Van Bergen was to spend almost an entire year working for Wright and what a year it was!  Van Bergen's own words best describe his tenure in Wright's office.  When he first came to Wright's office the others still remaining were "...for a while, Marion Mahoney, Alfred MacArthur, Taylor Wooley and William Drummond as chief draftsman.  Miss Isabel Roberts was Wright's secretary.  One or two other draftsmen came for short intervals. 
          "When Wright finally went off with Mrs. Cheney, I was the only one (except for Miss Roberts) on the payroll.  I doubt if I ever received my last few weeks pay (quite the custom with FLW).  I completed the work then in the office, with much help from Miss Roberts." ⁶  "It fell to my lot to try to clean up whatever was being constructed, and believe me, the contractors did their best to slick over their work and insisted that the Boss told them to omit items called for in both plans and specs.  Then too, Wright had collected most of his fees in advance and owners were ready to murder him could they have laid hands on him.  As a very inexperienced draftsman and superintendent you can imagine my plight." ⁷  During this time, "...clients were ready to chew me up when they learned that FLW had gone.  I learned a lot during those trying weeks." ⁸  While Griffin took great pains in explaining things, "F.L.W. always took the attitude that everyone in his office was trying to copy his work and seemed very jealous of any draftsman who tried to get ahead.  He never had a good word for any of his old men.  Walter Griffin was 'that draftsman who went to Australia' and so on." ⁹
Finally, in December 1909, Van Bergen left Wright's office and only Isabel Roberts remained.  Soon after, Wright closed his Oak Park studio forever and turned his practice over to others.  However there was still much mopping up to do with old Wright clients.  Many of these clients, including the Coonleys, hired William Drummond.  In June 1910 Van Bergen went to work for William Drummond who was doing, among other things, repair work on the Coonley's residence. 
According to Van Bergen, "...The Coonleys were very disgusted with FLW's action of running off to Europe and any construction they had in mind would have been given to Drummond.  Most of the roofing tile on their Riverside home had disintegrated and they commissioned Drummond to remove said roofing tile and re-cover with a hoped for permanent make.  I superintended this repair work and remember it was quite extensive and very expensive.  As I remember, the new tile was slightly darker in color.  F.L.W. many times used much inferior materials in order to get his selection of color.  Cost or permanency didn't matter much." ¹⁰ 
Such experiences must have had a strong influence on Van Bergen throughout his career.  Most of his own buildings have the reputation of being extremely well built. 

          While still in Drummond's employ, Van Bergen went back to Chicago Technical School in November 1910 and received his certificate and then his license in March, 1911.  He left Drummond in June as his own commissions started coming in.  During the next several years, commissions came in so quickly that Van Bergen himself had to hire draftsmen of his own to help get the work out. 
          Even though he was very busy with his own practice he was one of the few old friends who maintained a working relationship with Frank Lloyd Wright.  From 1911 until the Wright's tragedy in 1914 (the murder of Mrs. Cheney, her children and others - and the fire destroying much of Wright's Wisconsin retreat, "Taliesin", by an angry servant) Van Bergen made several trips to Taliesin and was probably involved in several of Wright's projects during that time.  Thankfully Van Bergen was not at Taliesin during that tragic day; he had left a week or so before.  The story he often told his daughters is that if he were at his usual place in the dining room for that fateful meal, he would have been the first one out the door during the fire and thus the first one murdered. 
          Afterwards, his and Wright's paths crossed less often.  As Wright struggled with the ups and downs of his own life and career working his way from one scandal to the next, Van Bergen settled down and pursued a much more quiet struggle. 
From 1911 until 1917 Van Bergen had no less than 36 commissions and projects.  These were the years he designed the "Prairie" houses that he is best known for.  Yet he felt that he should not be judged by these designs alone, for they were still immature.  He felt that his better work had mostly been since that time.  The work that really defines Van Bergen as a mature architect certainly was created after World War I.  Before the war, it  had been a busy time and Van Bergen was gaining much experience, but he seemed to have little time to reflect on and to distill all the experiences and influences that he had encountered.  He had, by the end of the teens, already met and worked with Jens Jensen, the great landscape architect, but Jensen's influence barely began to show until the 1920s, when the two men lived near each other in Highland Park and became close friends.
         When World War I arrived, Van Bergen, with all other architects at the time, had suddenly to face the prospect of no work at all for possibly several years. As he described it: "I was in business for myself at this time and I found that World War I in Europe, with U.S. joining in 1917 caused a general unrest and a great fear.  People were doubling up their families and would not think of expanding on their own.  The future looked very black."
         He went on:  "I designed an 18 apartment building in Oak Park, Ill. during that time and the owner was one who could see into the future.. There were over 200 vacant apartments in Oak Park at the time and banks tried to discourage him, but this building was half filled and completely rented before I completed it.  It must have been the modern planning and type of building that filled the project.  It is greatly desired, even to this day, so I am told." ¹¹
         This however was the last client willing to take a gamble, and Van Bergen's career came to a dead stop.  So in March 1918, he enlisted in the army and was ready to go to Europe.  On April 6, 1918, however, the Army appointed him First Lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps and stationed him in Washington D.C. until October when he was sent to Fort Sheridan, Illinois.  His experience as an architect, as well as his age (he was 33) and probably some physical reasons kept him away from the front.  Soon, on August 18th of the same year, he was appointed Captain.  On August 1st, 1919, he was discharged.
         During his time at Fort Sheridan, the influenza outbreak was claiming many soldiers in the army.  Hospital beds were in very short supply as sick soldiers were shipped back home by the thousands.  Van Bergen was given the job of overseeing the quick conversion of existing buildings into hospital wards.
         At this same time, another volunteer was working at Fort Sheridan as a "Gray Lady".  Ruth Bemis, was from Highland Park, Illinois, near Fort Sheridan.  Among her duties, she cared for the comfort of the sick soldiers by reading to them and other miscellaneous jobs. 

Ruth Bemis as a young woman.

Photo courtesy of Joan Kopplin