Background
Burt Leslie Fenner, the son of Edward B. and Margaret Virginia (Taylor) Fenner was born in Rochester, New York. His father’s family had come from England two generations before.
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BURT LESLIE FENNER
Edit ProfileEducation
After graduating from high school he attended the University of Rochester (1888 - 89), spent the following year in architectural work in Rochester, then studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1890 - 91).
Career
In the fall of 1891 he entered the office of McKim, Mead & White, then famous not only for its work, but known also as the best place for an ambitious draftsman to learn the essentials of good architecture.
His advancement in the office was rapid and on January 1, 1906, he was taken into the firm, remaining with them as a partner for the rest of his life.
His duties were chiefly administrative and executive and after the deaths of Stanford White (1906) and Charles F. McKim (1910) he became, in fact, the executive head of the firm.
Despite labor difficulties, administrative red tape, congestion on the railroads, and scarcity of materials, he succeeded in creating an organization which efficiently produced workmen’s villages at strategic points from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The chronic labor difficulties in the building trades in the three or four years following the war impressed upon him the importance of the relation of the architect to the labor unions.
In this position he had not only to fight the mutual suspicions of unions and contractors, but also a considerable hostile opinion among architects and the public.
One of the matters at issue was the admission of new members to the unions, and the preservation of high standards of technical skill.
In 1910—11 he was recording secretary of the New York chapter and president in 1919-21.
Achievements
Views
Fenner was greatly interested in city planning and was instrumental in the preparation of the report of the heights of buildings commission which was issued in 1913 and which was directly responsible for the passage by the New York legislature of the amendment to the New York City charter enabling the board of estimate and apportionment of the city to enact the comprehensive zoning ordinance of 1916.
Membership
Fenner became a member of the American Institute of Architects in 1908, a fellow in 1913.
Connections
He was married December 9, 1896, to Louise McKittrick of Brooklyn, by whom he had one son.
