William Phelps Cunningham, known as Phelps Cunningham, was born in Humboldt, Kansas on August 24, 1903 to Arthur and Mary Inez Cunningham.  He studied with Arthur Guptill, Joseph M. Kellogg, Raymond Eastwood, and Rosemary Ketchamat the Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence earning a BS degree in Architecture in 1926. Cunningham moved to Cleveland Heights, Ohio in 1929 where he worked for various architectural firms and participated in numerous print exhibitions. He briefly lived in Effingham, Illinois in 1933.  His artwork was displayed when the renovated Lawrence Public Library reopened Nov. 1937.

Phelps Cunningham worked as a Designer, engraver, painter, illustrator, lecturer, etcher, block printer and graphic artist. He was a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and exhibited his artwork extensively throughout the US in the 1930s.His works are in the National Museum, Stockholm; Cleveland Museum of Art; Library of Congress; Cleveland Public Library; Emprise Bank Collection, to name a few.

William Phelps Cunningham died in Cleveland, Ohio on April 11, 1980.