Biographical Summary
Carter H. Manny, born in 1918 in Michigan City, Indiana, and began his architectural training at Harvard in 1941. He apprenticed with the Frank Lloyd Wright Fellowship at Taliesin West in 1946 and completed his studies at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1948. Upon graduation he took a job at Naess & Murphy (later C.F. Murphy Associates and then renamed Murphy/Jahn) where he quickly became a partner. He worked in that firm for 36 years until he retired in 1984. His jobs include several important commissions in Chicago, as well as the FBI building in Washington, D.C. Manny had a second career as director of the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, where he served from 1971 until 1993. He continues to serve on its advisory board as well as on many other boards in the city. Manny was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 1970.

Interview Highlights
Manny speaks about the C.F. Murphy firm; how the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts was founded; the Graham Foundation under John Entenza; jobs: O'Hare International Airport, the First National Bank building and plaza, and the Continental Insurance building; the FBI building in Washington, D.C.; Alexander Calder; troubles at the Graham Foundation.

FBI Building; Washington, D.C., 1963-1975. Photo by John Zukowsky.

First National Bank; Chicago, 1969. Drawing by William C. Brubaker. Department of Architecture, The Art Institute of Chicago.

Interview Excerpt
"During that evening when graduate students were invited to Mies's apartment, I tried to draw Mies out about Wright, but he didn't really want to be drawn out....I think Wright had insulted Mies in New York in 1947. It was one of those times when Wright's quick mind and rapier wit got the upper hand. These things just pop out, and sometimes they are hurtful. I think Wright's remark probably hurt Mies. It was about 'less is more.'...It's much ado about almost nothing....I think it's characteristic of Wright, and clear from his correspondence, that he usually regretted his spur-of-the-moment remarks and would go to great ends to make amends. I think he did that with Mies, but Mies seemingly never forgave him." (pp. 104-5)

Other Resources at The Art Institute of Chicago
Architectural drawings may be consulted by appointment in the Department of Architecture. Also see oral histories of architects who worked at C.F. Murphy Associates: Jacques Brownson, C. William Brubaker, James Ferris, Charles F. Murphy, Charles G. Rummel, and Gene Summers; the oral history of William Hartmann, who was instrumental in the early development of the Graham Foundation; and the memoirs of Walter Metschke, who worked with Manny on O'Hare International Airport.

Funding for this oral history was provided by Harold Schiff, of Schal Associates.

Additional funding for the electronic presentation of this transcript was provided by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council.

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