the gilded age, 1875 1894 129
mismanagement and improprieties, at least one indictment, and a de- Figure 5.8
U.S. federal building,
partmental investigation into the handling of his job. That he sur-
Charleston, West
vived in his position for as long as he did seven years and that he
Virginia, 1881 1883,
entered into a successful private practice following his departure
James G. Hill. Courtesy
from the government, is testimony to both the depth of his political
National Archives.
support and that of his comrades in the aia.
The appointment of Alfred B. Mullett in the fall of 1876 as super-
intending architect of his major French-style buildings still under
construction was likely Secretary Lot Morrill s way of aiding Mullett
without incurring the wrath of the architectural profession or of the
press. Mullett s roving superintendency was tenuous; Hill informed
the superintendents of the buildings that Mullett had no authority
over their work whatsoever. After a few months on the job, Lot
Morrill s successor (and Mullett s old friend) John Sherman asked
Mullett to give him his impression as to the operation of the
Supervising Architect s Office over the two years since his departure.