By and large, Ralph Adams Cram (1863–1942) is remembered today as the creator of impressive Gothic churches and collegiate buildings. The Cathedral of St. John the Divine and St. Thomas' Episcopal Church in New York, the Princeton Graduate College and Chapel, and a variety of turn-of-the-century buildings at West Point—these are the most prominent, though not necessarily the best, of his works. By the 1920s, with Frank Lloyd Wright in temporary eclipse owing to a personal scandal and the European modernist movement not yet having reached American shores, Cram was quite possibly the most famous architect in the nation and was certainly the arbiter of its Gothic tastes. Yet, neither personal success nor the widespread acceptance of his preferred style of building satisfied Cram. For one thing, he recognized that Gothicism was an anomaly in America, contrasting oddly with its spirit and institutions. He was convinced, moreover, that to achieve and maintain a consistently high level of artistic expression, it was first necessary to achieve a wholesome society. Given this conviction, it is not surprising that Cram devoted himself quite as earnestly to the nation's social reconstruction as he did to its architectural construction.