Herman Agustus Gustav Berk (1874-1936), Architect and Artist
DBA: H.A. Gustav Berk; H.A. Berk; Gustav Berk; Agustus H. Berk [3][7][8]
Herman Agustus Gustav Berk was born in Germany on May 5, 1874.[3][7][8] Berk immigrated to the U.S. in December of 1906. He married his wife Margaret (elsewhere Margarette) soon after, and they had 2 sons.[1][3][7][8] Berk was an artist involved in the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), a program that ran from December of 1933 to June of 1934.[6] Berk died in Omaha on January 10, 1936.
[9]
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
[hide]Compiled Nebraska Directory Listings
Omaha, Nebraska, 1915-1918, 1925-1929, 1931
Educational & Professional Associations
1908-1910: architect, Denver, Colorado.[2]
1911: architect and partner, Bowman & Berk, Architects, Denver, Colorado.[2][10][a]
1912-1913: architect, Denver, Colorado.[2]
1915: architect, architectural renderings, competition drawings, interiors, arts and crafts studio, and landscape architecture, 506 Brown Block, Omaha, Nebraska.
1920: architect, Cudahy Packing Company, Omaha, Nebraska.[1]
1928-1931: architect, 203 Wilkinson Building, Omaha, Nebraska.
1932: artist, Omaha, Nebraska.
1934: employee, Studio for Allied Arts & Architecture, Omaha, Nebraska.
1935: artist, Omaha, Nebraska.
Buildings & Projects
Visual Arts
He-las-kas (n.d.).[4]
Mah-gon-be (n.d.).[4]
Last Horse (n.d.).[4]
Buffaloes (n.d.).[4]
The Forgotten Man (n.d.).[5]
Notes
a. Denver City Directory of 1911 lists Bowman & Berk as W. N. Bowman and H. A. Gustav Berk, architects. Berk's individual listing mentions only Bowman & Berk (the architectural partnership). Berk may also have been associated with the Bowman Art Company in Denver. J. Warren Bowman was president and treasurer of Bowman Art Company. [10]
b. The 1936 Omaha City Directory is unavailable.
c. Reference [9] courtesy of Catherine Cramer, architectural historian, Tucson, Arizona.
References
1. 1920 United States Census, s.v. “Gustav Berk,” Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska, accessed through HeritageQuestOnline.com.
2. Joan Palmer and Ilene Bergsmann, comps. Architects of Colorado: Database of State Business Directory Listings, 1875-1950 (Denver: Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, Colorado Historical Society, October, 2006), 4, accessed June 17, 2021, https://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/media/document/2017/Architects_Colorado_Database.pdf
3. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Accessed January 24, 2018 via Ancestry.com
4. Ernest F. Witte, “The Nebraska FERA Art Exhibit,” Nebraska History 16:1 (1935), 57-60. Transcript online accessed August 1, 2013, http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/4aa/4aa49.htm
5. Nebraska State Historical Society, Museum Collections, 743P-090.
6. “For the People: Nebraska’s New Deal Art,” Online exhibit, Nebraska State Historical Society, April 26, 2011, accessed August 1, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20170707223445/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/exhibits/new_deal_art/index.htm
7. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Accessed January 24, 2018 via via Ancestry.com
8. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Accessed January 24, 2018 via via Ancestry.com
9. "Architect Berk Dies," The Nebraska State Journal (January 10, 1936) Accessed January 24, 2018 via https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17424418/the_nebraska_state_journal/
10. Denver City Directory, 1911, p. 228.
Other General Sources
Deb Arenz, “For the People: Nebraska’s New Deal Art. Selected works from a current exhibit at the Nebraska History Museum,” Nebraska History 90:4 (Winter 2009), 208-211.
L. Robert Puschendorf, Nebraska’s Post Office Murals: Born of the Depression, Fostered by the New Deal (Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, 2012), 4-10.
Page Citation
D. Murphy & E. F. Zimmer, “Herman Agustus Gustav Berk (1874-1936), Architect and Artist,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, June 18, 2021. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, April 11, 2025.
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