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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Lewis Mumford
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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Lewis Mumford
(1895-1990)
LEWIS MUMFORD
Awarded by
President Lyndon B. Johnson
September 14, 1964
In the name of sanity, he has constantly worked to rescue and extend the qualities of urban life that will preserve and stimulate the humane spirit of western civilization.
Chronology of Mumford's Life - 1895 Born October 19 in Flushing, New York.
- 1909 Enters Stuyvesant High School to prepare to become an engineer.
- 1912 Decides to become a writer; enrolls in City College of New York.
- 1915 Discovers writings of Patrick Geddes, his mentor; become a student of the city and surveys New York Regional on foot.
- 1918 Joins U.S. Navy.
- 1919 Mustered out of the navy; joins staff of The Dial and meets Sophia Wittenberg, his future wife.
- 1920 Moves to London to become editor of the Sociological Review ; returns to New York and writes for The Freeman.
- 1921 Marries Sophia Wittenberg.
- 1922 Published The Story of Utopias while living in Greenwich Village; moves to Brooklyn Heights.
- 1923 Co-founded of the Regional Planning Association of American (RPAA); helps RPAA plan Sunnyside Gardens, Queens.
- 1924 Publishes Sticks and Stones , his first book on architecture.
- 1925 Son Geddes born on July 5; lectures in Geneva and visits Patrick Geddes in Edinburgh; moves to Sunnyside Gardens.
- 1926 First summer in Amenia, New York; publishes The Golden Day ; helps found The American Caravan.
- 1927 After visit to Chicago writes essays rediscovering the Chicago School of architecture.
- 1928 Helps RPAA plan Radburn, in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.
- 1929 Publishes Herman Melville ; begins part-time visiting professorship at Dartmouth College.
- 1931 Publishes The Brown Decades ; joins The New Yorker staff -- writes "The Sky Line" and "The Art Galleries" columns.
- 1932 Begins research in Europe for Renewal of Life series.
- 1934 Publishes Technics and Civilization ; appointed to New York City Board of Higher Education.
- 1935 Daughter Alison born on April 28.
- 1936 Moves to Amenia, New York.
- 1938 Publishes The Culture of Cities ; prepares planning reports for city of Honolulu and for the Pacific Northwest Regional Planning Commission; writes screenplay for The City ; intense involvement in battle against American neutrality.
- 1939 Publishes Men Must Act .
- 1940 Publishes Faith for Living ; joins Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies.
- 1941 Ends friendship with Frank Lloyd Wright and others over issue of American neutrality.
- 1942 Moves to California to join faculty of Stanford University -- helps design new humanities program.
- 1944 Resigns from Stanford and returns to Armenia; publishes The Condition of Man ; son Geddes killed in combat in Italy on September 13.
- 1945 Moves to Hanover, New Hampshire, to be near close friends.
- 1946 Visits England to advise on postwar urban planning; publishes Values for Survival .
- 1947 Publishes Green Memories, a biography of his son; begins campaign against use and development of the atomic bomb.
- 1948 Moves back to New York City for four years; battle with Robert Moses over Stuyvesant Town.
- 1951 Beginning of ten-year association with University of Pennsylvania as a visiting professor; publishes The Conduct of Life , final volume of Renewal of Life series.
- 1952 Publishes Art and Technics .
- 1956 Publishes The Transformations of Man .
- 1957 Research trip to Europe for his history of the city; begins visiting professorship at MIT.
- 1958 Leads campaign against Robert Moses' plan to build roadway through Washington Square Park in New York City.
- 1961 Publishes The City in History -- wins National Book Award; visiting professor at University of California, Berkeley.
- 1962 Returns to Amenia to work on autobiography and write a two-volume history of technology and human development.
- 1963 Stops writing "The Sky Line" column for The New Yorker .
- 1964 Drafts city plan for Oxford, England; awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom .
- 1965 Protests U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
- 1967 Testifies before U.S. Senate subcommittee on urban renewal; publishes The Myth of the Machine: I. Technics and Human Development .
- 1968 Supports Eugene McCarthy's bid for presidential nomination; publishes The Urban Prospect .
- 1970 Publishes The Myth of the Machine: II: The Pentagon of Power .
- 1972 Awarded the National Medal for Literature; publishes Interpretations and Forecasts.
- 1975 Made honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire; publishes Findings and Keepings.
- 1976 Went to Paris to accept Prix Mondial del Duca for lifetime contributions to letters.
- 1978 Begins uncompleted history of human evolution, his final literary project.
- 1979 Publishes My Works and Days ; breaks with his publishers, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
- 1982 Publishes autobiography, Sketches from Life -- nominated for American Book Award.
- 1986 Awarded the National Medal of Arts.
- 1990 Died in Amenia, New York on January 26 at the age of 94.
On October 19, 1895, Lewis Mumford was born in Flushing, New York. After studying at City College of New York and the New School for Social Research, Mumford began a lifetime studying the role of art, architecture, and technology on human societies. From 1931 to 1964, he wrote architectural criticism and urban commentary for "The New Yorker" magazine. During that time, he became one of America's leading intellectuals, with such critically regarded books as "The Condition of Man," "The Conduct of Life," and "The Myth of the Machine." He was decorated as a Knight of the Order of the British Empire in 1943 and received the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. Lewis Mumford, author and critic, promoted the idea of planning through such books as The Culture of Cities (1938) and The City in History (1961).In his 1979 autobiography, "My Work and Days," he observed: "New York is the perfect model of a city, not the model of a perfect city."
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Medal History
