Samuel Shackford Otis

Samuel Shackford Otis (1891–1974) was an architect from Winnetka, Illinois, who designed numerous hotels, housing complexes, and other buildings during a nearly 40-year career. While working with H. L. Stevens & Company, Otis supervised hotel designs in six U.S. states (Alabama, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio). Serving as a supervising architect for the Works Progress Administration, he oversaw the design of housing complexes in Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. Otis also served as an architect with the U.S. Fisheries and Wildlife Services (now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). Early life and education Samuel Otis was born in Chicago, on February 4, 1891, to William Augustus Otis and Elizabeth Lincoln Shackford. William Otis, a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and lectured at the Art Institute of Chicago. He designed houses, schools, churches, and other buildings in Illinois and other states, including five Carnegie libraries. William Otis also designed several buildings for Northwestern University's main campus in Evanston, Illinois, including the Lunt Library (now Lunt Hall). In 1910, Samuel Otis graduated from the Morristown School (now Morristown-Beard School) in Morristown, New Jersey. He then completed his bachelor's degree at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1914. While studying at Harvard, Otis worked as an associate editor and a cartoonist at the Harvard Lampoon, a humor magazine. He also took classes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In May 1914, Otis won a competition to design the bookplate for the 1914 yearbook of Harvard University. Following his undergraduate studies, Otis took graduate courses at Harvard University's Graduate School of Architecture (now the Graduate School of Design) for two years. He later held membership in both the Harvard Club of New York City and the Harvard Club of Chicago. Winnetka Planning Commission and World War I Memorial Otis served on Winnetka's first Plan Commission, which published the 1921 report that guided the village's early development. Winning an architectural competition, he also designed a war memorial for Winnetka to honor 10 soldiers who died in World War I. Otis later called the roll of dead at annual Memorial Day services held at the memorial.