Raith, Charles (1952-) Architectural Papers, 1970s-2010 (bulk 2002-2006)
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Raith, Charles, 1952-
Title: Raith, Charles, 1952-. Architectural papers, ca. 1970s-2010 (bulk 2002-2006).
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department.
Size of Collection: 1.83 cu. ft. (1 records center box, 1 legal document box, 1 letter document box), 1,803 digital files (4.23 GB)
Location Number: Mss. AR R161a
Scope and Content Note
Collection of Charles Raith’s architectural papers over the course of his career spanning circa 1970s to 2013. Raith contributed to the design, preservation, and construction of many projects in Louisville, Kentucky. The bulk of the papers concern Raith’s work at John Milner Associates starting in 2002, especially projects on the Christ Church Cathedral and surrounding properties. Materials include analog, digitized, and born-digital files, with some overlapping content. The analog materials are composed of a mixture of architectural drawings, photographs, research materials, and documentation. The digital materials are mostly composed of photographs of the various projects on which Raith worked.
In 2025, the digital archivist ingested the born-digital files from 5 DVDs, 10 CDs, and two 3.25″ floppy disks. They normalized file and folder names, and weeded duplicates. A processing archivist removed plastic bindings for preservation.
Born-digital materials in this collection have been intellectually arranged by a processing archivist to facilitate access. Files originally stored on mixed media (DVDs/CDs containing multiple projects) have been consolidated into project-specific series and folders. Folder names have been standardized for consistency and clarity. The original file organization and naming conventions are preserved in the preservation master files.
Series 1: Architectural drawings, photographs, plans, and research materials related to projects on the Cathedral Commons Campus, including Christ Church Cathedral, the Cathedral Commons Apartments, and the Howard-Hardy House. The series has 1.46 cubic feet (1 records center box and 1 legal document box) and 2.58 GB (891 digital files) of materials.
Series 2: Architectural drawings, photographs, and plans related to other projects by Charles Raith, with the majority being in Downtown Louisville and the surrounding area. These include a revitalization project on 4th and Oak Street, restoration of the United States Marine Hospital, a redevelopment plan for Irish Hill, drawings and photos of several other properties in and around Downtown Louisville, SoBro Neighborhood Plans from the Master of Urban Planning Program at University of Louisville, the Jefferson County Courthouse, the Jefferson County Government Center, Standiford Field (now Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport), Cincinnati Union Terminal, and other miscellaneous or unidentified projects. Contents are arranged alphabetically by project. The series has 0.37 cubic feet (1 letter document box) and 1.65 GB (929 digital files) of materials.
Related Collections:
Mss. AR R161 Charles Raith Architectural Drawings, 1977-1985
021PC40 Dorr-Raith Family Photograph Collection, ca. 1856-2021
Mss. A D/716b Dorr-Raith Family Papers, 1844-2021
2021.42.1-70 Dorr-Raith Family Museum Objects
Biographical Note
Charles S. Raith was born to Charlotte and Julius Raith in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1952. The Raith family moved around the mid-west and south before settling in Louisville. Charles graduated from the University of Cincinnati with an architecture degree and returned to Louisville in 1977 to begin a long career in architecture and urban design administration. His projects ranged from historic preservation and rehabilitation, public and commercial housing, neighborhood planning, and public art.
Full biography:
Charles Stephen Raith was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on October 7, 1952, to Charlotte Thuenen Raith (1924-2017) and Julius “Jul” Edwin Raith, Jr. (1925-2019). He has two younger brothers named Peter Allen Raith and David Christopher Raith. The family moved multiple times for Jul’s work during Charles’s childhood. They lived in Olivette, Missouri, by the time he entered kindergarten in 1958. After working for his father and uncle in Raith Brothers, the family produce business in St. Louis, Jul took a position with the Steadman Company, wholesale grocers headquartered in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where the family moved in the summer of 1960. Jul’s job was transferred to Beaumont, Texas in 1961, but within six weeks he had accepted a position with the Fleming Company in Topeka, Kansas. The family then lived in Topeka from 1961 until June 1964, when another transfer took them to Fleming’s branch in Houston, Texas, from 1964 to 1970. Raith learned to play the violin when he was 10 years old and was later a member of the Westchester High School, all-district, and regional orchestras. After his junior year of high school, his family moved to Louisville, Kentucky, in the summer of 1970. Raith graduated from Westport High School in June 1971. Beginning in the fall of 1971, Raith studied architecture at the University of Cincinnati. He was active with the Tangeman University Center Board and served as board president. He worked temporary and co-op positions at Hartstern, Schnell, Campbell, Schadt Associates; as a student assistant architect on the 1974 Historic American Building Survey Louisville project; and Landrum & Brown Airport Consultants during college. He graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Architecture and a Professional Practice Certificate.
Raith returned to Louisville and worked as a staff architect on the Jefferson County Government Center revitalization and renovation of the historic Jefferson County Courthouse for the Jefferson County Archives and Records Service from 1977 to 1978. He joined Bickel-Gibson Associates in 1978 and left the firm in 1980 for an Architect I position with the City of Louisville Department of Housing Rehabilitation and became a registered architect in August 1981. Dorr and Raith met through mutual friends at Christ Church Cathedral in August 1981 and began dating. Raith became a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1982. Two years later, he left the Housing Rehabilitation Department to start an architectural firm as “Charles S. Raith, AIA, Architect” in Jack Kersey’s former real estate office. In 1986, after the settlement in Dorr v. First National Bank of Louisville, Raith and Dorr purchased a home at 1380 South 6th Street in Old Louisville. Dorr and Raith moved into their home as renters in December 1986 and closed in February 1987.
Raith dissolved his firm in 1986 and joined the Kremer Group Architects, which later became the Weyland-Kremer Group and subsequently merged with Louis & Henry, Inc. Charles’s main projects were scattered site public housing and the Haymarket. Raith worked for the Louisville Development Authority as Administrator of Urban Design from 1995 to 2002. Raith oversaw Louisville historic preservation, urban design, neighborhood planning, and public art in his role. He served as the chief staff person for the Downtown Development Review Overlay, overseeing and preparing cases for review. He prepared neighborhood plans for Old Louisville, Irish Hill, and Belknap; oversaw conversion of the Fourth St. Mall back to two-way traffic and the development and implementation of its streetscape plan; and oversaw public art for the Nia Center and the Kentucky International Convention Center. During this period, Raith chaired the design committee for the rehabilitation of Christ Church Cathedral, for which John Milner Associates (JMA) of West Chester, Pennsylvania, was the design/historic architect. JMA hired Raith as an Associate in their new branch office in Louisville in 2002. Before starting his new position, Sam surprised Charles with a trip to London for Charles’s 50th birthday. Charles’s work at JMA included Cathedral Commons, consulting on historic sites and buildings, and preparation of campus heritage plans and preservation plans. He served on a site selection committee for the York statue plaza in Louisville, which was unveiled in 2003. John Milner Associates promoted Charles to Associate Director of the Architecture and Historic Preservation Department in February 2006 and he served on the company’s board of directors. The couple visited Paris, France to celebrate their 25th anniversary in 2006. Raith served on the Downtown Development Review Overlay District Committee from 2008 to at least 2012, which he had previously worked with as Louisville Urban Design Administrator.
Some of Raith’s notable works include renovations of Christ Church Cathedral, beginning in the early 1980s and stretching into the 2000s, where he served as the design committee chairman as late as 2002. In the 2000s, Charles and Sam traveled to visit their daughter Chris Dorr where she was stationed in San Diego, California, and Jacksonville Beach, Florida. After Dorr’s retirement in 2008, Raith and Dorr became active at the Church of the Advent and increased their recreational travel.
In May 2009, Raith and Dorr married in Crapo Park, Burlington, Iowa, after Iowa became the third state to legalize same-sex marriage. Raith’s maternal family was from Iowa and a cousin helped connect the couple to a local judge. Charles and Sam participated in the National Equality March on October 11, 2009, in Washington, D.C. The couple honeymooned on Kauai in Hawaii later in 2009.
In the 2010s, Raith and Dorr traveled with friends internationally to Andalucía, Spain and southwestern France. At home, the couple enjoyed hosting family and friends, and traveling in the United States. Charles retired from John Milner Associates in 2014, closing the firm’s local office.
Sources:
“Charlotte Thuenen Raith.” Peterson Funeral Home. Accessed December 8, 2022. https://www.pearsonfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Charlotte-Raith/#!/Obituary. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, finding aid folder, Filson Historical Society.
“Samuel Fox Dorr.” Legacy.com. Accessed November 17, 2022. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, finding aid folder, Filson Historical Society.
Adams, Brent. “Church building keeps construction firms busy.” Louisville Business First. May 14, 2001. bizjournals.com/Louisville/stories/2001/05/14/story6.html.
Dorr, Sam and Charles Raith. Christmas letter. 1992. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, fld. 201, Filson Historical Society.
Interview with Sam Dorr, September 12, 2018. OutSouth: LGBTQ+ Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries. https://nunncenter.net/outsouth/items/show/54
John Milner Associates. Announcement of hire of Charles Raith. 2002. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, fld. 178, Filson Historical Society.
Raith, Charles. “Salary History.” Unpublished list, ca. 1979. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, fld. 165, Filson Historical Society.
Folder List
Box 1
Series 1: Cathedral Commons Campus
Folder 1: Cathedral Commons apartment photos (all born-digital files), 2007
Folder 2: Cathedral Commons architectural drawings (all born-digital files), 2003
Folder 3: Christ Church Cathedral 1972 photo (all digital files), 1972
Folder 4: Christ Church Cathedral construction photos, 1997-2000
Folder 5: Christ Church Cathedral construction photos, undated
Folder 6: Christ Church Cathedral historic fabric investigation, 1993
Folder 7: Christ Church Cathedral general research, 1991-2001
Folder 8: Christ Church Cathedral Louisville architecture research (part 1), 1862-2009
Folder 9: Christ Church Cathedral Louisville architecture research (part 2), 1862-2009
Folder 10: Christ Church Cathedral master plan study (part 1), 1993
Folder 11: Christ Church Cathedral master plan study (part 2), 1993
Folder 12: Christ Church Cathedral Parish House photographs (all born-digital files), undated
Folder 13: Christ Church Cathedral photos and information (all born-digital files), 2002-2016
Folder 14: Christ Church Cathedral points of interest, 2001-2002
Folder 15: Christ Church Cathedral renovation plans, 1982-2001
Folder 16: Christ Church Cathedral restoration and renovation plans, 1998
Folder 17: Howard-Hardy House case study (all born-digital files), 2002-2012
Folder 18: Howard-Hardy House conference presentation, 2010
Folder 19: Howard-Hardy House construction photos, undated
Folder 20: Howard-Hardy House general documentation (part 1), undated
Folder 21: Howard-Hardy House general documentation (part 2), undated
Folder 22: Howard-Hardy House Miller’s Cafeteria exterior & interior photos, 2002-2003
Folder 23: Howard-Hardy House Miller’s Cafeteria exterior photos, 2002
Folder 24: Howard-Hardy House national register nomination (part 1), 2003-2004
Folder 25: Howard-Hardy House national register nomination (part 2), 2003-2004
Folder 26: Howard-Hardy House photos and drawings (all born-digital files), 2003
Folder 27: Howard-Hardy House paint analysis report, 2004
Folder 28: Howard-Hardy House paint analysis (all born-digital files), 2004
Folder 29: Howard-Hardy House photos, 2004
Folder 30: Howard-Hardy House tax credit documentation, 2003-2006
Series 2: Other Projects, circa 1974-2016 (bulk 2000-2006)
Folder 31: 100 West Main Street architectural drawings (all born-digital files), 2009
Folder 32: 4th and Oak revitalization project (all born-digital files), 2002
Folder 33: Cincinnati Union Terminal, Ohio, 1972
Folder 34: Demolished project slides, undated
Folder 35: Downtown Louisville property photos (all born-digital files), 2000-2005
Folder 36: Irish Hill redevelopment plan (all born-digital files), 2003
Folder 37: Jefferson County Courthouse slides, 1974-1979
Folder 38: Jefferson County Government Center master plan, 1978
Folder 39: Louisville architecture newspaper clippings, 1971-2002
Folder 40: Louisville historic landmarks & preservation documents, 1973-1984
Box 2
Folder 41: Louisville Landmarks Commission Design Guidelines, 1998
Folder 42: Louisville Standiford Field design, 1978-1980
Folder 43: Miscellaneous architectural drawings, undated
Folder 44: Old Louisville/Limerick neighborhood zoning district plan report, 2002
Folder 45: Portland neighborhood heritage development proposal, 2000
Folder 46: Public art documents, 2000-2016
Folder 47: SoBro neighborhood plan, 2004
Folder 48: SoBro neighborhood plan photographs, 2004
Folder 49: Unidentified negatives, undated
Folder 50: United States Marine Hospital project (all born-digital files), 2002-2006
Box 3 (oversized)
Series 1: Cathedral Commons Campus
Folder 51: Cathedral House and Exterior Cloister rehabilitation and adaptive reuse schematic design, 1997
Folder 52: Cathedral House rehabilitation and adaptive reuse schematic design, 1997
Folder 53: Christ Church Cathedral master plan concepts for restoration and rehabilitation, 1996
Folder 54: Christ Church Cathedral mater plan study for restoration and rehabilitation addendum, 1996
Folder 55: Christ Church Cathedral restoration plans, 1971
Folder 56: Christ Church Cathedral restoration and renovation schematic design, 1998
Subject Headings
Architects – Kentucky – Louisville.
Architecture – Designs and plans.
Architecture – Kentucky – Louisville.
Architecture, Romanesque – Kentucky – Louisville.
Building.
Cathedral Commons Apartments (Louisville, Ky.).
Christ Church Cathedral (Louisville, Ky.).
Church architecture – Kentucky – Louisville.
Ecclesiastical architecture.
Historic preservation.
Howard-Hardy House (Louisville, Ky.).
Jefferson County Courthouse (Louisville, Ky.).
Louisville (Ky.) – Buildings, structures, etc.
Public art – Kentucky – Louisville.
Religious architecture – Kentucky – Louisville.
United States Marine Hospital (Louisville, Ky.).