“Rediscovering Architect Earl Wilson Morrison” (1888-1955)

This is a free lecture presentation

held at Liberty Park Library, 402 S Pittsburg St.

In the November 1928 issue of “Pacific Builder and Engineer,” a biography of 40-year-old Seattle architect Earl W. Morrison noted: “He is perhaps one of the best-known architects – at least as far as the general public is concerned – in the State of Washington. Scarcely a town in the state cannot show an example of his handiwork.”Morrison began his career in Spokane in 1909 while a student at South Central High School. In 1923 he moved to Seattle where he continued his practice until his unexpected death in 1955. His numerous, varied, and distinctive projects can be found in and near Spookane, Coeur d”Alene, Wenatchee, Everett, Seattle, Bellingham, Hoquiam, the Tri-Cities, WA, San Francisco, CA, Alaska, and Hawaii.

Today he has been almost completely forgotten by the general public and is remembered by architectural historians as little more than a footnote to Pacific Northwest architecture built in the first half of the twentieth century. However, it can be argued that Earl Morrison was one of the most consequential architects to emerge from Spokane in that period.

Retired Spokane architect Glenn, Davis will present a detailed account of Earl Morrison’s extraordinary career.