Irving Kane Pond

(1857-1939)

Irving Kane Pond, a Chicago architect, was born in Ann Arbor,
Michigan, on May 1, 1857. He was educated in the Ann Arbor
public school system and graduated from the University of Michi-
gan in 1879.
Coming to Chicago after graduation, he worked with William
Le Baron Jenney and S. S. Beman and was head draftsman in
Beman's office during the construction of the town of Pullman. In
1886 he became a partner with his brother Alien, also a member
of the Chicago Literary Club, in the firm of Pond & Pond. Both
brothers were interested in measures for civic and social better-
ment and were the architects for Hull House, the Chicago Com-
mons and the Northwestern Settlement as well as social settle-
ment buildings and institutional buildings in other cities.

Pond was president of the American Institute of Architects in
1910-11. He was the author of three books, a frequent contribu-
tor to architectural journals, and wrote art and architectural crit-
icisms and reviews for The Dial. He was one of the founders of the
Cliff Dwellers and was its president in 1934-35.

Pond was a member of the Literary Club from 1888 until his
death in 1939—a total of fifty-one years. He served as chairman of
the Committee on Arrangements and Exercises in 1900-01 and
was president of the Club in 1922-23. Pond presented twenty-six
papers, one of which was published. The title of his last paper, pre-
sented on October 17, 1938, a year before his death, was Do Chil-
dren Think?

Read before the Club: January 18, 1999