https://www.mallhistory.org/files/original/43447afad71bfe8bcf5880461a172f5c.jpg 4a24ebece1d55f261500760757013822 People An individual, biographical data, birth and death, etc. First Name for nav purposes John Last Name for nav purposes McShain Birth Date 12/21/1896 Birthplace Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Death Date 09/09/1989 Biographical Text John McShain was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Irish immigrants. McShain's father owned a construction company, which McShain was forced to take over in 1919 when his father died. Under his management John McShain Building, Inc. rose to national prominence. <br /><br />From the 1930s through the 1960s McShain's company worked on more than one hundred buildings in the Washington, DC area, including the Pentagon, the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/31">Jefferson Memorial</a>, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Library of Congress annex, Washington National Airport, and the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/437">reconstruction</a> of the White House.<br /><br />With his wife, Mary J. Horstmann, McShain purchased and renovated Kenmare House in Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland. In 1978, the couple sold the house to Ireland to be added to Killarney National Park, with reserve on the house and surrounding land for use during their lives. <br /><br /> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource John McShain Description An account of the resource John McShain was a building contractor in charge of the construction of many federal buildings in Washington during the 1900s. On the Mall, he was responsible for building the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/31">Jefferson Memorial</a> and was trusted with <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/437">remodeling</a> the White House during Harry Truman's presidency. During his heyday as a builder, a common saying was that L'Enfant may have designed Washington, DC, but McShain was the man who built it. McShain's great volume of work led one radio broadcaster to quip in 1949 that signs in the city should be changed to "Welcome to Washington - John McShain, Builder." Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Hagley Museum and Library. <a href="http://cdm16038.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p268001coll4/id/10530/rec/2">View original photograph</a>. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1920-1949 1950-1979 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource John McShain building the mall design & monuments