Bernard Dockendorff (b. January 22, 1878, d. September 23, 1952), a La Crosse native, was the son of Bernard J. and Elizabeth Hoeschler Dockendorff. He attended St. Joseph’s Cathedral School and secondary school at La Crosse High School, after which he worked for two years (c. 1895-1897) with the local architectural firm of Stolze and Schick before leaving in 1897 to study architecture at the Polytechnic Institute, University of Darmstadt, Germany. He worked for two years with Ludwig Becker, a cathedral architect in Mainz, Germany. Returning to La Crosse around 1905, he formed a partnership with Albert Parkinson, which lasted until their deaths in 1952. A. E. Parkinson (b. February 17, 1870, d. September 21, 1952), a native of England was trained in the practices of architecture by his father and the schools of Scranton. He worked as an engineer and contractor in Sparta, Wisconsin, shortly before forming the architectural firm with Dockendorff.

Licensed to practice in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, and Illinois, the Parkinson and Dockendorff offices located in the Linker Building in downtown La Crosse provided practical training for several young area architects including architect Otto Merman, associated with Percy D. Bentley and later Herbert W. Skogstad, and Robert Cerney, who later became an architect in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. Credited with the design of over 800 public buildings, the firm’s commissions included schools, residences, hospitals, commercial structures and civic buildings.

Thomas Dockendorff described the architectural firm as existing from 1902-1952. “[Parkinson and Dockendorff] were commissioned to design approximately 150 schools and/or additions. Three distinct periods of design may be classified from their work. The early period, 1902-1912, is the classic Georgian style with pyramidal roof, dormer windows, and centrally placed cupola. The principle period, 1912-1930, is characterized by the ‘academic’ or ‘collegiate’ Gothic style with multi-stories of reddish brick and Bedford limestone trim. The third style occurred during the Depression and World War II period and is denoted by a lack of ornamentation, the use of yellow brick, and fewer commissions.” Dockendorff contended that “the influence of one architectural firm upon the design of so many structures had a significant impact of the perception of how schools should look.”

Eight of the Parkinson and Dockendorff buildings are on Wisconsin’s National Register of Historic Places; however, none of plans for these structures are included in this collection. These sites include the Beckkedal Leaf Tobacco Warehouse on 504 East Decker in the town of Viroqua, the La Crosse County School of Agriculture and Domestic Economy at 700 Wilson Avenue in Onalaska, the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church and Cemetery on Coon Prairie and E. Coon Prairie Roads in Viroqua, the Willard D. Purdy Junior High and Vocational School on 110 West Third Street in Marshfield (only an addition is contained in this collection), the Charles Samuel Richter House at 55, 103, and 105 Underwood Avenue in Montello, the Sparta Masonic Temple in Sparta, the Viroqua Downtown Historic District including Main Street, roughly bounded by West Court, East Jefferson and the odd numbered 200 block of South Main Street in Viroqua, and the Waupaca Free Public Library on 321 South Main Street in Waupaca.

Parkinson and Dockendorff are responsible for the design of four of the school buildings in the city of La Crosse, including the Holy Trinity Catholic Church (built in 1907) on 1417 South 13th Street, the Aquinas Catholic High School on 11th Street, the Blessed Sacrament School (built in 1938), and the physical education building, known as Wittich Hall, at the La Crosse Normal School at 1724 State Street, in 1930.

In 1927, Paul Neverman compiled a booklet and published by Parkinson and Dockendorff called Twenty-five Years of School House Planning.

This collection of prints was found in the attic of the Albert Parkinson home, formerly located on property owned by the La Crosse Public Library. Following the deaths of Parkinson and Dockendorff, their drawings and supplies located at their business address were purchased by another La Crosse architectural firm, Schubert, Boyum and Sorenson, and subsequently to Kratt & Associates Architects. The firm is now called DY Architects and is owned by David Yellick.