Fiske and Dieman formed a partnership in 1898 that existed until 1912. During this period they designed two buildings for the University of Nebraska, Agriculture Hall and the building originally known as the Woman's Building, later called Home Economics.
Ferdinand Fiske was born in New York and raised in Iowa. He completed a two year program in architectural technology at Cornell University in 1880, and then worked for a brief time in Iowa. Fiske moved to Lincoln during the building boom of 1887 and practiced architecture there until his death in 1930.
Ferdinand Fiske's contribution to Lincoln's architectural history is enormous. In addition to mentoring and training many architects who would later go on have a significant impact on the city's architecture, he also designed many important private and public buildings in Lincoln. Most important are Whittier Junior High and Prescott Elementary Schools, many architecturally noteworthy houses in the near South and Mount Emerald historic area, and numerous warehouse buildings in the Haymarket area, including the Grainger Bros. Building and the Apothecary Building. He also design the first Governor's mansion, which was razed when the current structure was built on the same site.
Fiske's local partnerships and associations included Harry Meginnis, Jesse Boaz Miller, and Edward G. Schaumberg.
Source Information:
Preservation Association of Lincoln Brown bag lecture series, The Architecture of F. C. Fiske, by Ed Zimmer. October 12, 1999.
Obituary (Fiske), Lincoln Star, Jan 27 1930.
Alan Schroeder, Directory of 19th Century Iowa Architects, 1982.
