George Wharton Pepper (1867 – 1961) was an American lawyer, law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Christian activist, and Republican politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate, and founded the law firm of Pepper Hamilton.

George Wharton Pepper, Jr., son of former U.S. Senator G. W. Pepper and Charlotte R. (Fisher) Pepper, was born in Philadelphia and educated at the Episcopal Academy. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1916 and completed his B.S. in Architecture in 1919. For one month in 1916 he worked for Mellor, Meigs & Howe, and following graduation in 1919 began a six-year period of employment with John T. Windrim. In 1925 he joined an already successful partnership, that of Tilden & Register, which had been in operation since 1916. The new firm of Tilden, Register & Pepper continued until 1936, when H. Bartol Register withdrew to launch an independent practice. Tilden & Pepper continued in operation until 1940, but in that year Pepper announced that he was withdrawing from the firm and establishing his own office at 1600 Walnut Street with John Howard Taylor and Maurice Fletcher. Pepper remained in practice until his death in 1949. Following his death, his work was carried on by Pepper Associates, which included his son, Heyward M. Pepper. Whereas Tilden, Register & Pepper had pursued a general practice, with residential, commercial, and institutional projects all well-represented, George W. Pepper, operating independently, primarily designed medical and commercial facilities, including several buildings at Byberry Hospital in Philadelphia.

Pepper was a member of the AIA and served as secretary and vice-president of the Philadelphia Chapter. He was also a member of the T-Square Club, the University Barge Club, the Orpheus Club, and the Philadelphia Skating Club. He served as chair of the Philadelphia Defense Committee of Architects and the Pennsylvania Council of National Defense.



Written by Sandra L. Tatman.