It was during this period that Perkins was associated with a group called "The Eighteen" that included like-minded architects such as Lawrence Buck and Frank Lloyd Wright.

On January 1, 1894, he opened the office after receiving his first major commission, with help from Daniel Burnham, the Stevens Point, Wisconsin Normal School.

However, it is generally accepted that the true reason for his firing was that he refused to bow down to the demands of the corrupt members of the Board of Education who insisted that he give contracts to their cronies.

Other works by Dwight Perkins firm include the Lincoln Park Zoo Lion House, the Alfred Nobel School, and many residential homes.

[3] As Chicago and the metropolitan region grew quickly in the late 19th century, free spaces and opportunities for recreation and leisure were often forgotten in the rush to industrialize.

Progressive Era reformers around the turn of the 20th century pushed for access to natural spaces, and city planners and architects often took part.

The two argued for the urgency of the issue by connecting the need for parks with Chicago's atrocious living conditions, believing leisure time had a direct correlation with rates of death, disease, and crime.

[8] In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Dwight Perkins, the architect, OCLC/WorldCat encompasses roughly 10+ works in 20 publications in 2 languages and 100+ library holdings .