Résumé

Partner, Reed and Corlett, Architects, Oakland, CA, c. 1917. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Registration State: California; Registration County: Alameda Source Information: U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005, accessed 03/21/2025.)

Principal, William G. Corlett, Architect, Oakland, CA, c. 1934. In 1934, Corlett had his office at 1212 Broadway, Room #1801. He shared this space with the architectural firm of Blaine and Olson. (See Oakland, California, City Directory, 1934, p. 860.) By the 1942, his office address was in Room #1801 of what had been renamed the Bank of America Building in Oakland.(See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147, accessed 03/21/2025.)

College

B.Arch., University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Berkeley, CA, c. 1905-1910.

Résumé

William Greenfield Corlett was born on 10/22/1887 in Napa, CA, the son of the contractor, planing-mill operator and architect William Henry Corlett and Clara E. Greenfield. His father's family had lived in Napa for two generations by the time of his birth and were considered pioneers in town. As a student at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1909, his hometown was listed as Napa.

Corlett lived at 3120 Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, CA, in 1913. He and his wife resided at 2740 Garber Street in Berkeley in 1916. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1916, accessed 03/21/2025.) In the later 1910s, William G. Corlett resided at 15 Panoramic Way in Berkeley.

In either 1918 or 1919, Corlett moved to 784 Mandana Boulevard in Oakland's Lakeshore neighborhood. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Registration State: California; Registration County: Alameda Source Information: U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005, accessed 03/21/2025.) By 1920, Corlett, his wife Beryl, their son William and a maid, Adelaide McCarty (born c. 1905 in CA) lived at the Mandana Boulevard address. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Oakland, Alameda, California; Roll: T625_89; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 79, accessed 03/21/2025.)

The 1930 US Census located the Corletts at 754 Mandana Boulevard, likely the same house with a different number. William Greenfield continued to live here with Beryl and son William. It had an estimated value of $9,000, on par with immediate neighbors. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Oakland, Alameda, California; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 0123; FHL microfilm: 2339839, accessed 03/21/2025.)

The Corletts lived at the Diablo Country Club in 1940, in a dwelling worth about $12,000, slightly more than some surrounding houses. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Contra Costa, California; Roll: m-t0627-00195; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 7-16, accessed 03/21/2025.)

On 04/27/1942, at age 54, Corlett resided at 590 Merritt Avenue in Oakland. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147, accessed 03/21/2025.)

Parents

The architect's father was William Henry Corlett (born 03/1856 in Ramsey, Isle of Man-d. 10/07/1937 in Napa, CA), who operated his own father's Enterprise Planing Mill in Napa, and also worked as a building contractor and architect.

Spouse

He married Beryl B. Doty (born 05/19/1889 in CA-d. 12/27/1944 in Contra Costa County, CA). Beryl was the eldest of two children had by Lura M. Bates (born c. 05/1868 in IL-d. 03/04/1928 in Alameda County, CA) and Charles Edgar Doty, Jr., (born c. 01/1866 in IL). They married on 05/05/1887 in Los Angeles County, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California Department of Public Health, courtesy of www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com. Digital Images, accessed 03/21/2025.)

Charles, like William Greenfield Corlett's father, worked in a planing mill, in the former's case as a foreman. The Dotys lived at 709 Louisiana Street in Vallejo, CA, in 1900. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1900; Census Place: Vallejo, Solano, California; Roll: 113; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 0152, accessed 03/21/2025.) By 1910, Charles Doty had moved to Napa, CA, where he worked as a building contractor, like William Henry Corlett. The two families, the Corletts and Dotys, would have known each other in Napa, a small town of 5,791 people in 1910. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1910; Census Place: Napa, Napa, California; Roll: T624_90; Page: 16a; Enumeration District: 0075; FHL microfilm: 1374103, accessed 03/21/2025.)

Children

One son, William Corlett, also became an architect.

Biographical Notes

Corlett served as a witness for the San Francisco engineer, Walter T. Steilberg (1886-1974), when the latter sought a passport on 08/18/1913.

In 1916, he and his wife had registered as Republican voters in Berkeley. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1916, accessed 03/21/2025.)

His World War II draft registration card indicated that Corlett was Caucasian, with a ruddy complexion, gray eyes and blonde hair. He stood 5-feet, 8-inches tall and weighed 175 pounds. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147, accessed 03/21/2025.)

SSN: 561466171.