Login
Login

Keene & Simpson

{{Short description|American architectural firm}}

{{Multiple issues|

{{Cleanup rewrite|date=May 2023}}

{{Unfocused|date=May 2023}}

}}

{{Infobox architectural practice

| name = Keene & Simpson

| logo =

| logo_size =

| logo_alt =

| logo_caption =

| image =

| image_size =

| image_alt =

| image_caption =

| caption =

| firm_type =

| architects =

| partners = Arthur S. Keene; Leslie B. Simpson, John T. Murphy

| founders = Arthur S. Keene; Leslie B. Simpson

| principals =

| employees =

| city = Kansas City, Missouri

| coordinates =

| affiliations =

| founded = 1909

| dissolved = 1980

| awards =

| significant_buildings =

| significant_projects =

| significant_design =

| website =

}}

File:Land Bank Building.jpg in Kansas City, designed by Keene & simpson and completed in 1924.]]

File:Jackson County Courthouse Independence MO-cropped.jpg in Independence, completed in 1933.]]

File:Hall-of-waters.jpg in Excelsior Springs, completed in 1937.]]

File:Commerce Tower Kansas City MO.jpg in Kansas City, completed in 1965.]]

Keene & Simpson was an American architectural firm based in Kansas City, Missouri, and in practice from 1909 until 1980. The named partners were architects Arthur Samuel Keene FAIA (1875–1966) and Leslie Butler Simpson AIA (1885–1961). In 1955 it became Keene & Simpson & Murphy with the addition of John Thomas Murphy FAIA (1913–1999), who managed the firm until his retirement in 1980.

Biography and history

Arthur Samuel Keene was born September 21, 1875, in Brighton, Boston to Samuel Keene and Marianna (Fuller) Keene. His uncle, George Franklin Fuller, was a Boston-based architect of churches and other buildings. His initial interest in architecture came from the study of the books and drawings in his uncle's library. His formal education was in the Boston public schools and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from which he graduated in 1898."Keene, Arthur Samuel" in Who's Who in Kansas City, ed Sara Mullin Baldwin (Hebron: Robert M. Baldwin Corporation, 1930): 106. He then joined the office of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge as a drafter, moving to that of Guy Lowell in 1903."Keene, Arthur Samuel" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1956): 291. In 1907 Keene moved to Kansas City, where he joined the office of Howe & Hoit.Giles Carroll Mitchell, There is No Limit: Architecture and Sculpture in Kansas City (Kansas City: Brown-White Company, 1934): 106. In Hoit's office he worked alongside Leslie Butler Simpson. Leslie B. Simpson was born May 30, 1885, in Clayton, Missouri, to Luther Rice Simpson and Nannie (Pigg) Simpson. He attended the public schools and received his early architectural education through correspondence courses of the International Correspondence School of Scranton, Pennsylvania. In 1901 he moved to Kansas City, where he joined Van Brunt & Howe, predecessors to Howe & Hoit. He remained with Hoit until 1909, when he and Arthur S. Keene left to form their partnership, Keene & Simpson."Simpson, Leslie Butler" in Who's Who in Kansas City, ed Sara Mullin Baldwin (Hebron: Robert M. Baldwin Corporation, 1930): 178."Simpson, Leslie Butler" in National Cyclopaedia of American Biography 50 (New York: James T. White & Company, 1968): 365-366.

Keene & Simpson had a successful regional practice, completing buildings in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. In 1955 they expanded the partnership to include John T. Murphy, an MIT graduate who had worked for them since 1945. The firm was then renamed Keene & Simpson & Murphy."Murphy, John Thomas" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1956): 396-397. Simpson died December 15, 1961, in Kansas City. Keene retired in 1962 and died May 14, 1966, in Topeka, Kansas. Murphy ran the firm under the same name until 1980. Murphy died February 6, 1999, in Kansas City.Gravestone, Union City, Kansas City, Missouri

Several of their major works were designed as joint ventures with other architects. The Philtower Building in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was designed in association with Edward Buehler Delk of Kansas City, and the Jackson County Courthouse was designed in association with Frederick C. Gunn and Wight & Wight of Kansas City and consulting architect Edward F. Neild of Shreveport, Louisiana. They were also consultants on the Boston Avenue Methodist Church in Tulsa, completed in 1929 and designed by Bruce Goff and Adah Robinson.

All three members of the partnership were involved in the American Institute of Architects, Keene joining in 1916, Simpson in 1921[https://aiahistoricaldirectory.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/AHDAA/pages/36985963/ahd1041244 AIA Records for Leslie Butler Simpson] and Murphy in 1945. In 1938 Keene was elevated to Fellow,[https://aiahistoricaldirectory.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/AHDAA/pages/35782004/ahd1023283 AIA Records for Arthur S. Keene] followed by Murphy in 1964.[https://aiahistoricaldirectory.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/AHDAA/pages/35775597/ahd1031879 AIA Records for John Thomas Murphy]

Legacy

At least twelve buildings designed by Keene & Simpson, in whole or in part, have been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. Others contribute to listed historic districts.

Architectural works

Notes

{{notelist}}

References

{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keene and Simpson}}

Category:Architecture firms based in Missouri

Category:Design companies established in 1909

Category:Design companies disestablished in 1980

Category:American companies established in 1909

Category:American companies disestablished in 1909

Category:1909 establishments in Missouri

Category:1980 disestablishments in Missouri

Category:Companies based in Kansas City, Missouri