Karl Kamrath:

An Inventory of his Collection, 1918-2004

Biographical Sketch of Karl Kamrath

Karl Kamrath (1911-1988) was born in Enid, Oklahoma on April 25, 1911. The Kamrath family, including father G.A. Kamrath and mother Martha Kreplin Kamrath, moved to Austin, Texas while Karl Kamrath was a young boy. He excelled at tennis from an early age and continued to play throughout his life. Karl Kamrath attended the University of Texas, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1934. That year he married fellow tennis champion Eugenie Sampson, and moved to Chicago to work as an architect. Turning down an opportunity to play tennis professionally, he worked for Pereira and Pereira, the Interior Studios of Marshall Field and Company, and the Architectural Decorating Company. During this time in Chicago, Kamrath decided to open a firm in Houston with fellow University of Texas graduate, Fred MacKie.

Kamrath and his family moved back to Texas in 1937. MacKie and Kamrath opened an architectural firm in Houston the same year and Kamrath became a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1939. During World War II, Kamrath served as captain in the United States Corps of Engineers. After his release from duty in the military, MacKie and Kamrath reopened the Houston firm in 1946. Kamrath had an opportunity to meet Frank Lloyd Wright when he visited Taliesin in June of 1946. This trip had a profound effect on Kamrath's architectural designs as he committed himself to creating organic architecture following Wright's Usonian principles.

Kamrath was a founder and board member of Houston's Contemporary Arts Museum from 1948 through 1952. From 1949 through 1955, he served as a visiting critic at several universities, including the University of Texas, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Oregon, and the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. Kamrath was elected an AIA Fellow in 1955, served as president of the Houston AIA chapter in 1960 and as chairman of the Frank Lloyd Wright Memorial Committee from 1960 to 1962. He was elected to the University of Texas Longhorn Hall of Fame in 1978 and the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame in 1984.

Karl Kamrath and his first wife Eugenie, had four children and divorced in 1975. He married Gardina McCarthy in 1977. Karl Kamrath died on January 29, 1988 in Houston, Texas.

Return to the Table of Contents

Biographical Sketch of Fred MacKie

Fred MacKie Jr. (1905-1984) was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming on August 13, 1905. While his family moved several times during his childhood, by high school years, he settled in San Antonio with his parents, Fred MacKie Sr. and Mayme Beacher. In 1924, MacKie entered the School of Architecture at the University of Texas. He earned his degree in 1928 and moved to Chicago to work in the design department of the architectural firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White. In 1936, MacKie left Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White to become the chief designer at the Architectural Decorating Company. Both he and Kamrath, while working for the Architectural Decorating Company, decided to open a firm together in Texas. Fred MacKie moved his family to Houston, where he opened the MacKie & Kamrath firm with Karl Kamrath in 1937.

During World War II, Fred MacKie served as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Corps of Engineers. He was stationed in Alamogordo, New Mexico from 1942 through 1946. The firm was closed during this time. At the end of the war, MacKie and Kamrath returned to Houston to reopen their architectural partnership. Fred MacKie was an American Institute of Architects Fellow and served as the Texas Society of Architects President in 1957. In 1977, MacKie entered a period of semi-retirement due to health problems. Shortly thereafter, Fred MacKie and his wife, Helen, moved to Palm Desert, California.

Return to the Table of Contents

Administrative History of MacKie & Kamrath

MacKie & Kamrath, one of the first Houston firms credited with creating modern architecture, opened in 1937. Both Fred MacKie and Karl Kamrath were raised in Texas and educated at the University of Texas School of Architecture. After working in Chicago following graduation, the two young architects decided to return to Texas to open a firm. Houston was the best option for a new architecture firm, given its larger size and wealth from the oil and gas industry. Fred MacKie and Karl Kamrath each had their strengths and roles in the firm. Kamrath was in charge of design, while MacKie was primarily responsible for planning and business. Lloyd Borget, a graduate of the University of Michigan, joined the firm in 1949 and became an associate in 1954. Borget was primarily in charge of planning and production. In 1977, Fred MacKie went into partial retirement and Lloyd Borget became a partner, along with Ross Belle Gillette, Pete Brunson, and Vincent Hughes.

MacKie & Kamrath's most significant projects in Houston include the Kamrath residence, 3448 Locke Lane (1939), Phyllis Wheatley Senior High School (1948), the Contemporary Arts Association Museum (1949, demolished 1989), Temple Emanu-El (1949), St. John the Divine Episcopal Church (1951, with H.A. Salisbury), Kamrath residence, 8 Tiel Way (1951), and the M.D. Anderson Hospital for Cancer Research and Tumor Institute (1954, with Schmidt, Garden, and Erikson). Other notable projects outside Houston include the Pasadena State Bank (1963, Doughtie and Porterfield) in Pasadena, Mackie & Kamrath's only high-rise built work, Temple Rodef Sholem (1962) in Waco, and the Commercial Standard Insurance Company Building (1956), in Fort Worth.

Return to the Table of Contents

Scope and Content of the collection

Drawings, artwork, textual and photographic materials document the life and architectural practice of Houston architect, Karl Kamrath (1911-1988). The collection includes records of Kamrath's personal life, professional research and development, interest in Frank Lloyd Wright and association with partner Fred MacKie.

The Kamrath collection (1918-2004, n.d.) contains 910 drawings, 398 black and white photographic prints, 93 color photographic prints, 16 black and white negatives, 83 transparencies, 256 photostats, 3.75 linear feet of manuscript material, a bust of Karl Kamrath, a MacKie and Kamrath project file cabinet box, and several artifacts, including drafting tools. The bulk of the collection consists of records that document the design of architectural projects, including presentation drawings and finished project photographs.

Personal papers (1930-2004, n.d.) in the Kamrath collection include records created or collected by the architect that are not directly related to architectural practice. This series is composed of biographical and family records, clippings, correspondence, greeting cards designed by Kamrath, photographs, sketchbooks and student work. Unique subseries reflect Karl Kamrath's personal and professional interests. Family records contain materials about Karl Kamrath that were created or collected by family members. The Tennis subseries documents Karl Kamrath's lifelong success and interest in the sport.

Correspondence, writings, association and committee records, awards, and reference files document Karl Kamrath's service to the architecture profession. Professional papers (1918-1987, n.d.) is comprised of these materials and a unique subseries, Frank Lloyd Wright Related Materials. This subseries contains clippings, photographs, postcards, catalogs, drawing reproductions, bibliographic information, and correspondence concerning the life and work of Frank Lloyd Wright and the relationship between Wright and Kamrath.

The Fred MacKie papers (1928-1935, n.d.) series contains records that relate to the professional development of Karl Kamrath's business partner Fred MacKie. These documents were collected by MacKie prior to the 1937 opening of a firm with Kamrath. The original order of the materials has been maintained and includes engineering topics from his education at the University of Texas.

Office records (1926-2000, n.d.) series contains records created or collected by the firm of MacKie and Kamrath that are not directly related to project design and construction. The series include administrative records, clippings about firm projects, correspondence, financial records, photographs, presentation materials, and public relations documents. Materials in this series pre-date the formation of the firm MacKie & Kamrath since the architects collected clippings that originally date as early as 1926. This series also includes documentation related to the 2000 exhibit of the work of MacKie & Kamrath at the Houston Public Library's Houston Metropolitan Research Center, where additional MacKie & Kamrath materials are housed.

The bulk of the Karl Kamrath collection is project related records. These materials make up the Project Records series and include project lists, job files, photographs, and drawings. The majority of the drawings in the collection are presentation drawings. Some of the noteworthy Houston projects included in this collection are the Church of St. John the Divine, Temple Emanu-El, Contemporary Arts Museum, two houses Karl Kamrath designed for his family, and the M.D. Anderson Hospital. Working drawings from MacKie and Kamrath are part of the Architectural Collection at the Houston Metropolitan Research Center of the Houston Public Library.

Return to the Table of Contents

Restrictions

Policies Governing Use and Access

This collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using archival materials. As all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site, advance notice of at least three working days is required for retrieval. Certain items may require additional time for flattening or humidifying before they can be viewed. Access is by appointment only. Please contact the archives' reference staff for further information.

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasions of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person).

The Alexander Architectural Archives operate in accordance with applicable federal or state laws and regulations, providing unrestricted access to university records not covered by state and federal right to privacy acts.

The Alexander Architectural Archives, The University of Texas Libraries, and The University of Texas at Austin, assume no responsibility for infringement of literary property rights and copyright or for liability to any person for defamation or invasion of privacy that results from a researcher's use of collections.

Researchers agree to indemnify and hold harmless The University of Texas at Austin, and their officers, employees, and agents from and against all suits, claims, actions, and expenses arising out of use of collections held by the libraries. Please alert staff if anything inappropriate is found during research.

Copyright interests in this collection may not have been transferred to the University of Texas. Researchers assume full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply. Additionally, the public use of material must be cited. See citation information below.

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents

Related Material

Return to the Table of Contents

Administrative Information

Citation

Karl Kamrath collection, Alexander Architectural Archives, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin

Processing Information

Collection processed by: Kathryn Pierce, 2006-2008

Return to the Table of Contents

References to works by or about Karl Kamrath

Return to the Table of Contents

Detailed Description of the Collection

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents