Difference between revisions of "William V. Kernan (1890-1963), Architect"
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<div style="white-space:nowrap;font-size:125%">'''Omaha, Nebraska, 1908-1910, 1913-1923; Los Angeles, California, 1924-ca. 1955'''</div style="white-space:nowrap;font-size:125%"> | <div style="white-space:nowrap;font-size:125%">'''Omaha, Nebraska, 1908-1910, 1913-1923; Los Angeles, California, 1924-ca. 1955'''</div style="white-space:nowrap;font-size:125%"> | ||
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'''William V. Kernan''' was born in November, 1890, in Iowa to Agnes L. and Jno. E. Kernan. His father was a house painter and the family resided in Omaha by 1910.[[#References|[1]]] William worked as a draftsman for Omaha architects in 1908-1910. He may have explored opportunities in California--his name is listed in a 1912 Los Angeles city directory. By 1913, he was back in Omaha and by 1914 was listed as an architect with [[Bankers Realty Investment Company, Real Estate Developers|'''Bankers Realty Investment Co.''']] (BRIC), an association which he hold longer than most of that firm's designers. He was listed as BRIC's chief architect in 1916, then as BRIC's purchasing agent in 1917-1918 and head of their construction division in 1920, when the enterprise went bankrupt.[[#References|[2]]][[#Notes|[b]]] He practiced architecture independently in Omaha in the early '20s, then by 1924 was practicing in Los Angeles, where he designed numerous banks and school buildings, until at least the mid-1950s. He died in California in 1963.[[#References|[5]]] | '''William V. Kernan''' was born in November, 1890, in Iowa to Agnes L. and Jno. E. Kernan. His father was a house painter and the family resided in Omaha by 1910.[[#References|[1]]] William worked as a draftsman for Omaha architects in 1908-1910. He may have explored opportunities in California--his name is listed in a 1912 Los Angeles city directory. By 1913, he was back in Omaha and by 1914 was listed as an architect with [[Bankers Realty Investment Company, Real Estate Developers|'''Bankers Realty Investment Co.''']] (BRIC), an association which he hold longer than most of that firm's designers. He was listed as BRIC's chief architect in 1916, then as BRIC's purchasing agent in 1917-1918 and head of their construction division in 1920, when the enterprise went bankrupt.[[#References|[2]]][[#Notes|[b]]] He practiced architecture independently in Omaha in the early '20s, then by 1924 was practicing in Los Angeles, where he designed numerous banks and school buildings, until at least the mid-1950s. He died in California in 1963.[[#References|[5]]] | ||
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Revision as of 18:50, 6 February 2023
William V. Kernan was born in November, 1890, in Iowa to Agnes L. and Jno. E. Kernan. His father was a house painter and the family resided in Omaha by 1910.[1] William worked as a draftsman for Omaha architects in 1908-1910. He may have explored opportunities in California--his name is listed in a 1912 Los Angeles city directory. By 1913, he was back in Omaha and by 1914 was listed as an architect with Bankers Realty Investment Co. (BRIC), an association which he hold longer than most of that firm's designers. He was listed as BRIC's chief architect in 1916, then as BRIC's purchasing agent in 1917-1918 and head of their construction division in 1920, when the enterprise went bankrupt.[2][b] He practiced architecture independently in Omaha in the early '20s, then by 1924 was practicing in Los Angeles, where he designed numerous banks and school buildings, until at least the mid-1950s. He died in California in 1963.[5]
This page is a contribution to the publication, Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. See the format and contents page for more information on the compilation and page organization.
Contents
Compiled Nebraska Directory Listings
Omaha, Nebraska, 1908-1923
Educational & Professional Associations
1908: draftsman, Henry Voss, Omaha, Nebraska.[a]
1909-1910: draftsman, J. Jeffery Davey, Omaha, Nebraska.[6]
1912: a William V. Kernan was listed in the city directory of Los Angeles, California.
1913: clerk, Milton Rogers & Sons Co, Omaha, Nebraska.
1914-1915: architect, Bankers Realty Investment Co. (BRIC), Omaha, Nebraska.[b]
1916: "ch[ie]f architect," BRIC, Omaha, Nebraska.
1917-1918: purchasing agent, BRIC, Omaha, Nebraska.
1920: manager, construction department, BRIC, Omaha, Nebraska.
1920-23: architect, Omaha, Nebraska.[3][c]
1924: draftsman, Curlett & Beelman, Los Angeles, California.[d]
1925: architect, Curlett & Beelman, Los Angeles, California.[d]
c. 1928-1929: architect in partnership Kernan & (M. P.) Miller, Los Angeles, California.[10][11][12][13]
1929-c.1954: architect, Los Angeles, California.
Buildings & Projects
Blackstone Hotel (1916), 36th & Farnam Streets, Omaha, Nebraska.[2][3][4]
"Worked on the plans" of Omaha Technical High School (c. 1920-1922), 33rd & Cumings Streets, Omaha, Nebraska.[2][16][e]
Citizens' National Bank (1928), Pico Boulevard & Swall Drive, Los Angeles, California.[11][f]
California Stock Exchange within Board of Trade Building (1929), Los Angeles, California.[10][f]
Home Savings Bank (1929), Ventura Avenue and Ramona Street, Ventura, California.[12][f]
Citizens' National Trust and Savings Bank (1929), Westview Avenue and Washington Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.[14]
Tujunga High School buildings--six classroom bungalows, an auditorium, physical education building, and crafts building (1936), Los Angeles, California.[15]
Notes
a. First Omaha directory listing, 1908.
b. In the Omaha city directories of 1914 and 1915, both "Wm. V., architect" and his father "Jno. E., foreman" are listed as employed by Bankers Realty Investment Co. William was listed as BRIC's "chief architect" in 1916, when the firm began hiring "Eastern architects" and Line's title shifted to "Purchasing agent" in 1917 and 1918, then "manager, construction department" in 1920, the firm's final year. As late as 1923, while vacationing in California, the "former Omaha architect" reported back to an Omaha newspaper that "Peter Elvad,former president of the Bankers Realty and Investment company of this city, which failed two years ago, is recuperating his shattered health and expects to get back into business in Los Angeles in the near future." [2]
c. A brief notice (with portrait photo) in Omaha World-Herald in 1920 noted that "W. V. Kernan, for several years chief architect for a construction company here, has returned from Chicago, and engaged in business for himself with temporary offices at 621 North Twenty-first street. Among the buildings designed and erected under the direction of Mr. Kernan from 1913-1917, the most prominent and best known is the Blackstone hotel at Thirty-sixth and Farnam streets."[3]
d. W. V. Kernan was listed among the guests at banquet celebrating the opening of Barker Bros. new building, encompassing 19 acres in area for the home furnishing company. Seventh and Figueroa streets in LA cited as address. "The architects for the new structure were Curlett & Beelman Inc. and McNeal Swasey."[7] Los Angeles directories listed Kernan as a draftsman for Curlett & Beelman in 1924 and an architect with that firm in 1925.
e. Omaha Technical ("Tech") High School was designed by Omaha architects Fred W. and Edwin B. Clarke in the early 1920s.[2][16]
f. Project credited to Kernan & Miller partnership.
References
1. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census, s.v. "William V. Kernan" [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
2. "Here's Some News About Prominent Omaha Folks Now Making Their Homes in California," Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News (July 26, 1923), 7.
3. "Blackstone Architect Opens an Office Here," Omaha (Nebraska) World-Herald (August 15, 1920), 2.
4. Jim McKee, "Blackstone Hotel part of Omaha's Gold Coast," Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star (March 20, 2011), C2.
5. Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current, s.v. "William V. Kernan," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
6. Ancestry.com. "1910 United States Federal Census," s.v. "F. William Kernan," a misreading of "V. William," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.
7. "Fete New Home of Barker Bros.--Builders Mark Completion with Banquet," Los Angeles Times (December 11, 1925), 17.
8. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census, s.v. "William V. Kernan," [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.
9. Ancestry.com. "1940 United States Federal Census," s.v. "William V. Kernan," [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
10. "New Stock Market to Open Soon," Los Angeles Times (August 24, 1928), 13; "Trading Room Almost Completed--Patterned After New York Exchange Floor," Los Angeles Times (June 9, 1929), 84.
11. "Citizens National [bank] Opens New Building," Los Angeles Evening Express (September 15, 1928), 20.
12. "Home Savings Bank Opens Avenue Branch Tomorrow," Ventura County (California) Star (May 24, 1929), 2.
13. Notice of dissolution of co-partnership of W. V. Kernan and M. P. Miller, known as Kernan & Miller, in Los Angeles. Los Angeles Evening Post-Record (July 1, 1929), 6.
14. "Bank Will Build," Los Angeles Times (September 22, 1929), 74.
15. "Contract Awarded for Tujunga H. S.," Los Angeles (California) Evening Citizen News (October 27, 1936), 2.
16. "Technical High School May Cost $2,500,000--Architect Drawing Plans for Building to Accommodate 2,000 or More Students," Omaha (Nebraska) World-Herald (January 23, 1921), 2.
Page Citation
E. F. Zimmer & D. Murphy, “William V. Kernan (1890-1963), Architect,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, February 6, 2023. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, October 31, 2024.
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