One of the leading American architectural journalists of the 20th century, E.K. Thompson was born Elisabeth Rodd Kendall in New Orleans. After obtaining a B.A. in Latin and Greek from Tulane University and an M.A. in French and Spanish literature from the University of Wisconsin, she turned her attention to the study of architecture, first at Tulane, then at U.C. Berkeley.

In 1937, she was hired as an assistant editor by the influential journal Architectural Record. Living in New York, in 1941 she married architect Frank Hofmann Thompson, another Cal alum. The couple returned to Berkeley, residing at 2813 Channing Way, where, in 1947, E.K. Thompson established AR’s western editorial office, reporting on the architecture of the 11 Western continental states, Alaska, and Hawaii. She helped bring to light the production of pioneering modern architects, including Richard Neutra, Pietro Belluschi, William Wurster, and Walter Netsch. Her essay for the 1949 exhibition Domestic Architecture of the San Francisco Bay Region linked the rising scene of contemporary modernists to an earlier generation of notable historic figures like Bernard Maybeck and Julia Morgan. Her journalistic work and a plethora of edited books called attention to a third generation of Bay Region architects, including Maynard Lyndon and Charles Moore.

By the mid-1950s, the Thompsons had moved to 2877 Shasta Road. In 1968, E.K. Thompson became the first woman to be awarded the Fellowship of the American Institute of Architects for her contributions in architectural journalism that “awakened the public to the need for good design in the environment.” A civic activist, she served on Berkeley’s Arts Commission, advocating for better-designed public buildings and parks.