Collection is open for research.
Gift of Jerry Lamb, May 2019 (RL2019-080).
Willard Kenneth Martin was born in 1930 in the Missouri Ozarks. He moved to Oregon as a child, and attended high school in Albany, Oregon. After serving in the Air Force during the Korean War, Martin studied painting and architecture at the University of Oregon, earning a degree in architecture in 1957.
In 1960, Martin moved to Portland, Oregon, and joined the architectural firm Wolff and Zimmer. Martin later started his own firm, which David Soderstrom joined in 1966, and John Matteson joined in 1971. The firm Martin, Soderstrom, and Matteson operated until 1984. Martin was the head of the team that designed Pioneer Courthouse Square, which opened in 1984. He received two national honors for his work on the square. Martin's other projects included the public library in Hillsboro, Oregon, and the restoration of Marsh Hall at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon.
Martin and his son, Eric Martin, were killed in a plane crash in the Grand Canyon in September 1985.
Sources: Article and obituary in the Oregonian, October 2, 1985.
Willard K. Martin architectural illustrations, Coll 897, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Other collections at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library with papers of or relating to Martin are: the Willard K. Martin architectural papers, Mss 3077; and the vertical file Architects - M-N.
The collection consists of five ink illustrations of historic buildings, all drawn by Portland, Oregon, architect Willard K. Martin. The buildings depicted are: The Old Church at SW 11th and Clay in Portland, Oregon (erroneously captioned as being the First Baptist Church at SW 11th and Taylor); the Captain John Brown House on NW Everett in Portland; the Captain George Flavel House in Astoria, Oregon; Marsh Hall at Pacific University, Forest Grove, Oregon; and the "Beehive House," residence of Brigham Young, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The drawing for Marsh Hall notes that Willard was among the architects who restored that building in 1975. The drawing for the Captain John Brown House includes a note about a conversation that Willard had with Edyth Park, who had worked there as a housekeeper in the 1940s, while he was sketching the house.
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.