THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN GRADUATE OF GRADUATE SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS, B. A. IN ARCHITECTURE 1902.
Timeline: The Life of Julian Abele.
The legacy of architect Julian Francis Abele was brought into focus in the mid-1980s when in the midst of a student protest at Duke University his great grandniece reminded the campus community that her long unsung ancestor was responsible for the eleven original architectural drawings for the campus. Born in Philadelphia on April 21, 1881, Abele entered the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Arts at age sixteen and, as the school's highest ranking student and only black, graduated with a certificate in architectural design in 1898. He excelled in his studies at the University of Pennsylvania where he was elected president of the University of Pennsylvania Architectural Society and graduated with a degree in architecture in 1902.
Hired by the Philadelphia Architectural firm of Horace Trumbauer in 1902, he set about designing mansions and country homes for the wealthy elite mainly along the Eastern Seaboard, large public buildings like the Philadelphia Free Library and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, churches, mausoleums, banks, stores, school buildings, hotels, and apartments. Late in his career as chief designer for Horace Trumbauer he joined the T-Square Club and was elected to the American Institute of Architects.
Abele, an unassuming fair-skinned black man who lived in a white world, was careful to avoid situations that potentially could cause him embarrassment or humiliation because of his race. While his employer, Mr. Trumbauer, who dropped out of school as a teenager, brought in the clients, Abele worked quietly in the background as the most successful black architect of his era. Abele died in his hometown of Philadelphia on April 18, 1950.
Sources:
Sources: Fikes, Robert
Dreck Spurlock Wilson, ed., African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary 1865-1945 (New York: Routledge, 2004);
Free Library Philadelphia.
Friends of Historic Eden Cemetery. History Matters. Ancestors Speak Featured Julian Francis Abele. Headstone Memorial Marker Photo. Place of Burial. Courtesy of sims0021. Appreciates your time and effort. Thank you so much.
PLEASE:
Do not use VIRTUAL FLOWERS feature to post ancestral lines or corrections. VIRTUAL FLOWERS are only for tributes...
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∼Julian Francis Abele was a prominent architect and chief designer at the Horace Trumbauer firm. He designed over 400 buildings. Some of these buildings include the Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University, the Free Library of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the west campus of Duke University to include the Duke University Chapel.
He attended the Institute for Colored Youth (now Cheyney University) and was the first African American student admitted to the the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, and its first African American graduate from the program in 1902. Abele also studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and abroad in France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and England.
Siblings:
Elizabeth Rebecca Abele Cook, Harry Abele, Mary Adelaide Abele Cook, Charles Sylvester Abele, Ernest Abele, Robert Jones Abele, Frederick Finch Abele, Joseph Bolivar Abele, Baby Abele, Edgar Lynn Abele
Timeline: The Life of Julian Abele.
The legacy of architect Julian Francis Abele was brought into focus in the mid-1980s when in the midst of a student protest at Duke University his great grandniece reminded the campus community that her long unsung ancestor was responsible for the eleven original architectural drawings for the campus. Born in Philadelphia on April 21, 1881, Abele entered the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Arts at age sixteen and, as the school's highest ranking student and only black, graduated with a certificate in architectural design in 1898. He excelled in his studies at the University of Pennsylvania where he was elected president of the University of Pennsylvania Architectural Society and graduated with a degree in architecture in 1902.
Hired by the Philadelphia Architectural firm of Horace Trumbauer in 1902, he set about designing mansions and country homes for the wealthy elite mainly along the Eastern Seaboard, large public buildings like the Philadelphia Free Library and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, churches, mausoleums, banks, stores, school buildings, hotels, and apartments. Late in his career as chief designer for Horace Trumbauer he joined the T-Square Club and was elected to the American Institute of Architects.
Abele, an unassuming fair-skinned black man who lived in a white world, was careful to avoid situations that potentially could cause him embarrassment or humiliation because of his race. While his employer, Mr. Trumbauer, who dropped out of school as a teenager, brought in the clients, Abele worked quietly in the background as the most successful black architect of his era. Abele died in his hometown of Philadelphia on April 18, 1950.
Sources:
Sources: Fikes, Robert
Dreck Spurlock Wilson, ed., African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary 1865-1945 (New York: Routledge, 2004);
Free Library Philadelphia.
Friends of Historic Eden Cemetery. History Matters. Ancestors Speak Featured Julian Francis Abele. Headstone Memorial Marker Photo. Place of Burial. Courtesy of sims0021. Appreciates your time and effort. Thank you so much.
PLEASE:
Do not use VIRTUAL FLOWERS feature to post ancestral lines or corrections. VIRTUAL FLOWERS are only for tributes...
Thank you...
∼Julian Francis Abele was a prominent architect and chief designer at the Horace Trumbauer firm. He designed over 400 buildings. Some of these buildings include the Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University, the Free Library of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the west campus of Duke University to include the Duke University Chapel.
He attended the Institute for Colored Youth (now Cheyney University) and was the first African American student admitted to the the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, and its first African American graduate from the program in 1902. Abele also studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and abroad in France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and England.
Siblings:
Elizabeth Rebecca Abele Cook, Harry Abele, Mary Adelaide Abele Cook, Charles Sylvester Abele, Ernest Abele, Robert Jones Abele, Frederick Finch Abele, Joseph Bolivar Abele, Baby Abele, Edgar Lynn Abele
THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN GRADUATE OF GRADUATE SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS, B. A. IN ARCHITECTURE 1902.
Timeline: The Life of Julian Abele.
The legacy of architect Julian Francis Abele was brought into focus in the mid-1980s when in the midst of a student protest at Duke University his great grandniece reminded the campus community that her long unsung ancestor was responsible for the eleven original architectural drawings for the campus. Born in Philadelphia on April 21, 1881, Abele entered the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Arts at age sixteen and, as the school's highest ranking student and only black, graduated with a certificate in architectural design in 1898. He excelled in his studies at the University of Pennsylvania where he was elected president of the University of Pennsylvania Architectural Society and graduated with a degree in architecture in 1902.
Hired by the Philadelphia Architectural firm of Horace Trumbauer in 1902, he set about designing mansions and country homes for the wealthy elite mainly along the Eastern Seaboard, large public buildings like the Philadelphia Free Library and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, churches, mausoleums, banks, stores, school buildings, hotels, and apartments. Late in his career as chief designer for Horace Trumbauer he joined the T-Square Club and was elected to the American Institute of Architects.
Abele, an unassuming fair-skinned black man who lived in a white world, was careful to avoid situations that potentially could cause him embarrassment or humiliation because of his race. While his employer, Mr. Trumbauer, who dropped out of school as a teenager, brought in the clients, Abele worked quietly in the background as the most successful black architect of his era. Abele died in his hometown of Philadelphia on April 18, 1950.
Sources:
Sources: Fikes, Robert
Dreck Spurlock Wilson, ed., African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary 1865-1945 (New York: Routledge, 2004);
Free Library Philadelphia.
Friends of Historic Eden Cemetery. History Matters. Ancestors Speak Featured Julian Francis Abele. Headstone Memorial Marker Photo. Place of Burial. Courtesy of sims0021. Appreciates your time and effort. Thank you so much.
PLEASE:
Do not use VIRTUAL FLOWERS feature to post ancestral lines or corrections. VIRTUAL FLOWERS are only for tributes...
Thank you...
∼Julian Francis Abele was a prominent architect and chief designer at the Horace Trumbauer firm. He designed over 400 buildings. Some of these buildings include the Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University, the Free Library of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the west campus of Duke University to include the Duke University Chapel.
He attended the Institute for Colored Youth (now Cheyney University) and was the first African American student admitted to the the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, and its first African American graduate from the program in 1902. Abele also studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and abroad in France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and England.
Siblings:
Elizabeth Rebecca Abele Cook, Harry Abele, Mary Adelaide Abele Cook, Charles Sylvester Abele, Ernest Abele, Robert Jones Abele, Frederick Finch Abele, Joseph Bolivar Abele, Baby Abele, Edgar Lynn Abele
Timeline: The Life of Julian Abele.
The legacy of architect Julian Francis Abele was brought into focus in the mid-1980s when in the midst of a student protest at Duke University his great grandniece reminded the campus community that her long unsung ancestor was responsible for the eleven original architectural drawings for the campus. Born in Philadelphia on April 21, 1881, Abele entered the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Arts at age sixteen and, as the school's highest ranking student and only black, graduated with a certificate in architectural design in 1898. He excelled in his studies at the University of Pennsylvania where he was elected president of the University of Pennsylvania Architectural Society and graduated with a degree in architecture in 1902.
Hired by the Philadelphia Architectural firm of Horace Trumbauer in 1902, he set about designing mansions and country homes for the wealthy elite mainly along the Eastern Seaboard, large public buildings like the Philadelphia Free Library and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, churches, mausoleums, banks, stores, school buildings, hotels, and apartments. Late in his career as chief designer for Horace Trumbauer he joined the T-Square Club and was elected to the American Institute of Architects.
Abele, an unassuming fair-skinned black man who lived in a white world, was careful to avoid situations that potentially could cause him embarrassment or humiliation because of his race. While his employer, Mr. Trumbauer, who dropped out of school as a teenager, brought in the clients, Abele worked quietly in the background as the most successful black architect of his era. Abele died in his hometown of Philadelphia on April 18, 1950.
Sources:
Sources: Fikes, Robert
Dreck Spurlock Wilson, ed., African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary 1865-1945 (New York: Routledge, 2004);
Free Library Philadelphia.
Friends of Historic Eden Cemetery. History Matters. Ancestors Speak Featured Julian Francis Abele. Headstone Memorial Marker Photo. Place of Burial. Courtesy of sims0021. Appreciates your time and effort. Thank you so much.
PLEASE:
Do not use VIRTUAL FLOWERS feature to post ancestral lines or corrections. VIRTUAL FLOWERS are only for tributes...
Thank you...
∼Julian Francis Abele was a prominent architect and chief designer at the Horace Trumbauer firm. He designed over 400 buildings. Some of these buildings include the Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University, the Free Library of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the west campus of Duke University to include the Duke University Chapel.
He attended the Institute for Colored Youth (now Cheyney University) and was the first African American student admitted to the the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, and its first African American graduate from the program in 1902. Abele also studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and abroad in France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and England.
Siblings:
Elizabeth Rebecca Abele Cook, Harry Abele, Mary Adelaide Abele Cook, Charles Sylvester Abele, Ernest Abele, Robert Jones Abele, Frederick Finch Abele, Joseph Bolivar Abele, Baby Abele, Edgar Lynn Abele
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