Leonard and Virginia Currie collection, 1950-1979

Old Resource ID was LVCurrie

Leonard James Currie was born on July 28, 1913 in Stavely, Alberta to Andrew and Florence (McIntyre) Currie. Leonard married Virginia M. Herz on February 8, 1937; they had three children: Barbara E., Robert G., and Elizabeth A. Leonard Currie received a B. Arch. from the University of Minnesota in 1936 and an M.Arch. from Harvard University in 1938. He apprenticed with Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer, 1938-1940, and was a Wheelwright traveling fellow, 1940-1941.

Leonard Currie joined the Carnegie Institute's archaeological expedition to Copan, Honduras in 1941 and assisted Pan Am Airways and the U.S. Government in the construction of airport facilities in Guatemala and Nicaragua, 1941-1942. He served as an officer in the United States Army, 1942-1945, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. His academic career was furthered with the post of Asst. Prof. of Architecture at Harvard University, 1946-1951. Currie provided technical assistance to the U.S. Government and other institutions in Costa Rica, 1951, and served as director of the Inter-Am Housing Center in Colombia, 1951-1956. Returning to the United States in 1956, he chaired the architecture department at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Currie then became the Dean of the College of Architecture and Art at the University of Illinois at Chicago, 1962-1972.

Currie continued his work as a professional architect, educator, and planner throughout the 1970s and 1980s. No longer Dean, he continued to serve as a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, 1972-1981, as a Fulbright Senior Fellow, 1972-1973, and as a visiting professor at international universities. A partner in the firm Atkins, Currie and Payne, he later headed Leonard Currie and Associates. Currie served as a member of the Chicago Cultural Commission, 1963-1966, as a co-promulgator of the Charter of Machu Picchu. He authored numerous books and articles including Housing in Costa Rica (with Rafaela Espinosa), Planning of Central American Campuses, and Designing Environments for the Ageing. Involved in many different projects, Currie's achievements include work on the Rockefeller Foundation, planning for the campus of the National University of Nicaragua, and award winning residential homes.

The Leonard and Virginia Currie Collection is divided into three series. Series I: Photographs consists of black and white photographs of the Near West Side neighborhood in Chicago. Series II: Manuscript Materials includes pamphlets, correspondence, press releases, clippings, some small photographs, and Chicago Department of Urban Renewal materials. Series III: Oversize Materials includes plats.

Who's Who in America, 1996. 50th ed. Vol. 1, A-K. New Providence, N.J.:Marquis Who's Who, 1995.

Donated to the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum in 1985, these materials were later accessioned to Library Special Collections at the University of Illinois at Chicago in April 2000.

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Leonard and Virginia Currie collection, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Names
  • Currie, Leonard J. (Leonard James), 1913- -- Archives
  • Currie, Virginia -- Archives
  • Hull-House (Chicago, Ill.).
• Subject
  • Chicago Neighborhoods.
  • Urban renewal.
• Geographic Coverage
  • Illinois--Chicago--Near West Side.
  • Illinois--Chicago.