Peets, Elbert, 1886-1968

Landscape architect, city planner.

Elbert Peets received his B.A. from Western Reserve University and his M.L.A. from the Harvard University School of Landscape Architecture and City Planning. He worked for Pray, Hubbard and White, Boston landscape architects, for a year before joining with Werner Hegemann to plan Kohler, a company town founded by Walter S. Kohler, near Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Peets and Hegemann also collaborated in the planning of Washington Highlands, a subdivision in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; of Wyomissing Park, a subdivision in Reading, Pennsylvania; and in the writing of THE AMERICAN VITRUVIUS: AN ARCHITECT'S HANDBOOK OF CIVIC ART (1922). From 1923-1935 Peets worked in private practice in Cleveland, Ohio. He also worked on the planning for Greendale (near Milwaukee), one of three greenbelt towns built by the U.S. Farm Resettlement Administration headed by Rexford Guy Tugwell under Franklin D. Roosevelt. From 1938-1944 he was Chief of the Site Planning Section of the U.S. Housing Authority. With the firm of Loebl, Schlossman & Bennett, he participated in the planning for the town of Park Forest (near Chicago, Illinois), a project initiated by Nathan Manilow, Treasurer of American Community Builders, Inc., and Philip Klutznick, President. In the 1950s, Peets was a member of the Fine Arts Commission and served as consultant to the National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

Peets did site planning in Washington, D.C., lectured at Harvard and Yale, and served as consultant to several private planning firms. He also wrote numerous articles on planning and landscape architecture.

From the description of Elbert Peets papers, 1883-1983, 1904-1974 (bulk). (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 64071932

Elbert Peets received his B.A. from Western Reserve University and his M.L.A. from the Harvard University School of Landscape Architecture and City Planning. He worked for Pray, Hubbard and White, Boston landscape architects, for a year before joining with Werner Hegemann to plan Kohler, a company town founded by Walter S. Kohler, near Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Peets and Hegemann also collaborated in the planning of Washington Highlands, a subdivision in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; of Wyomissing Park, a subdivision in Reading, Pennsylvania; and in the writing of The American Vitruvius: An Architect's Handbook of Civic Art (1922). From 1923-1935 Peets worked in private practice in Cleveland, Ohio. He also worked on the planning for Greendale (near Milwaukee), one of three greenbelt towns built by the U.S. Farm Resettlement Administration headed by Rexford Guy Tugwell under Franklin D. Roosevelt. From 1938-1944 he was Chief of the Site Planning Section of the U.S. Housing Authority. With the firm of Loebl, Schlossman & Bennett, he participated in the planning for the town of Park Forest (near Chicago, Illinois), a project initiated by Nathan Manilow, Treasurer of American Community Builders, Inc., and Philip Klutznick, President. In the 1950s, Peets was a member of the Fine Arts Commission and served as consultant to the National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

Peets did site planning in Washington, D.C., lectured at Harvard and Yale, and served as consultant to several private planning firms. He also wrote numerous articles on planning and landscape architecture.

• May 5, 1886: Born Cleveland Ohio to Edward Orville Peets and Mary Curetta Houghton Peets
• Graduated from Central High School in Cleveland, Ohio
• 1912: B.A. magna cum laude, Western Reserve University; First Scholarship Honors, Phi Beta Kappa
• Foreman for H.U. Horvath, landscape architect and nurseryman while in college
• 1915: M.L.A., Harvard University, School of Landscape Architecture and City Planning; instructed in horticulture at Harvard, 1914-1915
• June 1915 - June 1916 : Worked for Pray, Hubbard and White, Landscape Architects, making plans for land subdivisions
• June 1916 - Jan. 1917 : Worked with Werner Hegemann on Kohler, Wisconsin, a "company" town, in Sheboygan; Milwaukee, Wisconsin--subdivisions, parks, playground, cemeteries
• Jan. 1917 - Dec. 1918 : Civilian Planning Engineer with the U.S. Army, Camp Planning Section, Construction Division. Made plans for: Hospitals (Staten Island, Colonia, Otisville, etc.); Remount Stations
• Jan. 1919 - Apr. 1920 : In practice with Werner Hegemann on: Washington Highlands, large subdivision in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Apr. 1920 - Mar. 1921 : Charles Eliot Traveling Fellowship: London, Paris, Rome, Vienna, Berlin, Amsterdam
• Apr. 1921 - May 1922 : Continued practice with Werner Hegemann; collaborated with Hegemann in writing Civic Art: The American Vitruvius
• June 1922 - June 1923 : Wyomissing Park, large subdivision including areas for working people, Reading, Pennsylvania
• July 1923 - July 1933 : Private practice in Cleveland, Ohio; work included gardens, parks, land subdivisions; also wrote articles
• July 1933 - Nov. 1933 : Cleveland City Planning Commission; parks, playgrounds, civic improvements
• Nov. 1933 - Apr. 1934 : U.S. Department of Agriculture; layout of roads and other site planning work at Beltsville, Maryland; representative of A.D. Taylor, President of ASLA
• May 1934 - Nov. 1935 : Private practice in Cleveland; writing
• Nov. 1935 - Feb. 1938 : U.S. Farm Resettlement Administration in Washington; principal town planner for Greendale, Wisconsin
• Feb. 1938 - Apr. 1939 : Catalina Island, California; plans and report on the future development of the Wrigley Estate and the town of Avalon
• Apr. 1938 - 1944 : Chief of Site Planning Section, U.S. Housing Authority, and Federal Public Housing Authority
• 1939: Report on City Planning and Housing for San Juan, Puerto
• 1941: Report for the National Resources Planning Board (NRPB): "An Interior Program of Planning Studies for the Physical Development of Puerto Rico" (with Hale Walker and Tracy Augur)
• 1944: Lectured at the New York Museum of National History on Aerial Urban Reconnaissance and Site Recognition
• 1945: Consultant in Town Planning for FPHA and USHA
• 1945 - 1948 : Prepared plans for the extension of Greendale; drafted a zoning ordinance for Greendale
• 1945 - 1951 : Housing consultant and site planner for the Municipal Housing Authority of San Juan, Puerto Rico
• 1946 - 1947 : Site and City Planner for Phillip Klutznick, American Community Builders, Park Forest, Illinois
• 1950 - 1954 : Member of the Fine Arts Commission, Washington
• 1951 - 1953 : Consultant to the National Capital Park and Planning Commission
• 1950 - 1960 : Lecturer at Yale and Harvard; consultant to several private planning firms; Harland Bartholomew; McGaughan and Johnson; plan for the S.W. Washington Redevelopment with Louis Justement
• 1951 - 1962 : Worked with sculptor Felix de Weldon on site planning for memorials: Plaza Bolivar, Washington, D.C.; monument to General Calixto Garcia, Havana, Cuba; Pershing Memorial, Washington, D.C.; Stone Mountain Memorial, Atlanta, Georgia; National War Memorial, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• 1963: Site plan for U.S. National Arboretum, Washington, D.C.
• 1964 - 1968 : Health problems prevented further work
• Mar. 26, 1968: Died in Austinburg, Ohio

This sketch was largely done by Paul Spreiregen, editor of On the Art of Designing Cities (1968), a collection of Elbert Peets' writings. Several additions and corrections have been made since the arranging of the Elbert Peets Papers.

From the guide to the Elbert Peets papers, 1883-1983, 1904-1974, (Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library)