Person:Emerson Knight (3)

DEATH: California Death Index, 1940-1997 Name: KNIGHT, EMERSON Social Security #: Sex: MALE Birth Date: 12 Jul 1882 Birthplace: OHIO Death Date: 10 May 1960 Death Place: SAN FRANCISCO Mother's Maiden Name: WALTERS Father's Surname: KNIGHT

BIOGRAPHY: Evironmental Design Archives: News and Events University Of California, Berkeley http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/news.html Emerson Knight (1882-1960) Emerson Knight was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1882 and moved to Los Angeles when he was nine years old. His father, William Henry Knight , was an author, astronomer, and California pioneer. In 1913, Knight embarked on a walking tour of England and studied art in Paris. He returned to Los Angeles in 1916, but soon indulged his trekking desire by walking to Monterey, stopping at the California missions along the way. He began supervising landscape developments for Cammillo Fancheschi in Santa Barbara, and in 1917 became an associate of Mark Daniels, a San Francisco landscape engineer. Knight took charge of 80 acres of the J. Cheever Cowdin estate in Hillsborough (south of San Francisco), and designed gardens and country estates in San Francisco and the peninsula. In 1918, Mark Daniels left his office, including most of his equipment and books, to Knight . In the late 1920s, Knight traveled to Mexico where he did studies for the Mexican National Highway Commission regarding areas that might be developed into parklands and historic monuments. He was awarded a diploma as an honorary member of the Sociedad Forestal Mexicana. Upon returning to the United States, Knight worked for the Save-The-Redwoods League, the Monterey City Planning Commission, the California State Park Commission, and the National Park Service. He was elected as a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and established the San Francisco headquarters at his office so that the Society could qualify for representation in the San Francisco Federation of Arts. He was involved in the plan for the preservation of historic Monterey and worked on park surveys, including one with Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. Outdoor theaters played a major role in Knight's career. In 1924 he oversaw the completion of a garden theater on the Max Cohn estate, Little Brook Farm, in Los Gatos. He designed the Woodland Theater in Hillsborough, and collaborated with Regua and Jackson on the Mount Helix theater outside San Diego. Knight is probably best known for his design of the Mountain Theatre on Mount Tamalpais in Marin County. Planning for the project began in the late 1920s, but progress was slow until 1934 when Knight convinced the National Park Service to get involved. ( Knight was working as an inspector for the Park Service at the time.) The Civilian Conservation Corp was then engaged to work on the theater, which was completed in 1938. Knight's design for the theater was intended to blend into the natural environment, using natural elements as much as possible. Large boulders were used for seats, trees and bushes were transported to the site to create natural boundaries for the stage, and drinking fountains were built of indigenous rock. In the 1940s, Emerson Knight suffered a period of ill health, but still wrote articles and poetry. He served as associate editor for The Architect and Engineer magazine for 11 years, and was a member of the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Commonwealth Club. He died in 1960. Source: Luckhart, Dean. "Emerson Knight : Landscape Architect 1882-1960." Paper for L.A. 2, University of California, Berkeley, 1962.

DRAFT: World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 Name: Emerson Knight City: San Francisco County: San Francisco State: California Birth Date: 12 Jul 1882 Race: White Roll: 1544262 DraftBoard: 12 Age:36 Occupation:Civil Engineer (Marle Daniels Inc.) Nearest Relative:William H. Knight (Father) Height/Build:Medium/Medium Color of Eyes/Hair:Blue/Brown Source Citation: Registration Location: San Francisco County, California; Roll: 1544262; Draft Board: 12.

U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 Name: Emerson Knight Birth Date: 12 Jul 1882 Residence: San Francisco, California Birth: Cincinnati, Ohio Race: White Roll: WWII_2396102 Source Citation: Roll: WWII_2396102; Local board: San Francisco , California.

CENSUS: 1900 United States Federal Census Name: Emerson Knight Home in 1900: Los Angeles Ward 4, Los Angeles, California Age: 18 Estimated birth year: abt 1882 Birthplace: Ohio Relationship to head-of-house: Son Father's name: William Mother's name: Eva Race: White Occupation: Household Members: Name Age William Knight 65 Eva Knight 54 Alfred Knight 24 Stella Knight 20 Emerson Knight 18 Bertha Knight 13 Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Los Angeles Ward 4, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T623 89; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 40.

1920 United States Federal Census Name: Emerson Knight Age: 37 years Estimated birth year: 1882 Birthplace: Ohio Race: White Home in 1920: San Francisco, San Francisco, California Landscape Engineer - Own Office Roll: T625_138 Page: 3B ED: 192 Image: 0036

1930 United States Federal Census Name: Emerson Knight Age: 47 years Estimated birth year: 1882 Birthplace: Ohio Relation to Head-of-house: Roomer Race: White Home in 1930: San Francisco, San Francisco, California Occupation: Landscaper Image Source: Year: 1930; Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Roll: T626_207; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 350; Image: 1072.

PASSPORT: U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 Name: Emerson Knight Birth Date: 12 Jul 1882 Birth Place: Cincinnati, Ohio Residence: Los Angeles, California Passport Issue Date: 2 Jan 1913 Passport Includes a Photo: N Source: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925 (M1490) Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007. Original data: