Kenneth Cardwell

Longtime resident of Berkeley, Kenneth H. Cardwell (1920 – 2010) was born in Los Angeles, California. He attended Occidental College for two years before transferring to UC Berkeley (UCB) in 1939 to study architecture. During World War II, Cardwell took a break in his studies and enlisted in the U.S. (Army) Air Force in the South Pacific from 1941-1945. After an honorable discharge, he returned to UC Berkeley and completed his BA in Architecture in 1947. In 1949 Cardwell began teaching at the University of California, Berkeley and retired as a full professor in 1982. He created and taught the University’s first course in Historic Preservation, which integrated the cultural and literary heritage of the West with the development of its physical environment. While at Berkeley, Cardwell also began collecting many architectural records relating to Bay Area Architectural History, developing what would become the College of Environmental Design Archives. He collected the works of Bernard Maybeck, Julia Morgan, John Galen Howard, Willis Polk, and Charles Greene.

Sources: Kenneth Cardwell, Curriculum Vitae Kenneth Cardwell Obituary, East Bay Times from Jan. 14 to Jan. 16, 2010 “In Memoriam,” by S. Tobriner 2011, https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/inmemoriam/html/kennethhcardwell.html

The Kenneth Cardwell Collections spans the years from 1941-1994, and includes files created by Cardwell, the firms he worked for, and records pertinent to his research and teaching materials. This collection mainly documents his work as an architect, preservationist, and researcher. The collection is organized in six series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Faculty Papers, Project Records, Historical Preservation Records, and Maybeck Records.