Webb, James, 1946-1980

Epithet: farmer, at Margate

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000979.0x00032d

James Murray Webb (1908-2000) was the son of Martha Webb and Ray H. Webb. Ray Webb was assistant general manager for the American Smelting & Refining Company in Mexico until he suffered from an appendicitis and died in the factory in 1913. James and his brother, John Bruce Webb (1910-1997), grew up in Covina, California and later moved to the site that would become the family's homestead: 36 Tamalpais Place, Berkeley, California. John returned to "36 T" after retirement: much of the correspondence between him and James concerns maintenance, finances, and renovations of this home.

James received his Bachelor of Arts in architecture from the University of California-Berkeley in 1936 and Master's degree in City Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1946. He worked for California architect William Wurster before coming to North Carolina in 1947. That year he joined the new City and Regional Planning School at the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, where he served as a faculty member for thirty years. He started the firm City Planning and Architecture Associates (CPAA) in the late 1950s, recruiting Don Stewart as a partner. In 1954 he was joined by his brother John, and together they designed a number of modernist houses and other buildings in the area. In 1957 James married Barbara Henderson Kelly. Kelly brought three sons from a previous marriage: James, Clinton, and Archibald. In the 1960s John returned to Berkeley with his wife, Dorothy. James Webb left CPAA in the mid-1970s to practice on his own until his death in 2000.

Significant clusters of Jim and John Webb houses were built in Chapel Hill: Whitehead Circle, located near the University of North Carolina Hospital, and Highland Woods, located across the 15-501 Bypass from Laurel Hill. James Webb was also involved with site planning for Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; Forest Hills Shopping Center in Durham, North Carolina; UNC-Chapel Hill; and Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.

James Webb was also actively involved in Chapel Hill Town preservation and historical projects. Additional information can be found on the Triangle Modernist Houses website .

This collection also contains some of John Webb's documents, as John died three years prior to Jim. John was the associate architect in charge of design development and chief delineator for the Kennedy Grave in Arlington Cemetery, 1964-1965.

From the guide to the James Webb Papers, 1903-1999, (Special Collections Research Center)