Charles E. Kemper (1859-1942), Acting Supervising Architect
Charles Edward Kemper was born in Cross Keys, Virginia in 1859, son of Susan Martha (nee Craig) and Edward Stevens Kemper. Charles' father was a merchant and county surveyor. Charles attended Washington & Lee University in the early 1880s, studying law, then practiced law in Staunton, Virginia in the 1880s and early 1890s. He was appointed to a clerkship in the office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury in 1893 and worked in that department nearly two decades before resigning in 1911. He died in Staunton in 1942.[] As a lawyer, rather than designer or builder, Kemper's role in the office of the Supervising Architect appears to have been largely administrative. Kemper was first hired under Supervising Architect Jeremiah O'Rourke by Treasury Secretary Carlisle. His son Logan served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and was a college chum of Kemper.[2][a] Kemper reportedly played a lead role in persuading Secretary Carlisle to demand O'Rourke's resignation in September 1894. Carlisle put Kemper in charge as "Acting Supervising Architect," then reorganized the office to separate administration from design and construction and made Kemper "executive officer of the bureau..." with "...absolute charge of the office force and...nothing whatever to do with the scientific [design and engineering] work...."[5] The next Supervising Architect, W. M. Aiken was appointed in March 1895, with Kemper continuing as his chief administrator.[3][4] Aiken's tenure was also rocky, lasting just over two years, before he was asked to resign in May 1897.[9] Kemper was again Acting Supervising Architect until the appointment of James Knox Taylor in October 1897. In that half-year Kemper presumably took the lead in preparing the Annual Report to the Treasury Secretary for the October 1896-September 1897 period. A major project of that period was the U.S. Government Building at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha--a monumental, albeit ephemeral structure. Newspaper reports credited Kemper with "general direction" of the design and cited Edward A. Crane as "the draughtsman in immediate charge."[11-13] Then in J. K. Taylor's first Annual Report for October 1897 through September 1898, he proclaimed that "the erection of the Government building" at the Omaha Exposition was "completed within the stipulated time, and the result was most gratifying both as an artistic treatment and accommodation for the Government exhibit."[14] That report also published a rendering of the building inscribed "U. S. Government Building Trans Mississippi International Exposition Omaha, Nebraska. Chas. E. Kemper Acting Supervising Archt."
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This page is a contribution to the publication, Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. See the Format and contents of Nebraska architect entries page for more information on the compilation and page organization.
Contents
Education & Professional Associations
Nebraska Buildings & Projects
SEE W. M. Aiken for the Annual Report of the year ending in September 1895, encompassing the on-going Nebraska projects Kemper inherited from O'Rourke when in the first half of that year. The next year's report by J. K. Taylor
U.S. Government Building, Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition (1897-1898), Omaha, Nebraska.[10-14][c]
Notes
a. A brief mention in a Richmond, Virginia newspaper of Kemper's appointment in 1893 called him "an able young lawyer of this city" and pointed out "Mr. Kemper was at Washington and Lee with Mr. Logan Carlisle, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and the warm intimacy began at college continues to this day and has stood Mr. Kemper in good stead."[2] Their friendship probably contributed to O'Rourke's departure from the Treasury Department, at least as reported in Kemper's hometown newspaper: "Upon receiving the letter of Mr. Kemper [complaining of O'Rourke], Secretary Carlisle...demanded the immediate resignation of Mr. O'Rourke."[3] W. M. Aiken was announced as O'Rourke's successor in March 1895.[6][7]
b. Early in his term, Aiken undertook and extensive tour of federal construction projects, including a stop in Omaha. Carlysle reportedly approved the trip, but when it was publicized Aiken's itinerary included Alaska, the Treasury Secretary summoned him back to Washington.[8]
c. The Omaha Evening Bee" reported September 24, 1897 that the U.S. Government Building for the Trans-Mississippi Exposition "was designed under the general direction of Charles E. Kemper, acting supervising architect of the Treasury..." and further identified "Edward A. Crane being the draughtsman in immediate charge."[11] The Annual Report to the Treasury Secretary noted that as of September 30, 1897 the drawings for the U.S. Government Building for Omaha's Trans-Mississippi Exposition "...are now well advanced, with a view of obtaining, at an early day, proposals for the construction of the Government building."[12] By October of 1897, a perspective drawing for the building was being widely published, with the design credited to Kemper and drafting to Crane.[13]
References
2. "Mr. Charles E. Kemper...," Richmond (Virginia) Dispatch (April 2, 1893), 7.
3. "Resignation Called For. Chief Clerk Chas. E. Kemper Could Stand It No Longer," Staunton (Virginia) Vindicator (September 21, 1894). 3.
4. "Until a new supervising architect of the Treasury is appointed, Mr. Charles E. Kemper of Staunton, Va...will be in charge of the office.," Alexandria (Virginia) Gazette (September 22, 1894), 2.
5. "Will Defer the Appointment of a Supervising Architect Until the Middle of Next Month," Atlanta (Georgia) Constitution (December 31, 1894), 1.
6. "Stepped into O'Rourke's Shoes," Omaha (Nebraska) Evening Bee (March 21, 1895), 2.
7. Antoinette J. Lee, Architects to the Nation: The Rise and Decline of the Supervising Architect's Office (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 159.
8. "Cut Short a Junket: Secretary Carlisle Called Down the Supervising Architect. This Made Mr. Aiken Very Angry and His Resignation is Soon Expected," The San Francisco (California) Call and Post (October 25, 1895), 2.
9. "Architect Aiken Too Slow--His Resignation Considered Necessary by Secretary of the Treasury Gage. Lacking in Experience and Permits Inexcusable Delay With Public Buildings," Evening World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska) (May 4, 1897), 5.
10. "Government Building. Work Now Being Pushed as Rapidly as Possible," Evening World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska) (September 24, 1897), 1.
11. "Plans of the Building--Government Structure at Exposition," Omaha (Nebraska) Evening Bee (September 24, 1897), 1.
12. Charles E. Kemper, Annual Report of the Supervising Architect to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Year Ending September 30, 1897 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1897), 46.
13. "Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition U. S. Government Building," Daily Nonpareil (Council Bluffs, Iowa) (October 24, 1897), 8.
14. James Knox Taylor, Annual Report of the Supervising Architect to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Year Ending September 30, 1898 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1898), 36-37.
Other Sources
Page Citation
E. F. Zimmer, “Charles E. Kemper (1859-1942), Acting Supervising Architect,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, August 5, 2024. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, November 22, 2024.
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