Owen James Trainor Southwell was born on 20 September 1892 to Catherine Trainor and William D. Southwell in New Iberia, Louisiana. He attended primary school in New Iberia and high school in Beaumont, Texas. From 1910-1912, Southwell attended Tulane University, transferring afterwards to Carnegie Tech where he graduated in 1915. He married Yvonne Arnandez Patout.

Southwell was an architect and artist. He first worked as an instructor at Carnegie Tech and the University of Illinois from 1916-1918. Afterwards, he worked for the architectural firm of Henry Hornbostel in New York, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta. In 1922, he entered private practice; he moved back to New Iberia in 1931.

Southwell received several honors including the Carnegie Tech Medal of the American Institute of Architects in 1915 and the Certificate of the Beaux Arts Institute of Design in 1919. He died on 7 April 1961 and is interred at St. Peter’s Cemetery, New Iberia, LA.

Southwell designed many a variety of buildings. Some of these include the J.H. Phelan home in Beaumont, TX, the Sugar Festival Building in New Iberia, LA, Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Peter’s Church in New Iberia, LA, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church in Church Point, LA, and Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Ville Platte, LA.

Watercolor painting and photography were his hobbies. Exhibitions of his work were held at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Worcester, MA, Baltimore Art Museums, and Delgado (now New Orleans) Museum of Art.