Alvin M. Strauss

Portrait of Alvin M. Strauss

Alvin M. Strauss was a prominent Jewish architect in Indiana and Ohio during the early-20th Century.

Biography

Strauss was born in 1895 in Kendallville, Indiana to German-Jewish immigrants. He would later apprentice for prominent architects in Chicago, Illinois and Fort Wayne, Indiana before establishing his own firm in Fort Wayne in 1918. During his career, Strauss became one of the most prominent architects in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

Professional Work

Based out of Fort Wayne, Strauss' career stretched well beyond Allen County and Indiana. A majority of his designs became major public, commercial, and residential landmarks across Indiana and northwest Ohio. Among his most famous commissioned works in Fort Wayne are the Allen County War Memorial Colleseum, Clyde Thetre, Lincoln Bank Tower, and the Embassy Theatre & Indiana Hotel.

Outside of Fort Wayne, Strauss designed thirteen buildings at Indiana University in Bloomington, the Justin Zimmer House in Warsaw, Indiana, the Brokaw Theatre in Angola, Indiana, and the Art Deco-style showroom and administrative buildings of the Auburn Cord Dueseberg Automobile Facility.

Death

Strauss died after a prolonged bout with cancer on July 6, 1958. He is buried in his home town in Kendallville, Indiana. An archive of his drawings and papers are housed at the Drawings and Documents Archive at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.