Fonds RC0184 - Anthony Adamson and Marion MacRae

Anthony Adamson, architect, author, teacher, and administrator, was born in Toronto in 1906. He studied architecture at Cambridge University and London University. After completing his education, he became an architect and architectural planner and then a professor at the University of Toronto from 1955 to 1965. He also served as an elected municipal official for the Township of Toronto. He was awarded honorary degrees from Queen's University (1975) and the University of Windsor (1985).

The recipient of many honours including the Order of Canada (1974) and the Gabrielle Léger Medal (1981), he contributed greatly to the architectural heritage of Ontario and to the visual and performing arts. He lobbied for the restoration of Dundurn Castle in Hamilton, Ont. and then served as General Consultant to the project which was completed in 1967. He also served for several years as Chairman of the Ontario Arts Council and was a member of the Board of the Ontario Heritage Foundation. Anthony Adamson died on 3 May, 2002.

Having first collaborated at Morrisburg, Ont. on the Upper Canada Village project, Adamson and Marion Bell MacRae continued working together on a survey of the historical houses of Ontario. The resulting work, written by MacRae and with a preface and a last word by Adamson, explored the history of the province through its architecture. The Ancestral Roof (1963) was well received and has had many printings. This team would co-operate on two more works on the history of Ontario architecture. In 1975 MacRae and Adamson published Hallowed Walls (Governor General's award for non-fiction), an exploration of ecclesiastical architecture of Ontario. They also collaborated on Cornerstones of Order (1983) which looked at pre-1900 public buildings (court houses and town halls) in Ontario.

Marion Bell MacRae, architectural and design historian, was born in Apple Hill, Ont. in 1921. She entered the Ontario College of Art in 1947. She completed her post-graduate studies at the University of Illinois in the years 1951-54. From 1949 to 1969 she was an instructor at O.C.A. in Museum Research and subsequently lectured in Design History from 1969 to 1986. She also taught History of Canadian Architecture part-time at the University of Toronto from 1973 to 1978 and acted as a Special Research Consultant to the Dundurn Castle restoration project which was completed in 1967. Marion MacRae died on 11 August 2008.

Having first collaborated at Morrisburg, Ont. on the Upper Canada Village project, Adamson and Marion Bell MacRae continued working together on a survey of the historical houses of Ontario. The resulting work, written by MacRae and with a preface and a last word by Adamson, explored the history of the province through its architecture. The Ancestral Roof (1963) was well received and has had many printings. This team would co-operate on two more works on the history of Ontario architecture. In 1975 MacRae and Adamson published Hallowed Walls (Governor General's award for non-fiction), an exploration of ecclesiastical architecture of Ontario. They also collaborated on Cornerstones of Order (1983) which looked at pre-1900 public buildings (court houses and town halls) in Ontario. MacRae also wrote MacNab of Dundurn, a biography, was published in 1971, which not only explored the life of MacNab but also his life's work, Dundurn Castle.