The Kenneth Cardwell Collections spans the years from 1941-1994, and includes files created by Cardwell, the firms he worked for, and records pertinent to his research and teaching materials. This collection mainly documents his work as an architect, preservationist, and researcher.

Longtime resident of Berkeley, Kenneth H. Cardwell (1920 – 2010) was born in Los Angeles, California. He attended Occidental College for two years before transferring to UC Berkeley (UCB) in 1939 to study architecture. During World War II, Cardwell took a break in his studies and enlisted in the U.S. (Army) Air Force in the South Pacific from 1941-1945. After an honorable discharge, he returned to UC Berkeley and completed his BA in Architecture in 1947. He worked in the firms of Thomsen and Wilson of San Francisco; Michael Goodman, and Winfield Scott Wellington in Berkeley; Kolbeck, Cardwell & Christopherson in Oakland; and Hall, Goodhue, and Haisley. Early in his professional career, he also worked as a historical preservationist and reconstruction consultant with his wife, Mary (Sullivan) Cardwell, also a UCB graduate. Early in the 1940s, Cardwell became friends with Bernard and Annie Maybeck, beginning his lifelong fascination and scholarly research on Maybeck. He worked alongside Maybeck to catalogue the homes designed by Maybeck throughout Berkeley. Out of his research of and with Maybeck, Cardwell published Bernard Maybeck: Artisan, Architect, Artist in 1977, republished in 1996; a groundbreaking book that brought Maybeck's name to the forefront of architectural history. In 1949 Cardwell began teaching at the University of California, Berkeley and retired as a full professor in 1982. He created and taught the University's first course in Historic Preservation, which integrated the cultural and literary heritage of the West with the development of its physical environment. While at Berkeley, Cardwell also began collecting many architectural records relating to Bay Area Architectural History, developing what would become the College of Environmental Design Archives. He collected the works of Bernard Maybeck, Julia Morgan, John Galen Howard, Willis Polk, and Charles Greene.

5 Linear Feet: 4 cartons, 1 legal sized document box, 1 shoebox, 1 card file box

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in the collection should be discussed with the Curator.

Collection is open for research. Many of the Environmental Design Archives collections are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use.