Topic: Henry Adams

Henry Adams (1858-1929) is an American architectural engineer. He was born on Feb. 11, 1858 and emigrated at age 22 to Baltimore from Duisburg, (Prussia) Germany having been educated as a building engineer. He later worked with the District of Columbia government buildings, and established a longstanding private practice in Baltimore, Maryland.

In Baltimore, he first worked for the builder, Benjamin F. Bennett. In 1886 he became a heating and ventilating engineer with the Office of the Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury. In 1894 he joined the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers (ASHVE) as one of 75 charter members. He served on the organization's Compulsory Legislation committee. He later served as ASHVE president (from 1899 to 1900), on the board of managers, and participated on their council. He was president of the board of the Maryland Institute in Baltimore, currently known as the Maryland Institute College of Art. He taught at the institute for 12 years then he participated as a board member and later as president of the board (until his death 45 years later). Adams served as a Federal Fuel Administration engineer for Maryland and Delaware during World War I.

Adams began his own practice in 1898; the company became Henry Adams LLC, which still exists today in Towson, Maryland. His engineering design is also found in several Baltimore buildings: the Bromo Seltzer Tower, Maryland Institute and the Baltimore Museum of Art, Belvedere Hotel, and the first renovation of the Baltimore Courthouse. As a federal engineer, he designed the mechanical system for Ellis Island. He oversaw mechanical equipment design for the Peking Union Medical College in China, and designed equipment for the Masonic temple in Manila.