Background
Douglas H. Jr. Thomas was born in 1872 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
Douglas H. Jr. Thomas was born in 1872 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
He was educated in public schools and at Johns Hopkins University, and from there he went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a student in architecture. Following completion of a two-year course in 1895 the youth was sent by his parents to Europe for supplementary training in Paris.
Mr. Thomas launched his architectural career in Boston in the year 1900, when he entered into partnership with the late J. Harleston Parker, and in addition to work in Boston the firm designed several important buildings in Baltimore, including the Hotel Belvedere, Baltimore & Ohio Office Building, the Baltimore Savings Bank, and a group plan for the Johns Hopkins University. In 1907 Arthur W. Rice of Boston became a third partner in the firm, and Mr. Thomas continued an active member of the organization until his death in an automobile accident in 1915. Only forty-three years of age, it was a tragic end to a promising career.