Background
Charles Elmer Jr. White was born in 1876 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
Charles Elmer Jr. White was born in 1876 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
He attended the Art Museum School, and completed a special course in architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Following a few years of supplementary training in Boston offices, Mr. White began work in the field of industrial planning, engaged in 1895 by the firm of Swift Brothers, Meat Packers, to design and supervise installation of refrigerators in vessels in Boston harbor. Later he worked for the American Gas Company in Phila¬delphia as superintendent in the erection of buildings in various cities in the east and mid-west.
The next phase of Mr. White's career was in Architectural Design. After a period of training in Frank Lloyd Wright’s first Chicago office, Mr. White began practice for himself, and carried on work alone until 1922. In a later period (1923-32), while in partnership with Bertram A. Weber, the firm designed a number of buildings of public character. Among these in Illinois were the Haish Memorial Library in DeKalb; First Presbyterian Church, Libertyville; Nurses’ Home at the Victory Memorial Hospital in Waukegan, and the U. S. Post Office Building in Oak Park, a monumental structure, completed and dedicated a few days prior to Mr. White’s death.
He also did some work independently, completed the Grace Episcopal Church in Oak Park (where he made his home), and designed many city and country estates for his Chicago clients, and during his later years participated in several Slum Clearance Projects in Chicago's north side. Mr. White also found time to contribute many articles on architectural subjects to "House Beautiful” and other magazines, including the Ladies Home Journal (on the latter a member of the Editorial Staff for ten years).
A member of the A.I.A. and the Chicago Chapter since 1922, he also belonged to many societies and clubs, and was prominent in municipal and social affairs in Chicago and Oak Park.