Charles Morse Stotz
| Charles Morse Stotz | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 1, 1898 Ingram, Pennsylvania |
| Died | March 5, 1985 (Age 86) Fort Myers, Florida |
| Spouse(s) | Mildred Shaw |
| Children | David, Jane Matz, and Virginia Stotz |
Charles Morse Stotz was an architect, architectural historian, and preservationist. He is known for his extensive study of the architectural history of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. He was one of the architects to practice in the field of preservation. He was credited with arousing "public awarenesss of the right and significant history of western Pennsylvania."
He was born in 1898 in Ingram, Pennsylvania. His father, Edward Stotz, was a noted architect in Pittsburgh. As a 15-year-old, he was 5th place in the Boys' Life national Daniel Boone Contest essay contest, winning $1.00. He was the grandfather of Andrew Stotz.
In 1921, he graduated from Cornell University with a degree in architecture in 1921; he later completed his master's degree there.
He joined his father's architectural firm in 1923. By 1936, his father left the firm to his sons, Charles and Edward Stotz Jr.; the new firm was called Charles M. and Edward Stotz Jr., Architect and Engineer. He was active in the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Institute of Architects, serving as secretary from 1935 to 1936 and president from 1940 to 1941.
As an architectural critic, he felt that post-Civil War American architecture lacked form, or as he said "gone to pot", as the result of the influence of the industrial age.
In 1931, Historical Monuments Committee of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Institute of Architects reported on the disrepair of many unrecorded historic buildings in western Pennsylvania. Answering that call, Stotz and fellow architects created Western Pennsylvania Architectural Survey, funded partially by the Buhl Foundation. The effort was similar to the federally funded Historic American Buildings Survey that would be created a few years later. Stotz served as chairman of the group that traveled 6,000 miles to survey an area covering 22,000 square miles over 27 Pennsylvania counties. The finished product, The Early Architecture of Western Pennsylvania,' included photographs, architectural illustrations, precise measurements, and historical context for 542 buildings. A new edition of the book was published in 1966.
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