Frederick V. Murphy

Frederick Vernon Murphy, FAIA, was the first architect based in Washington, D.C., to serve on the Commission of Fine Arts. Murphy was employed in the Office of the Supervising Architect, Department of the Treasury, from 1899 to 1911. He founded his first firm in Washington in 1911 as Murphy & Olmsted, worked on his own from 1932 to 1940, and eventually formed Murphy & Locraft, which he operated until 1954. Murphy worked mostly in Washington, D.C., on projects related to the Catholic Church; these include numerous buildings at the Catholic University of America, the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, the Shrine of the Sacred Heart, and the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (with Maginnis & Walsh). He also designed the American World War II cemetery in Saint Avold, France. Murphy studied at the Art Institute of Chicago with additional coursework in architecture at George Washington University. He was accepted to the École des Beaux-Arts in 1905 and received a diploma in 1909. In 1911, he founded the School of Architecture at Catholic University, eventually serving as its dean, and he taught in the school until 1949. He was a member of the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in New York, an associate member of the National Academy of Design, and a member of the House of Representatives Office Building Design Committee. He was a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor and the recipient of honors and awards from organizations related to the Catholic Church.