortunately, his father became seriously ill, and McShain transferred to St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia for his sophomore year. Shortly after the death of his father in 1919, McShain left college and took over the construction business his father had founded, abandoning his plans to become a lawyer.
In 1927, McShain was married to Mary Horstmann, great niece of Bishop Ignatius F. Horstmann, third bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland and the sister of one of John's classmates at Georgetown. They are survived by their daughter, Sr Pauline McShain, of the Society of the Child Jesus. Mary was a Philadelphia native as well and the daughter of a prominent Catholic family. During her youth, Mary attended St. Leonard's Academy and then enrolled at Rosemont College, where she graduated in 1925.
McShain was most active in Washington, D.C., in the period during and after the New Deal, when the rapid growth of the federal government created a demand for new buildings. Whether the structures celebrated American culture or housed the expanding agencies of the welfare and regulatory state or the military, McShain's construction signs were likely to be found on them. From the 1930s through the 1960s, McShain's company completed more than 85 projects in the national capital area. One 1950s journalist commented that Pierre Charles L'Enfant may have planned the nation's capital, but John McShain built it.
McShain's most noteworthy projects in Washington include the Jefferson Memorial (1939-41), the Pentagon (1941-42), the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (1959), and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (1971). McShain also completed an extensive renovation of the White House (1949-52), which involved gutting the entire central section of the building while leaving the outer walls intact. Other government buildings constructed by McShain include the General Accounting Office (1950), the National Institutes of Health (1949-1955), the State Department (1961), and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (1968).
Yet despite all his accomplishments McShain is not widely known today. Although many Washingtonians probably cannot identify L'Enfant, there is at least a L'Enfant Plaza stop on Washington's Metro; there is no "McShain Plaza." Visitors to Washington can see McShain's brass plaques on numerous buildings, but few probably bother to read such plaques or even know where to find them. Indeed, it is doubtful that many people can name the great builders in history, as opposed to the great architects or planners. Even if a builder is famous in his own day, he usually fades into obscurity. The great architects and planners are remembered, memorialized, and studied, while the great builders are forgotten and ignored.
Born on December 21, 1898 in Philadelphia, PA, John McShain was the son of John and Catherine (Mooney) McShain, two Irish Catholic immigrants. McShain's father founded a successful construction company based in the Philadelphia area, working mainly on projects sponsored by the Catholic Church. From his father, John inherited a strong faith in the Catholic Church, and he would continue to be a devout Catholic throughout his life. He attended both La Salle College High School and St. Joseph's Preparatory School, graduating in 1918. After briefly considering a career in the priesthood, McShain decided to attend at Georgetown University. Unfortunately, his father became seriously ill, and McShain transferred to St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia for his sophomore year. Shortly after the death of his father in 1919, McShain left college and took over the construction business his father had founded, abandoning his plans to become a lawyer.
In 1927, McShain was married to Mary Horstmann, great niece of Bishop Ignatius F. Horstmann, third bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland and the sister of one of John's classmates at Georgetown. They are survived by their daughter, Sr Pauline McShain, of the Society of the Child Jesus. Mary was a Philadelphia native as well and the daughter of a prominent Catholic family. During her youth, Mary attended St. Leonard's Academy and then enrolled at Rosemont College, where she graduated in 1925.
In the first half of this century, Philadelphian John McShain (1898-1989) created one of the largest building companies in the United States. From the beginning of his career as a general contractor in 1926 to his retirement in 1976, McShain's firm completed more than 300 projects in Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C.., Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, and New York.
McShain was most active in Washington, D.C., in the period during and after the New Deal, when the rapid growth of the federal government created a demand for new buildings. Whether the structures celebrated American culture or housed the expanding agencies of the welfare and regulatory state or the military, McShain's construction signs were likely to be found on them. From the 1930s through the 1960s, McShain's company completed more than 85 projects in the national capital area. One 1950s journalist commented that Pierre Charles L'Enfant may have planned the nation's capital, but John McShain built it.
McShain's most noteworthy projects in Washington include the Jefferson Memorial (1939-41), the Pentagon (1941-42), the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (1959), and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (1971). McShain also completed an extensive renovation of the White House (1949-52), which involved gutting the entire central section of the building while leaving the outer walls intact. Other government buildings constructed by McShain include the General Accounting Office (1950), the National Institutes of Health (1949-1955), the State Department (1961), and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (1968).
Yet despite all his accomplishments McShain is not widely known today. Although many Washingtonians probably cannot identify L'Enfant, there is at least a L'Enfant Plaza stop on Washington's Metro; there is no "McShain Plaza." Visitors to Washington can see McShain's brass plaques on numerous buildings, but few probably bother to read such plaques or even know where to find them. Indeed, it is doubtful that many people can name the great builders in history, as opposed to the great architects or planners. Even if a builder is famous in his own day, he usually fades into obscurity. The great architects and planners are remembered, memorialized, and studied, while the great builders are forgotten and ignored.
Born on December 21, 1898 in Philadelphia, PA, John McShain was the son of John and Catherine (Mooney) McShain, two Irish Catholic immigrants. McShain's father founded a successful construction company based in the Philadelphia area, working mainly on projects sponsored by the Catholic Church. From his father, John inherited a strong faith in the Catholic Church, and he would continue to be a devout Catholic throughout his life. He attended both La Salle College High School and St. Joseph's Preparatory School, graduating in 1918. After briefly considering a career in the priesthood, McShain decided to attend at Georgetown University. Unfortunately, his father became seriously ill, and McShain transferred to St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia for his sophomore year. Shortly after the death of his father in 1919, McShain left college and took over the construction business his father had founded, abandoning his plans to become a lawyer.
In 1927, McShain was married to Mary Horstmann, great niece of Bishop Ignatius F. Horstmann, third bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland and the sister of one of John's classmates at Georgetown. They are survived by their daughter, Sr Pauline McShain, of the Society of the Child Jesus. Mary was a Philadelphia native as well and the daughter of a prominent Catholic family. During her youth, Mary attended St. Leonard's Academy and then enrolled at Rosemont College, where she graduated in 1925.
McShain was most active in Washington, D.C., in the period during and after the New Deal, when the rapid growth of the federal government created a demand for new buildings. Whether the structures celebrated American culture or housed the expanding agencies of the welfare and regulatory state or the military, McShain's construction signs were likely to be found on them. From the 1930s through the 1960s, McShain's company completed more than 85 projects in the national capital area. One 1950s journalist commented that Pierre Charles L'Enfant may have planned the nation's capital, but John McShain built it.
McShain's most noteworthy projects in Washington include the Jefferson Memorial (1939-41), the Pentagon (1941-42), the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (1959), and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (1971). McShain also completed an extensive renovation of the White House (1949-52), which involved gutting the entire central section of the building while leaving the outer walls intact. Other government buildings constructed by McShain include the General Accounting Office (1950), the National Institutes of Health (1949-1955), the State Department (1961), and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (1968).
Yet despite all his accomplishments McShain is not widely known today. Although many Washingtonians probably cannot identify L'Enfant, there is at least a L'Enfant Plaza stop on Washington's Metro; there is no "McShain Plaza." Visitors to Washington can see McShain's brass plaques on numerous buildings, but few probably bother to read such plaques or even know where to find them. Indeed, it is doubtful that many people can name the great builders in history, as opposed to the great architects or planners. Even if a builder is famous in his own day, he usually fades into obscurity. The great architects and planners are remembered, memorialized, and studied, while the great builders are forgotten and ignored.
Born on December 21, 1898 in Philadelphia, PA, John McShain was the son of John and Catherine (Mooney) McShain, two Irish Catholic immigrants. McShain's father founded a successful construction company based in the Philadelphia area, working mainly on projects sponsored by the Catholic Church. From his father, John inherited a strong faith in the Catholic Church, and he would continue to be a devout Catholic throughout his life. He attended both La Salle College High School and St. Joseph's Preparatory School, graduating in 1918. After briefly considering a career in the priesthood, McShain decided to attend at Georgetown University. Unfortunately, his father became seriously ill, and McShain transferred to St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia for his sophomore year. Shortly after the death of his father in 1919, McShain left college and took over the construction business his father had founded, abandoning his plans to become a lawyer.
In 1927, McShain was married to Mary Horstmann, great niece of Bishop Ignatius F. Horstmann, third bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland and the sister of one of John's classmates at Georgetown. They are survived by their daughter, Sr Pauline McShain, of the Society of the Child Jesus. Mary was a Philadelphia native as well and the daughter of a prominent Catholic family. During her youth, Mary attended St. Leonard's Academy and then enrolled at Rosemont College, where she graduated in 1925.
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