Charles Eames, Jr (June 17, 1907 – August 21, 1978) was born in 1907 in St. Louis, Missouri. Charles was the nephew of architect William S. Eames. At age 14, while attending school, he learned about engineering, drawing, and architecture. Charles briefly studied architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. After two years of study, he left the university. Many sources state that he was dismissed for his advocacy of Frank Lloyd Wright and his interest in modern architects. He is said to have been expelled from the university because his views were “too modern”. While at Washington University, he met his first wife, Catherine Woermann, whom he married in 1929. A year later, they had a daughter, Lucia. In 1930, Charles began his own architectural practice in St. Louis with partner Charles Gray. Later, Walter Pauley joined them. Charles Eames was strongly influenced by Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. At the invitation of the elder Saarinen, Charles moved in 1938 with his wife Catherine and their daughter Lucia from Michigan to become a professor and head of the industrial design department at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where, together with Eero Saarinen, he designed award-winning furniture for the Museum of Modern Art competition in New York. In 1941, after the divorce, he married his colleague Cranbrook Ray Kaiser and moved with her to Los Angeles, California, where they would work and live for the rest of their lives. On June 17, 2008, the U.S. released the Eames Stamps through the Postal Service. A pane of 16 stamps commemorating the designs of Charles and Ray Eames.

See all Hide