MORRIS, CHARLES (13 Aug. 1869-27 Jan. 1930), a classical architect active in Cleveland from 1902-05 and 1923-30, was the son of Charles E. Morris. Born, educated, and trained in New York, Morris studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris 2 years. Returning to New York, he became associated with Richard Walker, whose firm designed a number of Carnegie Library buildings. In 1902, Morris was invited to Cleveland to assist architects LEHMAN & SCHMITT in designing the CUYAHOGA COUNTY COURTHOUSE, becoming its principal designer. In 1905 he planned Cleveland's Broadway Free Library, a Carnegie library;, then returned to Walker & Morris in New York, helping design the 22d Regimental Armory, Municipal Ferry Houses, and bridge and pavilions on Riverside Dr. After Walker & Morris broke up, Morris became chief designer in the office of the supervising architect of the U.S. Treasury, designing post offices throughout the country during the 1910s. At the end of WORLD WAR I he moved to Cleveland, in 1923 joining JOSEPH WEINBERG to form Morris & Weinberg. They designed successful commercial buildings, but their major work may be BELLEFAIRE (the Jewish Orphan Asylum) in UNIVERSITY HTS. Opened in 1929, it is a model residential campus based on the "cottage" plan. Morris was a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and president of the Cleveland Chap. (1925-26). He was a founder of the Cleveland School of Architecture in 1992 and its secretary until its affiliation with Western Reserve University in 1929. Morris married Jean Walker in 1903 and had 2 children, Jean and Robert. He died in Cleveland and was buried in Knollwood Cemetery.
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