Background
William H. Brainerd was born in 1862 in Halifax, Massachusetts, United States.
William H. Brainerd was born in 1862 in Halifax, Massachusetts, United States.
At the age of twenty-one completed his studies at Grinnell College in Iowa. Returning to New England Mr. Brainerd enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a four- year course in architecture, and he was graduated in 1887.
in 1887 worked in Boston for several years as a draftsman. He began work in the office of Edmund Wheelwright, later was employed successively with Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge and Francis R. Allen until 1898, when he opened an office in association with Edmund Leeds. During the twenty-five years or more that the partners engaged in practice in Boston their works included various public buildings in New England, of which the best known were: Little Wanderers’ Home in Boston; Congregational Church, West Medford; Christian Endeavor Society Building, Boston, 1916 (*); Town Hall at Athol, Mass. ; High Schools at Belmont and Billerica and elsewhere in the state. Prior to 1925, Mr. Brainerd designed a number of buildings for his Alma Mater. Grinnell College, notably the Chapel and the president's house.