Ida Lee Willis Memorial Award, Kentucky Heritage Council (1985); Fellow, American Institute of Architects (1994); Oberwarth Gold Medal Award, AIA Kentucky (1999)
Practice
Office of Oberwarth Associates; Berry, Burris & Thompson; K. Norman Berry Associates
The University Club at the University of Louisville, designed by K. Norman Berry Associates and completed in 1991.
Kenneth Norman "Norm" Berry was born March 13, 1933 in Corbin, Kentucky to George D. Berry and Gertrude Berry, nee Worley. He was educated at the University of Kentucky, earning a BSCE in 1955. He worked for the United States Steel Corporation and architects McLoney, Tune & Clark and Gray & Coblin in Louisville and Frankfort before returning to the university, from which he earned a BArch in 1965.[1] In 1965 Berry and two associates, James E. Burris and Milton Thompson, acquired the office of Frankfort architect C. Julian Oberwarth. They continued the firm as the Office of Oberwarth Associates and later as Berry, Burris & Thompson. In 1971 Burris and Thompson withdrew from the partnership. Berry moved the firm to Louisville and continued it as a sole proprietorship under the name of K. Norman Berry Associates. In 1994 a new partnership under the same name was formed with Steven A. Eggers.[2] In 2006 Eggers became managing partner of the firm and Berry gradually reduced his involvement until he retired.
Berry was particularly interested in preservation, which became the focus of his firm. He was responsible for the restoration of the Jefferson County Jail and Riverside, The Farnsley–Moremen Landing in Louisville and Federal Hill at My Old Kentucky Home State Park in Bardstown. In 1985 he and his firm were awarded the Ida Lee Willis Memorial Award from the Kentucky Heritage Council.[2]
Berry was a member of the American Institute of Architects. He was elected a Fellow in 1994 and in 1999 was recipient of the Oberwarth Gold Medal Award of AIA Kentucky. His firm was also awarded the Distinguished Firm Award of AIA Kentucky in 1990 and 2016.[3]
Berry was married in 1957 to Doris Dilliard Mitchell. They had two children, one son and one daughter.[1] He died May 18, 2021 in St. Matthews, Kentucky at the age of 88.[3]
Grawemeyer Hall of the University of Louisville, designed by Morgan and Arthur G. Tafel Jr. and completed in 1927.The Pendennis Club in Louisville, designed by Nevin, Wischmeyer & Morgan and completed in 1928.The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Temple in Louisville, designed by Nevin, Wischmeyer & Morgan and completed in 1931.The former Methodist Evangelical Hospital in Louisville, designed by Nevin & Morgan and completed in 1960.
Frederic L. MorganFAIA (January 6, 1889 – May 29, 1970) was an American architect in practice in Louisville, Kentucky from 1921 until his death in 1970.
Frederic Lindley Morgan was born January 6, 1889 in Loda, Illinois to Joseph Sidney Morgan and Maud Morgan, nee Lindley.[1]
He was educated at the University of Illinois, graduating in 1912 with a BSArch. This was followed by travel in Europe. In 1913 he joined the office of J. Earl Henry, architect to Louisville Public School District. In 1915 he moved to Detroit, where he worked for architects Malcomson & Higginbotham and Smith, Hinchman & Grylls. In 1919 he returned to Louisville, where he joined Henry's new private sector firm, Nevin & Henry, as chief designer.[1][2] Senior partner Hugh L. Nevin had been in practice in Louisville for about a decade. Henry died in 1920, and in 1921 Nevin formed a new partnership, Nevin, Wischmeyer & Morgan, with Morgan and Herman Wischmeyer. In 1929 the partnership was reorganized as Nevin, Morgan & Kolbrook with the withdrawl of Wischmeyer and the admission of Joseph H. Kolbrook. In 1942 Kolbrook also withdrew and the firm became Nevin & Morgan. The partnership was changed for the last time in 1967 to Nevin, Morgan & Weber, reflecting the addition of Herbert A. Weber. The firm was dissolved after the deaths of Nevin in 1969 and Morgan in 1970.[3]
Nearly all of Morgan's career was spent as partner responsible for design for Nevin & Morgan and its associated firms. He was best known for the design of buildings in traditional revival styles, especially residences in the Georgian Revival style.[1] Morgan was a member of the American Institute of Architects and was elected a Fellow in 1949 for his design work. At the time of his nonination to Fellowship, AIA Kentucky president Frederick R. Louis wrote that Morgan was "the finest Architectural designer in the Commonwealth of Kentucky."[4]
Morgan never married. He was a member of the Filson Club and the Arts Club of Louisville.[1] He died May 29, 1970 in Louisville. Morgan donated his estate to the University of Louisville, which was used to endow the Frederic Lindley Morgan Chair of Architectural Design.[2]
^Designed by the Allied Architects of Kentucky, a venture led by Morgan, who along with Arthur G. Tafel Jr. was responsible for the design. A contributing resource to the University of Louisville Belknap Campus historic district, NRHP-listed in 1976.
^Designed by Nevin & Morgan and Joseph H. Kolbrook, associated architects.
^Designed by O'Connor & Kilham, architects, with Nevin & Morgan, associate architects.
^ abcd"Morgan, Frederic Lindley" in Who's Who in America (Marquis Who's Who): 1967.
^ abcdefghijklWilliam Morgan, "Morgan, Frederic Lindley" in The Encyclopedia of Louisville, ed. John E. Kleber (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2001): 626.
^"Nevin, Wischmeyer & Morgan" in The Virginia Architects, 1835–1955: A Biographical Dictionary, ed. John E. Wells and Robert E. Dalton (Richmond: New South Architectural Press, 1997): 324.
^"Harrodsburg High School" in American School Board Journal 70, no. 3 (March, 1925): 61.
^ abHarrods Creek Historic District NRHP Registration Form (1991)
Fellow, American Institute of Architects (1942); Oberwarth Gold Medal Award, AIA Kentucky (1981)
Practice
Leo L. Oberwarth & Son; C. Julian Oberwarth; Oberwarth & Livingston
Stony Point in Frankfort, Kentucky, designed by Leo L. Oberwarth & Son and completed in 1934.
C. Julian OberwarthFAIA (March 1, 1900 – April 23, 1983) was an American architect in practice in Frankfort, Kentucky from 1924 until his retirement in 1965.
Clarence Julian Oberwarth was born March 1, 1900 in Frankfort, Kentucky to Leo Louis Oberwarth and Ruth Buckner Oberwarth, nee Hawkins. Leo L. Oberwarth was an architect who had been in practice in Frankfort since 1894. He was educated at the University of Kentucky and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating from the latter in 1924 with a BSArch.[1] He immediately returned to Frankfort and joined his father's office as a partner. After his father's death in 1939 Oberwarth continued the firm under his own name. In 1946 Oberwarth formed the partnership of Oberwarth & Livingston with William C. Livingston Jr. In 1965 Oberwarth retired and sold the firm to architect K. Norman Berry and two associates.[2] They continued the firm as the Office of Oberwarth Associates and Berry, Burris & Thompson until 1971, when Berry reorganized the firm as a sole proprietorship and moved it to Louisville. It continues as K. Norman Berry Associates.[3]
Oberwarth was an advocate for improved standards of architectural practice, and to that end was instrumental in the passage of a law requiring the licensure of architects in 1930. He was the first architect to by licensed under that law, and was a long-time member of the Kentucky State Board of Architectural Examiners, which the law had created.[2] He was executive director of the board from 1966 to 1974. He joined the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1927 and was highly active in the organization. He served as Kentucky chapter president for 1933 and as a director of the national organization. He was elected a Fellow in 1942 for design as well as for his contributions to the AIA.[1] He was the namesake and inaugural recipient of the Oberwarth Gold Medal Award, established by AIA Kentucky in 1981.
Oberwarth was married in 1935 to Lillian Murray Wiard. They had three children, all daughters.[1] In his retirement he lived in Eutaw, Alabama, where he died April 23, 1983 at the age of 83.[2]
Oberwarth was the author of History of the Practice of Architecture in Kentucky, 1900-1975 (1977), a history of 20th-century architectural practice in Kentucky.[1]
^A contributing resource to the George T. Stagg Distillery historic district, NRHP-listed in 2001. Now the core building of the Stony Point Botanical Gardens. Also known as Rock Hill.