Emory Kemp
{{Short description|American engineer and historian (1931–2020)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Emory Kemp
| image = Emory Kemp 2018 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Kemp in 2018
| birth_name = Emory Leland Kemp
| birth_date = October 1, 1931
| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|20 January 2020|1 October 1931}}
}}
Emory Leland Kemp (1 October 1931 – January 20, 2020) was an American archaeologist. He was the founder and director of the Institute for the History of Technology and Industrial Archaeology at West Virginia University. There, he was Chair and Professor of Civil Engineering at the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering & Mineral Resources, and a professor of history in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.{{cite web|title=Emory L. Kemp|url=https://cee.statler.wvu.edu/alumni-friends/the-west-virginia-academy-of-civil-engineers-members/emory-l-kemp|website=Civil and Environmental Engineering|publisher=West Virginia University|access-date=5 December 2017}} Until his death, he served as Professor Emeritus for the Department of History at West Virginia University.{{cite web|title=Faculty Emeriti|url=https://history.wvu.edu/faculty-and-staff/faculty-emeriti/emory-kemp|website=West Virginia University Department of History|access-date=5 December 2017|archive-date=14 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214073506/https://history.wvu.edu/faculty-and-staff/faculty-emeriti/emory-kemp|url-status=dead}}
Kemp served as President of the Public Works Historical Society. He presented and published many works on industrial archaeology, engineering, the history of technology, and structural mechanics. Many of his public works can be found in journals such as IA, The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology, Public Historian, Essays in Public Works History, Public Works Magazine, and Canal History and Technology Proceedings.
Life
Emory Leland Kemp was born in Chicago on Thursday, October 1, 1931 at 4:10 p.m. in Jackson Park (Chicago) Hospital.
Kemp became an Eagle Scout with three palms.{{cite book |last1=Klein |first1=Mercy |title=Oral History of Dr. Kemp |last2=Stasick |first2=Lynn |date=24 August 2017 |publisher=Preservation Alliance of West Virginia |location=West Virginia and Regional History Center}}
While Kemp was working with Colonel Hudson in the Army, "I'm not sure how he did it, but my whole company was sent to Korea, except for me, and I got a special order." Emory was requested to go to the Engineer Research and Development Center in Alexandria, Virginia, "so I fought the Korean War in Washington. I have really nice memories of that." There, he took an advanced mathematics courses and structural engineering courses. "The only thing I remember which was, um, quite memorable, on guard duty we had to have fixed bayonets, and if you could stand there with a bayonet under your chin, if you nodded off you stabbed yourself, so it kept you awake. And, one time I was running very late and I ended up in a differential equations course at George Washington University in full uniform with a bayonet! Um, I don't think you could do that today—I was ready."
Emory Kemp was married with three adult children and lived in Morgantown, West Virginia. He died at the J. W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, on January 20, 2020.{{cite news |date=21 January 2020 |title=Emory Kemp |url=https://www.dominionpost.com/2020/01/21/emory-kemp/ |access-date=27 March 2020 |work=The Dominion Post}}
Career
= Consulting =
Kemp's consulting career began at Ove Arup, a global firm. There, he conducted analytical calculations for the roof of the Sydney Opera House in Australia, noting this was no simple task, as Jørn Utzon's sketches were designed to embellish the beauty of the international landmark, not necessarily for simple mathematics.{{Cite web|url=http://www.wvculture.org/goldenseal/Spring17/Kemp.html|title=Dr. Emory L. Kemp|access-date=2018-02-07|archive-date=2020-10-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003094941/http://www.wvculture.org/goldenseal/Spring17/Kemp.html|url-status=dead}}
Kemp continued to offer consulting work throughout his career as a Professor at West Virginia University. His work included many projects, including the restoration of the Philippi Covered Bridge.{{cite web|title=Philippi Covered Bridge|url=https://transportation.wv.gov/highways/bridge_facts/covered-bridges/Pages/PhilippiCoveredBridge.aspx|website=transportation.wv.gov|publisher=West Virginia Department of Transportation|access-date=22 January 2018}}
He was a project coordinator for the move and restoration of the Staats Mill Covered Bridge.
= Publications =
Kemp had a long list of publications in civil engineering, specifically suspension bridges, wrought iron, mills, canals, and the history of these subjects, and as a result paved the way for the "new interdisciplinary field" known as industrial archaeology.{{Cite journal |last=Wanser |first=J. |date=Spring 1998 |title=Review of Industrial Archaeology: Techniques by Emory L. Kemp |journal=Material Culture |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=54–56 |jstor=29764055}}
Kemp was the author of the text Essays on the History of Transportation and Technology.{{cite book|last1=Kemp|first1=Emory|title=Essays on the History of Transportation and Technology|date=2014|publisher=West Virginia University Press|isbn=9781940425030|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/35107|access-date=22 January 2018}}
Kemp was the co-author of the text Houses and Homes: Exploring Their History, along with Barbara Howe. The text covers American housing patterns, the individual characteristics of houses in different regions, construction techniques and materials, household technology, and family lifestyles.{{cite book|last1=Howe|first1=Barbara|last2=Kemp|first2=Emory|last3=Fleming|first3=Dolores|last4=Overbeck|first4=Ruth Ann|title=Houses and Homes: Exploring Their History|date=October 6, 1995|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; Reprint edition|location=Amazon.com|isbn=978-0761989295}}
Emory contributed authorship to the West Virginia Encyclopedia. He wrote articles on bridges,{{cite web|last1=Kemp|first1=Emory|title=Bridges|url=https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/654|website=The West Virginia Encyclopedia|publisher=West Virginia Humanities Council|access-date=8 March 2018}} cable-stayed bridges,{{cite web|last1=Kemp|first1=Emory|title=Cable-Stayed Bridges|url=https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/796|website=The West Virginia Encyclopedia|publisher=West Virginia Humanities Council|access-date=8 March 2018}} Claudius Crozet,{{cite web|last1=Kemp|first1=Emory|title=Claudis Crozet|website=The West Virginia Encyclopedia|publisher=West Virginia Humanities Council|access-date=8 March 2018|url=https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1682}} the Fairmont High Level Bridge,{{cite web|last1=Kemp|first1=Emory|title=Fairmont High Level Bridge|website=The West Virginia Encyclopedia|publisher=West Virginia Humanities Council|access-date=8 March 2018|url=https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2232}} Frank Duff McEnteer,{{cite web|last1=Kemp|first1=Emory|title=Frank Duff McEnteer|website=The West Virginia Encyclopedia|publisher=West Virginia Humanities Council|access-date=8 March 2018|url=https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1636}} swinging bridges,{{cite web|last1=Kemp|first1=Emory|title=Swinging Bridges|website=The West Virginia Encyclopedia|publisher=West Virginia Humanities Council|access-date=8 March 2018|url=https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/6736}} the Weston and Gauley Bridge Turnpike,{{cite web|last1=Kemp|first1=Emory|title=Weston & Gauley Bridge Turnpike|website=The West Virginia Encyclopedia|publisher=West Virginia Humanities Council|access-date=8 March 2018|url=https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1146}} and the Wheeling Suspension Bridge{{cite web|last1=Kemp|first1=Emory|title=Wheeling Suspension Bridge|website=The West Virginia Encyclopedia|publisher=West Virginia Humanities Council|access-date=8 March 2018|url=https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1228}}
= Awards =
Upon graduation from the University of Illinois in civil engineering, Kemp received the Ira O. Baker for outstanding achievement.
Kemp received numerous awards, including the coveted election as an Honorary Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. This is the highest award given by the Society of 140,000 members.
In 1986, Kemp received the Distinguished Alumni Award from his alma mater, the University of Illinois Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association.{{cite web|title=IU CEE AA Previous Winners by Year|url=https://cee.illinois.edu/previous-winners-year|publisher=University of Illinois|access-date=7 February 2018|archive-date=12 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180512031843/http://cee.illinois.edu/previous-winners-year|url-status=dead}}
The Society for Industrial Archeology awarded Kemp the 1993 SIA General Tools Award for Distinguished Service to Industrial Archeology.{{cite news |title=22nd Annual Business Meeting June 5, 1993, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |work=Society for Industrial Archeology Newsletter |volume=22 |issue=3 |publisher=Society for Industrial Archeology |date=Fall 1993 |url=http://www.sia-web.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/EmoryKemp1993.pdf |access-date=11 October 2018}}
Kemp had an award created in his honor, by the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia, an organization which he is a co-founder of. The award is the Dr. Emory Kemp Lifetime Achievement Award.{{cite web|last1=Shapiro|first1=Kelli|title=PAWV PROJECT HONORS DR. EMORY KEMP|url=http://www.pawv.org/news/pawv-project-honors-dr-emory-kemp|website=pawv.org|publisher=Preservation Alliance of West Virginia|access-date=22 January 2018}}
References
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External links
- West Virginia & Regional History Center at West Virginia University, [https://archives.lib.wvu.edu/agents/people/9674 Emory Kemp papers]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, Emory}}
Category:Engineers from Chicago
Category:Educators from Chicago
Category:Engineers from West Virginia
Category:West Virginia University faculty
Category:American civil engineers