He was the son of Betsey P. C. (née Coleman) and Austin M. Purves, a financier and art patron associated with the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company.
[5][6] He attended the University of Pennsylvania where he studied architecture and was a member of the Fraternity of Delta Psi (St. Anthony Hall) and the Art Alliance.
[1][7] He stopped his studies for World War I, serving as an ambulance driver with the American Field Service in France, April through August 1917.
[7][8][9] From September 1917 – 1919, he served as a corporal and, then, 2nd lieutenant, in the American Expeditionary Forces, engaging in six major battles.
[14][5] On December 6, 1941, Purves accepted a staff position with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and worked out of The Octagon House in Washington, D.C.[1][17] His initial tasks were to create a nationwide program to aid defense and an emergency program for the architectural profession in collaboration with the 71 chapters.
[1] Purves saw the importance of marketing and public relations for architects and made it part of his platform for the duration of his time with AIA.
The architect must still seek continually the engagement of his services and make a case for good design.
[1][20] Some of the projects and issues AIA undertook while Purves was there included helping the War Production Board conserve building materials during World War II, developing Atomic Age architecture that would withstand nuclear bombs, designing architecture that could provide protection from airborne plagues or toxins, and solving the post-war housing and school shortage.
"[23] One amusing incident occurred after it was learned that the White House had structural problems, including two-story tall cracks in the brickwork and split support beams, and this tells a lot about Purves' ability to get to the point.
[24] "One afternoon, as the group pondered its limited options around the big table in Truman's Cabinet Room, Edmund Purves, the American Institute of Architect's public affairs man, turned to [W .E.]
[25] In 1961, he was an associate of the architectural and engineering firm of Chatelain, Gauger & Nolan, working there until his death.
[38][39] In 1938, he was nominated to serve as regional director for AIA's Mid-Atlantic Region which included Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Washington D.C.[40][41] In that capacity, he was a guest speaker at the New York Chapter of AIA in September 1940.
[42] He also represented AIA in an article in The New York Times about potential military contracts for architects in October 1940.
[1][7][6] He served on the boards of the Pennsylvania Institute for the Instruction of the Blind from 1935-1943 and the Northwest Settlement House in Washington, D.C.[5][6][48] He was the Philadelphia chairman of the American Field Service.