Born in Georgetown, SC, Joseph Evans Sperry moved to Baltimore in 1868. Although he sometimes listed himself independently in Baltimore City directores, by 1872 he was working with E. F. Baldwin. By around 1877 he had returned to independent practice but soon launched the office of Wyatt & Sperry with another Baldwin alumnus, J. B. Noel Wyatt. In 1887 that partnership dissolved, and Sperry briefly moved to Kansas City. In 1888, however, he was back in Baltimore and worked in association with Charles L. Carson of Dixon & Carson until Carson's death in 1891. Although it appears the partnership was never formalized, some projects can be attributed to Carson & Sperry, such as the Masonic Building at 223-225 North Charles Street in Baltimore. Around 1904 Sperry associated with York & Sawyer, a New York firm hired to design the Consolidated Gas Company Building in Baltimore. (This and other projects from 1904 to 1905 are usually attributed to Sperry, York & Sawyer.) Sperry continued in independent practice until 1923 when he took on James R. Edmunds, Jr. as a partner. Edmunds would continue the firm and in 1936, with the office of Crisp & Edmunds succeed the Sperry firm.

Sperry became a member of the AIA in 1875.

Written by Sandra L. Tatman, and Kelly Spring.