LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN was born on September 3, 1856 in Boston. At the age of 16, he spent a year at MITand then travelled to work with Frank Furness in Philadelphia. He moved to Chicago in 1873, working briefly with William LeBaron Jenney. Sullivan then spent three months at the Ecole des Beaux Arts before returning to Chicago in 1875 , where he worked for Johnston and Edelman before joining Dankmar Adler.

Adler was German and Jewish with strong ethnic ties in Chicago and an interest in accoustics.  French-trained Sullivan, arriving from Boston, was the artist.  Together from 1880 until 1895 Adler & Sullivan produced more than 180 buildings and  some of Chicago's most important and most loved Architecture.