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Donald P. Ryder

American architect (1926–2021)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 8, 2026
Entity authorityQ106507453
Source-derived summary

Donald Porter Ryder, , (August 28, 1926 – February 17, 2021) was an American architect and educator. He designed many buildings as the co-founder of Bond Ryder & Associates with J. Max Bond Jr., and was a professor emeritus at the City College of New York where he taught from 1972 to 2001.

Life and career

Donald Porter Ryder was born on August 28, 1926 in Springfield, Ohio, as the second of three children of (Emma) Marie (née Belsinger) and Earl Ryder. His was apparently named Donald after his father's first cousin Donald H. Ryder (1893-1916) and Porter from his paternal grandmother's maiden name. His father was a chemist and his mother a homemaker. While still an infant, the family moved to Dayton, Ohio. His mother died when Donald was only eight years old.

Ryder's paternal great-grandparents James and Susan (née Hardiman) Ryder were free persons of color and listed by name in the 1860 U.S. Census in Gibson County, Indiana.

He graduated with a BA degree in architecture from the University of Illinois in 1951.

Ryder's principal works include, the Towers on the Park apartments on Frederick Douglass Circle (1990) in Manhattan, Battery Pointe and The Soundings Apartments on Rector Place (1987) in Battery Park City, Manhattan, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (1978) in Manhattan, as well as the Martin Luther King Jr.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Donald P. Ryder” as american architect (1926–2021). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Donald, Ryder and American.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1926, 2021, 1972, 2001—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1926-08-28. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Donald, Ryder and American providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Donald P. Ryder”, the useful work is to connect “american architect (1926–2021)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q106507453. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1926, 2021, 1972 and 2001.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

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  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Donald P. Ryder”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Donald P. Ryder primary sources, Donald P. Ryder archive and Donald research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Donald P. Ryder” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.