Volume 43, number 2
October 2021
Grand River Times The Newsletter of the Grand Rapids Historical Society
Inside this issue: Cover Story: The Works of Corrado Parducci Letter from our President page 2 Available Newspaper Databases page 4
Photo Sleuth Update page 6 Photo Sleuth page 7
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Grand River Times
The Works of Corrado Parducci, Sculptor, In and Around Grand Rapids https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYqc-trjMoH9MEuIXbKSepD7kb8S2rGBkD? fbclid=IwAR19SCfqqZSe0yG8_nofSBYJ1xUSuvW7vXJUTERBbaK6xMW994NUBy4BYM
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Thursday, October 14 , 2021, 7:00 p.m. By: Dale Carlson Dale Carlson recently authored a book about the life and work of Detroit based Italian-American architectural sculptor, Corrado Parducci (1900-1981), who comes from an important lineage of American architectural and monumental sculptors who trace their roots to the very important New York City scene centered around MacDougal Alley at the turn of the 19th to 20th Century. Grand Rapids is a significant community for Parducci works, most notably for the carved stone reliefs on the facades of the Grand Rapids Civic Auditorium (1932) at 255 Lyon St NW and the Grand Rapids Trust Company Building (1926) at 61-77 Monroe Center SW. Also, my research suggests very strongly the possibility of Parducci modeling during his apprenticeship years the sculpture found upon the facade of the Michigan Bell Building at 114 Division Ave N. While difficult to prove, the dearth of known apprenticeship era Parducci works makes these examples especially interesting to consider. All three of these important constructions were Grand Rapids Trust Company Building designed or co-designed by the (1926), 61-77 Monroe Center St SW Detroit based architectural firm of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls, for whom Parducci executed numerous commissions over the course of his 50+ year career. Continued on page 3 1
