Architect and author to speak in Nahant

NAHANT ? Ralph Adams Cram is renowned for designing colleges like Rice University and churches such as Manhattan’s St. Thomas Church, but on the North Shore, he will always be remembered for Ellingwood Chapel.Architect and author Ethan Anthony, the principal architect and chief executive of Cram and Ferguson Architects, will speak Sunday on Cram and his legacy at 2 p.m. in Ellingwood Chapel for the Nahant Historical Society’s 39th Annual Meeting.The chapel, built in 1919 and dedicated in 1920, is on the National Register of Historic Places and is located in Greenlawn Cemetery, 195 Nahant Road.Anthony will share his work, which includes published two books based on the founder of the company he now heads. “The Architecture of Ralph Adams Cram and his Office” was published in 2007 and a “Guide to the New England Work of Ralph Adams Cram” in 2013. For the former, Anthony carefully mined the firm’s archives to create not only a catalog of Cram’s lifework but also a meticulous and, many say, an elegant portrait of the man.Although often remembered for his traditional work, such as Ellingwood Chapel, Cram also designed Boston’s art-deco-style Federal Building. He also wrote and lectured on architecture such as “Impressions of Japanese Architect,” “Heart of Europe,” “The Substance of Gothic” and even farm houses. He also directed the Architectural Department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology for seven years and made the cover of Time magazine on Dec. 13, 1926.Anthony has also been celebrated and featured in several anthologies, was the recipient of the Architect of the Year award in Alicante, Spain, in 2007, and his Houston church design received the Golden Trowel Award from the Texas Masonry Institute in 2004.The lecture is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be served. Parking is limited on site, but shuttle service will be available at St. Thomas Aquinas Church’s lot at 248 Nahant Road one half hour before and after the presentation.