Copyright © 2021 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In 1924 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “July 30th, I started south to Memphis, where I had to go over into Arkansas to make a sketch in a dismal swamp. Architect Awsumb went with me. I believe everything in the line of insects and reptiles lived in that swamp and had been waiting for us. I made a sketch as quickly as possible and got all other data necessary.”
Moses was accompanied by the well-known architect George Awsumb (1880-1959). The two worked together on the Memphis Municipal Auditorium that year. I find their trip to an Arkansas swamp fascinating, as they were going on site to gather source material, likely for one of the exterior stage settings at the auditorium. Moses came from a generation of artists who gathered primary source work for both their stage settings and easel art.
Much has been written about Awsumb and his architectural endeavors, but here is a brief synopsis.
George Awsumb was born in Skien, Norway, on July 20, 1880. He emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1883 when he was three years old. The Awsumbs settled in Whitewater, Wisconsin, where George graduated from the high school in 1898. The family later moved to Eau Claire. He started college studies as an engineering student at the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1901. His interest and studies changed, and he began studying architecture at the University of Illinois in Champaign. After completing a Bachelors in Science by 1906, he began working as a draftsman in Chicago at various architectural offices. By 1913, he founded his own architectural firm and became a member of the Chicago Architectural Club. He won the Club’s traveling scholarship and later became the president in 1919. That same year, he entered a competition with Charles O. Pfeil for the design of the Memphis Municipal Auditorium. On October 26, 1924, the “Leader-Telegram” reported, the designer and architect of the building was George Awsumb, son of Mr. and Mrs. S. J. Awsumb of this city. Mrs. Awsumb is at present visiting her son in Memphis. Mr. Awsumb was also the architect who designed both the city hall here and also the city auditorium.”
Pfeil & Awsumb operated until 1929, when Awsumb broke away and founded another firm under his own name. Eventually, his firm became Awsumn & Sons. Here is the link to the Awsumb Architectural Collection in the Digital Archive of the Memphis Public Libraries: https://memphislibrary.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p13039coll1/id/220/rec/1
To be continued…
