Redman, Herbert E. Architectural Drawings, 1926-1968

Held by The Filson Historical Society

Creator:  Redman, Herbert E., 1896-1979

Title:  Architectural drawings, 1926-1968

Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Curator of Special Collections.

Size of Collection:  2.5 cu. ft. (1 ovsz. box)

Location Number:  Mss. AR R318

Scope and Content Note

The collection includes architectural drawings by Herbert E. Redman and his colleagues created throughout his career as a Louisville architect.  Other architects in the collection include: Bergman S. Letzler, Carl J. Epping, and G. E. Marmor, Jr.   Architectural drawings include blueprints, linen, and pencil on trace paper for residential, commercial, and religious buildings.

The collection includes drawings of Louisville Motors, Associated Industries of Kentucky, Frankfort Distilleries warehouse, St. Matthews Seventh Day Adventists sanctuary, educational buildings for Fern Creek Baptist and Fairdale Christian churches, suggested additions to the Okolona Christian Church, and Oldham Court Apartments.  The collection also includes drawing of several residences and unnamed apartment complexes.

See project index housed with the collection for complete list, or click here to view an online version of the project index.

 

Separation Note

Five World War I propaganda posters were wrapped around rolls of Redman’s drawings, presumably to protect the rolls.  The posters are very brittle and have been separated to the Filson’s miscellaneous manuscript collection under Redman, Herbert E. (Mss. C R).

 

Biographical Note

Herbert E. Redman (1896-1979) was a mid-20th century Louisville architect.  He was the son of (Uriah) Evarts Redman and Fredrica “Rica” Fierabend Redman.  His parents divorced when he was an infant, and Redman was raised by his mother and maternal aunts. He attended the University of Louisville and studied in their cooperative program with the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (BAID) out of New York City.  The BAID trained American architects in the style of the French Ecole des Beaux-Arts.

In 1914, Redman worked as a draftsman for Gray and Wischmeyer.   He worked for Standard Oil as a civil engineer from 1915-1917 before serving in World War I.  Throughout the 1920s he worked as an architect for several companies, including Louisville National Bank, the River-Yager Company, and Tri-State Finance Company.  During the Depression, Redman shared an office in the Starks building with Stratton Hammon and Fred Elswick, although the three men apparently worked independently.  His career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served in England.  For most of the 1950s, Redman partnered with architect Bergman S. Letzler; the partnership dissolved in 1958 and from 1963 onward he worked as an independent architect.

Redman married twice.  His first wife, Sarah Elizabeth Gardner passed away in 1968.  Redman married Lillian Pierce but the marriage quickly ended in divorce.  Declining vision in his later years hampered his ability to work.  In 1979, Redman suffered a stroke and passed away.

Redman designed a number of residences, churches, apartments and commercial buildings in Louisville.  He also designed the colonial-revival-style Hotel Breeding in Monticello, Wayne County, Kentucky, which was included on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

 Folder List:

Click here to view an online version of the project index

Subject Headings

Architects – Kentucky – Louisville.

Architecture – Designs and plans.

Architecture, domestic – Designs and plans.

Architecture – Kentucky – Louisville.

Church architecture – Kentucky – Louisville.

Epping, Carl J.

Letzler, Bergman S.

Louisville (Ky.) – Buildings, structures, etc.

Marmor, G. E., Jr.

Public architecture – Kentucky – Louisville.

Religious architecture – Kentucky – Louisville.