Cass Gilbert which now houses the George Gustav Heye Center. Gilbert served on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts from 1910 to 1916. In 1906 he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1908. Gilbert served as President of the Academy from 1926 to 1933. Gilbert was a skyscraper pioneer; when designing the Woolworth Building he moved into unproven ground — though he certainly was aware of the ground-breaking work done by Chicago architects on skyscrapers and once discussed merging firms with the legendary Daniel Burnham — and his technique of
Melnea Cass and Indian girls in Rock Castle, Virginia. Cass graduated in 1914 as valedictorian of her class. She returned to Boston to the home that her Aunt Ella had established for the girls. Cass looked for work in retail, but finding few opportunities for blacks in Boston, she was instead forced into “domestic” work. She did this type of work until her marriage in December, 1917 to Marshall Cass. While her husband was in the service, their first child, Marshall, was born. After his return from the war, they had two other children, Marianne and Melanie. Her husband died in 1958.