EDWARD D. WHITE JR. ARCHITECTURAL RECORDS

Architect Edward D. "Ned" White, Jr. was born in Denver, Colorado on February 2, 1925. His father, Edward Divine "Ed" White (b. June 17, 1892; Great Falls, Montana-d. July 13, 1955; Denver, Colorado) was a civil engineer. His mother, Evelyn Estabrook (b. March 14, 1894; Almont, Michigan-d. March 10, 1984; Denver, Colorado) was a former school teacher and graduate of Colorado College (1916). The couple had two additional children: Jean Divine White-Miller (1920-1999), a biochemist, and Franklin Estabrook "Butch" White (1922-1997), a pioneering astro physicist.

Ed White grew up in Denver at 7115 East 14th Avenue, the home of his maternal grandparents, the Reverend Franklin J. and Jessie S. Hadley Estabrook. He attended Montclair Elementary School, Smiley Junior High and East High School. Justin W. Brierly (1905-1985), the academic advisor at East High, was instrumental in arranging for White, and other East High graduates, to be accepted at Columbia College in New York City, Brierly's alma mater. White entered Columbia College in 1942 with an honor scholarship, but his studies were interrupted by WWII. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1943 and served in the Far Eastern Section of Naval Intelligence in Colorado, Minnesota, and Oklahoma until 1946.

White returned to Columbia College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature and Languages (1948). He then studied language for six months with two other East High graduates: Frank Jeffries and Robert Burford, at the Sorbonne in Paris (1949). White returned to Denver, enrolled at the University of Denver's School of Education, and taught English and German at South High School (1950-1951) before entering Columbia University in the fall of 1951.

Earlier, in 1946, through his Columbia College roommate and fellow East High School graduate, Haldon "Hal" Chase, Ed White met Jack Kerouac (1922-1969). One of White's classmates at Columbia was the poet Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997). White was also acquainted with the poet Neal Cassady (1926-1968), another East High School student mentored by Justin Brierly. During the early 1950s, while White attended the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Kerouac was working on his novel On the Road (1957). The character Tim Gray is based on Ed White, along with others: Carlo Marx (Allen Ginsberg), Dean Moriarty (Neal Cassady) and Justin Brierly as Denver D. Doll. White maintained contact with both Kerouac and Ginsberg until their deaths. Other friends of Ed White found in On the Road include Hal Chase (Chad King), Frank Jeffries (Stan Shepard), Robert Burford (Ray Rawlings), Beverly Burford (Babe Rawlings) and fellow Columbia University student, the architect Allan Temko (Roland Major).

White returned to Denver after receiving his Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University in 1955. He first worked for Fisher & Fisher as draftsman and construction supervisor before receiving his architectural license in October 1958. In 1960, White formed a partnership with the noted Denver architect Victor Hornbein (1913-1995). Between 1960-1975, the firm of Hornbein & White received a number of important commissions in the Metro-Denver area: Conservatory and Horticulture Hall at Denver Botanic Gardens (1963-1970); numerous buildings at Graland Country Day School (1960-1970) and Denver Country Day School (1960s); John F. Kennedy Child Development Center and Denison Memorial Library addition (1960s-1970s) at the University of Colorado Medical Center. The firm was also involved with remodeling and preservation projects including: 9th Street Historic Park, Auraria Campus (1970s); U.S. Post Office, Courthouse and New Customs House (1960s), and the restoration of the Lace House (1970s) in Black Hawk, Colorado.

White became involved in historic preservation in the mid-to-late 1960s when he was appointed to the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission by Mayor William H. McNichols, Jr. on March 31, 1969. The commission was established in conjunction with passage of the Denver Landmark Preservation Ordinance on March 6, 1967. White served on the Commission as a member and chairman (1969-1989; January 1992-March 2001). In recognition of his service, September 5, 2001, was declared Ed White Day by Denver Mayor Federico Peña.

Ed White was also a board member (1978-1980; 1981-1983), and later a member of the Honorary Board of Directors and Honorary Life Trustee of the Central City Opera House Association (CCOHA). He worked with the Historic Properties Division, serving on its governing board. The division worked on the maintenance and restoration of CCOHA-owned historic residential and commercial properties in Central City. His relationship with CCOHA can be traced back to the 1930s. Materials and photographs in the collection covering the CCOHA from 1930s-1960s are from Justin Brierly, who was, at various times, Business Manager, Executive Manager, and Board Member of the association.

As an adjunct to the CCOHA, White was also involved with the Little Kingdom Foundation. Originally established in 1970 as the Little Kingdom Council by Carl Dahlgren, Executive Director of the CCOHA. The council/foundation was made up of Dahlgren's associate, Phillip Barnes, along with local residents, architects, businessmen, artists, engineers, educators, members of the Colorado Council of the Arts, and the Colorado Historical Society. The Little Kingdom Council developed plans for an organized restoration of historic structures in the mining towns of Black Hawk and Central City, Colorado. Surveys and research on the buildings in the two towns were undertaken and the council was renamed the Little Kingdom Historical Foundation in 1972. Ed White provided a master plan prospectus covering guidelines for the restoration of the district. Administered by the CCOHA, the foundation promoted restoring buildings within a circa 1875-1900 time frame in preparation for the 1976 Colorado Bicentennial. One of the foundation's most notable projects was the purchase and restoration of Black Hawk's Lace House.

After the dissolution of his partnership with Hornbein in 1975, White continued working on residential, preservation-related, and some commercial projects through his own firm: Edward D. White, Jr. AIA (American Institute of Architects). With his firm and in conjunction with various boards and organizations, Ed White provided architectural assistance on the Lace House restoration (Little Kingdom Foundation) in Black Hawk, Colorado; restoration and maintenance of various buildings in Central City, Colorado (Central City Opera House Association); Molly Brown House restorations (Historic Denver, Inc.); Four Mile House Historic Park (Denver Landmark Preservation Commission); Officers Quarters (Friends of Historic Fort Logan); restoration of historic structures in the Interlaken and Twin Lakes historic districts (Frying Pan - Arkansas Project; U.S. Department of the Interior).

White also served on other preservation boards and organizations: Friends of Historic Fort Logan, Four Mile Historic Park, Inc., Colorado Historical Foundation (Board of Trustees), Colorado Historical Society, Fairmont Heritage Foundation (Director, 2000-2003), Historic Denver, Inc. (Board of Trustees), the Historic Preservation Commission, Georgetown, Colorado (1978-1979), and Jewish Consumptive's Relief Society (JCRS) Isaac Solomon Historic Synagogue Foundation. For his work in historic preservation, he was elected as a Fellow of the College of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) on June 11, 2004. He was also a member and historian for the Cactus Club (Denver, Colorado) and served on the performing and fine arts related boards of the Acoma Institute and the Museum of Contemporary Art. In May 2010, Ed White received the Dana Crawford Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation from Colorado Preservation, Inc.

Ed White married Anne Johnston Waring (1924-2012), daughter of Dr. James Johnston Waring (1883-1962) and Ruth Porter Waring (1889-1992) on August 5, 1955 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In 1959, Ruth Porter Waring donated the Waring family home at 909 York Street to the Denver Botanic Gardens. It now serves as the organization's administrative headquarters. Ed and Anne White had two sons: Edward D. "Ted" White III (b.1957), and James Waring "Jamie" White (b. 1959). Ed White later married the artist, Anne Breese (b. 1924; Lake Forest, Illinois).