Dwight Heald Perkins was an American architect and planner, and a member of the “Prairie School” of architects. Over his long career, Perkins became a nationally known architect who designed over two hundred buildings in the Chicago area. This included over 40 schools while serving as the Chicago Board of Education’s chief architect. Among these structures was Carl Schurz High School which was described by the American Institute of Architects as "the best and most important" of his designs, in addition to being his "masterpiece" and an "important example of early twentieth century architecture, utilizing elements of both the Chicago and Prairie Schools of Architecture."

Perkins and his friend and colleague, Jens Jensen, developed the original plans for the Cook County Forest Preserve system. Through the Special Park Commission and other groups devoted to social reform, Perkins played an important role in Chicago’s Playground Movement. His involvement in the Forest Preserve District spanned over two decades: he co-wrote the Metropolitan Parks Report in 1905 that jump started the forest preserve campaign and he served on the Plan Committee, which identified and acquired lands for the forest preserve.

Perkins moved from Memphis, TN to Chicago with his family at age 4. His mother was widowed a few years after his family completed their move. He had to quit school in 8th grade to help support his mother.  He worked first at the Chicago stockyards and then for 2 architectural firms. When he decided to study architecture, a family friend, Mrs. Charles Hitchcock, helped finance his tuition at MIT.  While in Boston, he met Lucy Fitch, who would become his wife on August 18, 1891.

Upon graduation, he briefly worked in Boston for H. H. Richardson.  He returned to Chicago and found a position with Burnham & Root. After John Wellborn Root’s death, Perkins was given the responsibility of running the firm’s Chicago office, as Burnham was deeply involved in preparations for the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. The following year, Perkins embarked upon his own practice with the commission to design a large office building for the Steinway Piano Company.

He occupied the top floor along with a loft space of Steinway Hall, and soon several other young architects joined him there.  This group of architects initially included the Pond Brothers, L. Buck & R. Spencer. They were later joined by F. L. Wright, W. B. Griffin and Perkins’ cousin Marion Mahony. This group and other like-minded architects made up a group called "The Eighteen," which made important contributions to the development of the Prairie style of architecture.

In 1905, Perkins formed a partnership with John L. Hamilton, who had recently resigned as a Board of Education draftsman. Perkins and Hamilton added a third partner, William K. Fellows in 1911.  The firm practiced together until 1927, designing many handsome Prairie style buildings including their own office and studio near Chicago’s Water Tower. 

Perkins left the firm in 1929 and joined what became Perkins, Chatten, and Hammond, which he left in 1933. He died in Lordsburg, NM, in 1941 of a cerebral hemorrhage.

​

Sources:

https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/11672256

https://chicagohistoricschools.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/dwight-h-perkins-1867-1941/