Joseph Lewis Weinberg (1890-1977) was a prominent architect who was also active in the Cleveland, Ohio Jewish community. At the age of ten, he came to Cleveland with two sisters to live in the Jewish Orphan Home. He entered Harvard University in 1908 and graduated with a degree in architectural design.
In 1919 Weinberg opened an architectural practice in Cleveland that, by the mid-1930s, specialized in large scale private and public housing. From 1923-1930, Weinberg practiced in partnership with Charles Morris, and in 1946 formed a partnership with Wallace Teare that lasted, with different associates, until Weinberg's death in 1977. Weinberg collaborated on the design and building of many structures located in Cleveland and surrounding areas, including such public housing projects as Lakeview Terrace (1937) and Lakeview Tower (1973, in addition to the luxury Chesterfield Apartments. From the early 1960s, Weinberg's firm specialized in nonprofit housing for the elderly. They also assisted Edward Durell Stone on the Jewish Community Federation building.
Joseph Weinberg also served on the faculty of Western Reserve University from 1928-1941 and of the John Huntington Polytechnic Institute from 1930-1941. His prominence as an architect was recognized many times, most notably when he received the Architects Society of Ohio Gold Medal in 1974 for his leadership and the American Institute of Architects Award of merit in 1955 for his firm's design of the O'Neill-Sheffield Shopping center in Lorain county. Joseph Weinberg was a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and the International Institute of Arts and Letters, as well as being a member of the Society of Aesthetics of the National Planning Association and of the Architects Society of Ohio Foundation. He also served as president of the Cleveland Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
The Joseph Lewis Weinberg Papers, 1910-1976, consist of correspondence, greeting cards, school assignments, reports, certificates, programs, bulletins, materials on Harvard Class of 1912 reunions and architects' conventions, scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, and designs, drawings, blueprints and sketches by Weinberg.
This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of the architectural profession in Cleveland, Ohio, and the design of large-scale private and public housing. The work of the firm of Weinberg, Teare and Herman is highlighted in various items in the collection, as are the accomplishments of other such businesses in the Cleveland area. The researcher can also examine state and national developments in architecture, especially as revealed in the materials on the conventions. The collection contains material about subjects of particular interest to Joseph Weinberg, such as the work of other architectural firms in Cleveland, and designs, drawings, blueprints, and sketches done by Weinberg during the course of his training and his years in professional practice.
The collection is arranged by document type and subject, and then chronologically.
The researcher should also consult MS 4051 Joseph L. and Edith L. Weinberg Papers; and PG 340 Joseph L. and Edith L. Weinberg Photographs.
Processed by Lucinda Kay Arnold in 1980.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3812 Joseph Lewis Weinberg Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of Mrs. Joseph Weinberg in 1977.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.