ABSTRACT
PARSONS H.B. 06.01. 1862 New York NY/USA 26.01. 1935 New York NY/USA Harry de Berkeley Parsons, the brother of William (1859-1932), graduated with the BSc degree from Columbia College, New York NY, in 1882. Further he graduated in 1884 as a mechanical engineer from the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken NJ, which conferred on him in 1926 the honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering. Parsons established in 1885 an office in New York, which he maintained until his death. His earlier projects include railway works, and the water supply completion at Stevens Point WI. From 1892 to 1907, he was professor of steam engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY, from when he was emeritus professor of practical engineering. From 1901 to 1903 he designed the 500 m long and 50 m high Spiers Falls Dam on Hudson River. A similar structure, namely the Sherman Island Dam near Glens Falls NY, was designed from 1921 to 1923. From 1908 to 1914 Parsons was a member of the Metropolitan Sewerage Commission, which prepared a monumental report on the Storm and sanitary drainage of New York City. His further activities included the design of water steam power plants, water supply and sewerage projects. He considered his most important works the dams stated above, as well as a study of tidal flows in New York Harbour for the Metropolitan Sewerage Commission. He was awarded by the American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE the Thomas Fitch Rowland Prize in 1925 for his paper on Sherman Island Dam, and in 1930 the J. James Croes Medal for the uplift paper. He further published three other noteworthy papers in the Transactions ASCE. He was member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME, the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers SNAME, and ASCE member from 1897. Always courteous, his quiet refinement of manner, his sincerity of purpose, his modesty, and his grounding in the fundamentals of his profession impressed distinctly. He was indeed a fine person and a distinguished engineer, who has particularly contributed to his home city. Anonymous (1926). H. de B. Parsons. Engineering News-Record 96(3): 132-133. P Anonymous (1936). Harry de B. Parsons. Trans. ASCE 101: 1617-1620. Parsons, H. de B. (1905). Lectures on steam engines. Worden: Troy NY. Parsons, H. de B. (1907). Steam boilers: Their theory and design. Longmans & Green: New York. Parsons, H. de B. (1925). Sherman Island Dam and power house. Trans. ASCE 88: 1257-1292. Parsons, H. de B. (1929). Hydrostatic uplift in pervious soils. Trans. ASCE 93: 1317-1332.
