Collection is open for research.
Gift of First Unitarian Church, April 1975 (Lib. Acc. 13279, Photo Acc. 975D013).
The collection is arranged in two series:
Jamieson Kirkwood Parker was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1895. He attended Portland Academy, and from 1912-1914, while still a teenager, he worked in the offices of Portland architect A.E. Doyle. During this time, he designed the lettering on the exterior of the Multnomah County central library in downtown Portland. He earned a degree in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 1916. After working briefly in New York and serving in the U.S. Army during World War I, he returned to Portland. There, he worked in a partnership with Folger Johnson and C. H. Wallwork (Johnson, Parker, and Wallwork) and also established his own practice.
Over the course of a decade, Parker designed approximately 75 residences, most in Portland but also elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest. He also designed two Portland churches: the First Unitarian Church, which was his first major commission, and St. Mark's Episcopal Church. At least seven of Parker's works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the First Unitarian Church.
The Depression took a toll on Parker's practice, and in 1934, he accepted an appointment as director of the Historic American Buildings Survey, District 39 (Oregon and Washington). Later that year, he took a job with the Federal Housing Administration, and in June 1935, he became the FHA director for Oregon. Parker also served in professional and civic roles; he was president of the Oregon Chapter of American Institute of Architects in 1928, 1929, and 1934; was active in Columbia Gorge conservation; and worked on preservation of the Pioneer Courthouse in downtown Portland.
Parker married Margaret Biddle in 1923, and they had three children. He died in 1939 at age 44.
Sources: "Architect Jamieson Parker left legacy of landmarks," by Janet Goetze, Oregonian, November 15, 1974, page B8; "Jamieson Parker, FHA Director, Called by Death," Oregon Journal, December 9, 1939, Page 2; biographical information in National Historic Register nomination forms (accessed October 11, 2024) for the Edward D. Kingsley House (
Photographs from First Unitarian Church exhibit on the architecture of Jamieson Parker, Org. Lot 102, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Collection was initially processed and described in 1986. Description was revised by Sharon Howe and encoded into an online collection guide in 2004. In October 2024, the guide was revised by Katie Mayer to improve clarity and conform to current standards; changes included a revised collection title, addition of detail about the exhibit on Parker, expanded biographical information, and a revised title for Series 2. The collection was previously titled "First Unitarian Church exhibit: Architecture of Jamieson Parker photographs."
Other collections relating to Jamieson Parker at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library include an additional photograph collection, Org. Lot 258; and a collection of Parker's architectural drawings and other papers, Mss 3000.
Diaries kept by Jamieson Parker, 1918-1919, are part of the Horatio Hyde Parker papers, Ax 076, University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives, Eugene.
This collection consists of 47 mounted photographs from a November 1974 exhibit about the work of Jamieson Parker (1895-1939), an architect in Portland, Oregon. The exhibit was organized by and displayed at First Unitarian Church in Portland in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the church's building, which was designed by Parker. The photographs for the exhibit, which was titled "Exposition on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the First Unitarian Church," were largely taken in the early 1970s, and were gathered and arranged for display by architect and church member Alfred Staehli. It is unknown whether he was also the photographer.
The majority of the photographs in the collection depict buildings that Parker designed. Most are Portland residences, but the collection also includes photographs of the two churches he designed, First Unitarian Church and St. Mark's Episcopal Church. One of images of St. Mark's is an original print taken around 1930. A small number of photographs show residences in Milwaukie (including Parker's own home), Chiloquin, and the Hood River Valley. The collection also includes a few images relating to Parker and his career; these are reproductions of images and documents dating from approximately 1911 to 1930.
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.
Images in this series are arranged alphabetically by the name of the church or the surname of the homeowner for whom the residence was built.
Among residences included in this series are homes that Parker designed for his brother in Portland, Oregon, and for his own family in Milwaukie, Oregon.
Includes photographic reproduction of an elevation drawing, ca. 1926
This series includes photographic reproductions, made circa 1970, of mostly earlier images and documents related to Jamieson Parker, his education, and his architectural career.