The Early YearsCharles Ormand Eames, Jr., was born in St. Louis where he briefly studied architecture at Washington University. A fan of the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and the modern architecture movement, he later opened an architectural office in St. Louis
1933
Ray Eames, nee Ray Kaiser, was born and raised in Sacramento. After graduating from a college in New York, she studied abstract expressionist painting with Hans Hofmann.
1940
Charles and Ray met at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan — Charles as a teacher and Ray as a student.
1941
Their love bloomed quietly but quickly. On June 20th, the two married at a friend’s apartment in Chicago.
A month later, the newlyweds moved to Los Angeles to begin their life and career together.
1942
Charles and Ray designed the Eames Splint for the U.S. Navy. As always, they were fully immersed: Charles’s leg was used for the mold, causing him quite a bit of pain as most of his leg hair was pulled out in the process. An estimated 150,000 units were produced.