POI ID:
136 William Gray Purcell, architect.
Born 1880, Wilmette, IL; died April 1965, Pasadena, CA
Purcell was a nationally known architect who grew up in Oak Park. He worked for Louis Sullivan before starting a private practice in 1906. Three years later, he formed a partnership with George Elmslie. Purcell was an early proponent of creating a new American architecture. Purcell's firm became on of the most productive of the Prairie School practitioners and was particularly known for its many beautifully ornamented banks designed for small towns across the nation. The monument was designed by Purcell while a student at Cornell.