James (Jimmie) Thompson & James Thomson

[jon buschke]

Hello, I am looking for any information on two former apprentices from the late 1930. James (Jimmie) Thompson who provided a color film in 1939 for the London Wright lectures series given on 4-evenings and James Thomson friend of the Dombar brothers. Both were at Taliesin about the same time. Thomson worked on the Jacobs ll house with Dombar. Thompson was there for only one year. Wright mentions him several times in "An Organic Architecture" 1939. Both are about the same age born 1912-2914. I am trying to locate their dates and where they came from to complete a list of birth and death dates for each apprentice.

[Roderick Grant]

James Thomson was at Taliesin from 1934 to 1939. No other information is available in the Directory. There is no James Thompson in the Directory. It is not unusual for the name Thom(p)son to be spelled both ways; I suspect the two are one with variant spellings.

[DavidC]

John Geiger's apprentice list has:

- James Thompson arriving at Taliesin on October 1st, 1937

- James Thomson arriving at Taliesin on October 1st, 1937


David

[DavidC]

And, here's a picture from 1937 of Wright w/ various apprentices, including James Thomson.

He's also mentioned in the book "Building With Frank Lloyd Wright", by Herbert Jacobs.


David

[Rood]

Though I never knew Thompson, personally, I projected one of his early colour films of Taliesin West many times.

John deKoven Hill told me that after leaving Taliesin, Thompson worked for a time as an importer ... Johnny later heard that one day Thompson went for a walk in the jungle (don't recall exactly, but it was in either Thailand or Malaya), and that he never returned.

[SDR]

The only fault that I find with the Wright Library is that the size of images is limited: clicking on an image magically reduces it (by linking to a catalog page) rather than enlarging it ! The point of Steiner's pages seems to be "here's what's in my collection" -- and quite a collection it is . . .

SDR

[Randolph C. Henning]

There was a Donald Thompson and wife Mary (both from Cleveland) who were in the Fellowship from November 1934 until sometime in the summer of 1935. Donald wrote at least three known At Taliesin columns and Mary wrote one.

[dmarinel]

JAMES THOMSON; WAS AN ARCHITECT
THE HARTFORD COURANT
James McArthur Thomson, an architect and civic leader, died Tuesday at his home in Farmington. He was 80.
Mr. Thomson was born in Hartford and lived most of his life in Farmington. He was given the Citizen of the Year award by the Farmington Exchange Club for his work with the Farmington Historical Society, the Stanley Whitman House, Hill-Stead Museum and as chairman of the Historic District Commission. He also had been associated with the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Mark Twain House and the Hartford Art School.
Mr. Thomson was a member of the First Church of Christ Congregational in Farmington.
After studying with Frank Lloyd Wright, at the Yale Architectural School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he built many houses in New England.
Mr. Thomson leaves a sister, Madora Cooke of South Lyme; and a brother Douglas Thomson of Farmington.
A memorial service will be held Friday, 11 a.m., at First Church of Christ Congregational in Farmington. Donations may be made in his memory to the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, or to Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington

[Craig]

Here's a photo I found while researching Robert Carroll May, another Connecticut-based apprentice. For the life of me now I cannot recall where I found it.

[Craig]

I should add that Wright visited Hartford, Connecticut to discuss the design of his "New Theater" project at a luncheon held in his honor, January 24, 1949. An exhibition held at the Wadsworth Atheneum which ran from January 26th to February 27th, featured the architectural model, plans and renderings. During the event, three of Wright’s former apprentices were in attendance: James Thomson, David Henken and Robert Carroll May.

[Craig]

And a listing for a house on the market in neighboring Massachusetts designed by Thomson:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/810- ... 403_zpid/?

[SDR]

Hoo-hah. Original condition, with a few additions to the floors . . .?

S