Dinsmoor studied at
Phillips Exeter Academy and
Columbia University, taking time out for active service in the military during
World War II in India and China. He received a B.A. in modern languages in 1947 and degrees in architecture: Bachelor’s (1947) and Master’s (1951) from Columbia University.[1]
He married Mary Higgins on September 4, 1948.[2] That marriage produced four children: Margaret Park Dinsmoor, Diane Marie Dinsmoor, William Bell Dinsmoor III, and Robert Davidson Dinsmoor.[3]
In the 1950s, Dinsmoor worked as an architect in Colorado, New Mexico, and El Paso Texas.[4] They divorced on January 7, 1966 in El Paso, Texas.[5] Dinsmoor moved to Greece to assist
Lucy Taxis Shoe Meritt with her survey of
Greek architectural moulding and
Carl Blegen on his books on
Troy and
Pylos. He subsequently married Anastasia N. Dinsmoor. That marriage produced a son, Paul Dinsmoor.[6]
In the field, Dinsmoor worked with
Oscar Broneer and helped publish the finds of the temple of
Poseidon in
Athens. In 1966, he was appointed architect for the archeological excavations of the
Agora in
Athens, a position which he held until his death. He received the
Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement in 1969 from the
Archaeological Institute of America.[7]
2004. The Propylaia to the Athenian Akropolis (Volume II, the Classical Building) (with William B. Dinsmoor, Sr., edited by Anastasia Norre Dinsmoor.
ISBN978-0876619414
Articles
1971. “New Parthenon Finds in the Agora,” Athens Annals of Archaeology, vol. 4.
1973. “The Kardaki Temple Re-Examined,” Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Athenische Abteilung, vol. 88.
1974. “New Fragments of the Parthenon in the Athenian Agora,” Hesperia, vol. 43, No. 1.
1974. “The Monopteros in the Athenian Agora,” Hesperia, vol. 43, No. 4.
1974. “The Temple of Poseidon: A Missing Sima and Other Matters,” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 78.
1975. “The Baptistery: Its Roofing and Related Problems,” Studies in the Antiquities of Stobi, vol. 2.
1976. “The Roof of the Hephaisteion,” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 80.
1977. “The Archaeological Field Staff: The Architect,” Journal of Field Archaeology, vol. 4.
1982. “Anchoring Two Floating Temples,” Hesperia, vol. 51, No. 4.
1982. “The Asymmetry of the Pinakotheke for the Last Time?” Hesperia, supplement XX.
1984. “Preliminary Planning of the Propylaia by Mnesicles,” Le Dessin d’Architecture dans les Sociétés Antiques.
Book reviews
1971. “The Architects of the Parthenon, by Rhys Carpenter,” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 75.
1977. “Wurster, Der Apollontempel,” Gnomon, vol. 49.
American Journal of Archaeology 93 (April 1989): pp. 233–34.
American School of Classical Studies at Athens Newsletter no. 22 (Fall 1988): p. 14.
References
^Letters of William Bell Dinsmoor Jr. in the possession of his son, William Bell Dinsmoor III
^Marriage license of William Bell Dinsmoor Jr. and Mary Higgins in the possession of their son, Robert Davidson Dinsmoor
^personal knowledge of their son Robert Davidson Dinsmoor
^Letters of William Bell Dinsmoor Jr. and 1950s curriculum vitae of William Bell Dinsmoor Jr. in the possession of his son, William Bell Dinsmoor III
^Divorce decree of William Bell Dinsmoor Jr. and Mary Higgins Dinsmoor in the possession of their son Robert Davidson Dinsmoor in cause 115604 of the 65th Judicial District Court of El Paso County Texas.
^Personal knowledge of William Bell Dinsmoor Jr.'s son, Robert Davidson Dinsmoor.