Daniel Paul Higgins was an American architect. He was one of the designers of the National Art Gallery, Constitutional Hall, the Senate Office Building, and the American Red Cross building in Washington.
Background
Higgins was born on September 12, 1886 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States. He was the son of Patrick and Mary Dowd Higgins. His parents had come to the United States in the 1850s as children, fugitives from the Irish potato famines. Higgins, the second-born and oldest of nine surviving children, grew up in rather modest circumstances.
Education
When Higgins was in the eighth grade his father, a bricklayer and builder, became ill and Higgins had to leave school to help support the family. He held various jobs, including one as messenger for a telegraph company, and also earned extra money by boxing.
Higgins took night courses in bookkeeping in order to qualify as an accountant.
In his spare time Higgins studied architecture at New York University, which enabled him also to take on professional responsibilities in the office.
Career
Higgins became a partner in the certified public accountant firm of Himer and Higgins. He also became a lightweight amateur boxing champion; at one of his bouts at the New York Athletic Club he made the acquaintance that changed his life and directed him toward the profession that brought him fame and success. This was John Russell Pope, who had recently (1905) opened his own architectural office and who enjoyed boxing; he became interested in Higgins and offered him the job of bookkeeper for his office. Within a short time Higgins had not only taken full charge of Pope's accounts but also developed a deep and lasting friendship with him. He soon made himself indispensable through his exceptional ability to secure commissions.
In 1912 Pope hired Otto R. Eggers, but with the outbreak of World War I all construction work soon stopped. It only slowly picked up at the war's end and in 1922 Higgins and Eggers became partners of Pope. Among the important commissions carried out in the following years were residences in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and Washington, and the Graham Fair Vanderbilt house in New York City; Constitution Hall for the Daughters of the American Revolution, the American Pharmaceutical Institute, and the National Archives Building, all in Washington; the Payne Whitney Gymnasium at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut; and the Roosevelt Memorial at the Museum of Natural History in New York City. When John Russell Pope died of cancer in 1937, his associates were left in a difficult position since they were not permitted to use his name except to finish the National Gallery of Art and the Jefferson Memorial.
In 1937 they formed a partnership and founded the firm of Eggers and Higgins. Eggers took sole responsibility for all the designs, while Higgins served as administrator, salesman, and public-relations man. Higgins' skill and ability sustained the fledgling firm during the difficult transition period. His interest and participation in civic and educational affairs, in lay activities of the Catholic church, and in numerous youth organizations brought him in contact with many politicians, business and labor leaders, and other public figures, many of whom became his close friends and were instrumental in providing work for the firm. Francis Cardinal Spellman, Robert Moses, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, Governor Alfred E. Smith, Jim Farley, Gene Tunney, and Herbert C. Hoover were among this group.
From 1937 to 1945 Higgins served as a member of the New York City Board of Education and as chairman of the Committee on Building and Sites, in which capacity he reorganized the bureau of plant operation and maintenance, initiating an innovative program of school planning and maintenance. Under his imaginative leadership a postwar construction program of ninety-five new schools was set up to accommodate 100, 000 pupils. His objective, he declared, was "to give the children of the City of New York new school houses which would be a model for other communities throughout the country. "
An ever increasing number of commissions was proof of Higgins' business acumen and Eggers' fame as a designer. Many important clients expressed their satisfaction by returning to Eggers and Higgins time and again for additional work; among them were the National Gallery in Washington; the Frick Collection in New York; Indiana University; the University of Virginia; the City of New York; the Archdiocese of New York; and the New York Thruway Authority. Among the important projects undertaken by the firm under Higgins' guidance through the years from 1937 to 1953 may be counted a number of hospitals (including the Triboro, Phelps-Dodge, Syracuse Memorial, St. Vincent's, and Beekman Downtown as well as veterans' administration hospitals in Albany and Buffalo), the Alcoa Gateway Center in Pittsburgh, the Cardinal Hayes and Archbishop Stepinac high schools, various projects for Columbia and New York universities; and assignments for the United States government (for example, the Bainbridge Naval Training Station in Maryland).
He served as a member of the board of directors of the Boys Club of America, the Boy Scouts of America, the Madison Square Boys' Club, the Police Athletic League, and the Welfare Council of New York City, and as president of the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO).
Higgins was a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, member of the Architectural League, the New York Building Congress, and the Municipal Art Society.
Personality
In addition to his determination and willpower, Higgins' outstanding character traits were his deep interest in people, his warmth, his personal charm, and his sense of humor. He talked easily, was a great and entertaining storyteller, and could make and keep friends on any social level; these qualities were invaluable assets in helping him to acquire a growing and loyal clientele.
Connections
On October 6, 1909, Higgins married Anna Dorothea Boll; they had two children.