William James Dodd (1862–1930) was an American architect and designer who worked mainly in Louisville, Kentucky from 1886 through the end of 1912 and in Los Angeles, California from early 1913The L.A. Times of March 2, 1913, announces the purchase of a residence by Dodd; Southwest Contractor and Manufacturer trade journal of May 10, 1913, records that Dodd had recently been granted his certificate to practice in Southern California by the State Board of Architecture. until his death. Dodd rose from the so-called First Chicago School of architecture, though of greater influence for his mature designs was the classical aesthetic of the Beaux-Arts style ascendant after the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. His design work also included functional and decorative architectural glass and ceramics, furniture, home appliances, and literary illustration.
In a prodigious career lasting more than 40 years, Dodd left many structures that are still standing on both east and west coasts and in the midwest and upper south of the United States, among the best known of these being the original Presbyterian Seminary campus (now Jefferson Community & Technical College), the Weissinger-Gaulbert Apartments, and the old YMCA building, all three in downtown Louisville facing Broadway. Also notable are his numerous residential and ecclesiastical designs, restored and in continuous use in Kentucky and Tennessee. In California, examples of his extant work include the Pacific Center and Hearst's Los Angeles Herald-Examiner Building in downtown Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse south of Pasadena as well as residences across Los Angeles, in the Pacific Palisades, in Altadena and more distantly in Palm Springs. Some of the earliest attributed and oldest designs of his career may be found in Hyde Park, Chicago.
Early years
William J. Dodd was born in Quebec City, Canada, in 1862.Quebec City Wesleyan Methodist Church records, leaf 21, baptismal record of December 17, 1862 (birth date: September 22, 1862) Prior to emigrating from Canada to the United States and Chicago Illinois, William's English/Welsh father, Edward, was an inn keeper and before that a wharfinger, and his Irish mother, Mary Dinning, was a school teacher and dressmaker.U.S. census record of 1880. This record identifies Edward Dodd (Sr.) as a brick mason by trade while Mary attends to "Keeping house".1870 Lakeside Annual Chicago Directory, p. 224 DOD-DOH. Mary runs a millinery and dressmaking enterprise from home with her niece, Sofie Boyd. In 1869, the family of six, then including daughters Jane (Jenny) Dinning and Elizabeth Ann (Lizzie), and sons Edward Jr. and William James, moved to Chicago.1860 Census of Canada indicates an infant daughter named Sarah who does not reappear in the 1870 census. The 1870 Chicago Directory gives the first known address for the Dodds on south Des Plaines near the original site of the Old St. Patrick's Church. In 1871, the ill-timed move of the Dodd household to West Harrison Street in Ward 9 placed them in the path of the Great Chicago Fire during October of the same year.1871 Chicago Directory
Dodd received his earliest training in drawing and design, starting around age 15,"The Greatest Work of William LeBaron Jenney", The Western Architect. December 1922, p. 153 "William J. Dodd [...] entered Mr. Jenney's office at about the age of fifteen." in the office studioWoods, Mary N. From Craft to Profession: The Practice of Architecture in Nineteenth-Century America. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California. 1999. p. 65 of Chicago architect William Le Baron Jenney, c. 1877–1879.The Autobiography of Irving Kane Pond, "The Sons of Mary and Elihu". Edited by David Swan and Terry Tatum with an introduction by Guy Szuberla and contributions by Dennis Domer. Published posthumously by The Hyoogen Press, Oak Park, IL in 2009. pp. 82–84. His first professional employment appears to be from 1880Chicago Directory of 1880 gives an address for W. J. Dodd, 156 Michigan Avenue, the headquarters of the Pullman Car Company; his occupation is given as 'draughstman'. The 1880 census has his residence on South Water Street, the family home, and his occupation is 'architect'.Twentieth Annual Report of the Chicago Board of Trade for the Year ending 1877. Compiled by Charles Randolph. Knight & Leonard Printers. Chicago: 1878. Page 194 establishes the address of the Pullman Car Co. as 156 Michigan Ave. into mid 1883Chicago Daily Tribune, June 26, 1887: p. 14 "Pullman Rowing Club" for the Pullman Car Company as a draftsman of architect Solon Spencer Beman's designs for the planned city of Pullman, Illinois now the Pullman National Monument.Designation of Feb. 19, 2015 http://blog.preservationnation.org/2015/02/19/big-win-pullman-historic-district-now-national-monument/#.VOavYoY8LCQ Dodd's social life in Pullman was marked with athletic participation on the first Pullman competitive rowing crew.Pasavento, Wilma. "Sport and Recreation in the Pullman Experiment: 1880–1900". Journal of Sports History, Vol. 9.2, Summer 1982Chicago Daily Tribune: July 31, 1882, p. 8Chicago Daily Tribune: Oct. 22, 1882, p. 1 As a member of the Pullman Rowing Club and the Pullman Pleasure Club he was often mentioned in the press accounts of fetes and dance parties that he coordinated for the young elites of Pullman and Hyde Park.Chicago Times, December 31, 1881: "Pullman Pleasure Club"Chicago Times, March 24, 1882: "Pullman Socialbility"Hyde Park Herald, April 25, 1885: "A Fond Farewell" This sporting sociability is not merely incidental to Dodd but returns as an important feature of his later life in Louisville, with his membership in the Pendennis Club and Louisville Country Club, and in Los Angeles with his co-founding of The Uplifters Club, an offshoot of the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
In November 1889, William married Ione Estes of Memphis, TN.November 27, 1889. License and bond. Shelby County, State of Tennessee. The marriage produced no children. Ione was from a large family of some political and historical importance in post-Reconstruction era Tennessee and in the Upland South region.Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans: Containing Biographies and Records of Many of the Families who Have Attained Prominence in Tennessee. William S. Speer, compiler & editor. 1888, Nashville. pp. 58-9. Reprinted 2003, Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc. Baltimore.Unpublished memoir of Emily Estes Snedecor, circa 1931, elder sister of Ione Estes Dodd. Title: "Reverend James George Snedecor, L.L.D., a short story written by his wife". Available from the descendants of Emily Estes Snedecor. It is not yet determined what was the religious practice, if any, of William and Ione after marriage. Ione was Presbyterian, and their marriage was officiated by a Presbyterian minister.Rev. John H. Boyd of the Lauderdale Street Presbyterian Church in Memphis, TN http://www.theoakshousemuseum.org/family/john_hardgrove_boyd.htm William was christened in the Methodist Church, the religious denomination of his mother.1851 Census of Eastern Canada; Mary Dinning DoddYear 1862. Baptismal records of Quebec Wesleyan Methodist ChurchPer numerous publications, including obituaries, it is evident that Dodd's sisters, Jane and Elizabeth, remained affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal denomination through their lifetimes.