George Edwin Bergstrom

Architect George Edwin Bergstrom was born March 12, 1876, the eldest son of George Bergstrom, co-owner the Bergstrom Bros. Foundry on Main Street in Neenah. Edwin was a Neenah High School graduate in 1892, and received a degree in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1899, and then moved to Los Angeles. In 1903, he married Nancy Cheney Kimberly, formerly of Neenah, and daughter of one of Kimberly-Clark Corporation's founders.

Bergstrom quickly rose to prominence as one of the West Coast's premier architects, designing many important buildings in and around Los Angeles. His California buildings include the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Grauman's Metropolitan Theater, and the Los Angeles Athletic Club. He also designed the Hotel Utah (now the Joseph Smith Memorial Building) in Salt Lake City and the original Valley Inn in Neenah. He later served as president of the American Institute of Architects.

Bergstrom is most noted for one of his last building designs, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. As chief architect for the U.S. Army in July, 1941, Bergstrom was given the assignment to come up with a design for a 4 million square foot office building in just three days. Construction began on Sept. 11, 1941, and the first occupants moved into the building in early 1942.