MacNeil 1887
ByYoung Hermon MacNeil
teaches at Cornell
A very young looking Hermon A MacNeil in 1887 when hired to teach engineers free hand drawing by Robert H. Thurston, Dean of Engineering at Cornell.
Professor Robert Henry Thurston (1839-1903). Founding Director of the Sibley College School of Engineering of the Cornell University.
“In the 1880s, Thurston was a man of vision who became a central pioneer in the developing field of Mechanical Engineering. He would soon become the first president of the newly organized American Society of Mechanical Engineers (A.S.M.E.). The faculty of Cornell brought him there to start the Sibley College of Engineering.”
“Thurston hired and mentored Hermon Atkins MacNeil from 1886-1889 — age 20 to 23 to teach industrial art, drawing, to the engineering students. A duplicate of this bronze bust and memorial plaque was erected at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) office in NYC. Thurston was the first President of ASME.” [SOURCE: https://hermonatkinsmacneil.com/2013/09/01/professor-robert-henry-thurston-encourager-of-macneils-genius-part-1/
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The young Art Instructor went on teach engineering students to sketch, mold in clay, do orthographic projections.
Key Orthographic Drawing Examples:
Mechanical Parts: Detailed views showing the front, top, and right-side projections of an object to define its exact shape and dimensions.
Simple Block Objects: A 3D model created from 3–6 blocks, sketched from different viewpoints (top, side, front) to understand spatial orientation.
Technical Designs: Shipping containers or a grand piano shown in top, front, and side views for manufacturing.
Dean Thurston wanted his engineering students to:
- visualize,
- think, and
- communicate through drawings.
He wanted a educated artist capable of teaching such skills through.
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His solution was to hire
Hermon Atkins MacNeil
in 1887
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Sept., 01, 2013
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Sept. 015, 2013
