Meet Julian Abele, the Black Architect Who Was a Cornerstone of Americas Gilded Age
There are countless examples of Black ingenuity and cultural impact that have gone under-recognizedor intentionally obscuredas part of this countrys history, but Julian Francis Abele was a hidden figure somewhat by design. The African American architect from Philadelphia, who died in 1950 at age 68, was the first Black graduate from the University of Pennsylvanias architecture department and would ultimately become cohead of the renowned Horace Trumbauer firm. Known by many to be relatively shy, serious, and uninterested in the limelight, Abele used his impressive architectural gifts to carve a place in history, guaranteeing that, despite largely working in the shadows, his presence in the industry would forever be seen.He was more than content to do his work in the background, says Peter D. Cook, Abeles great grandnephew and design principal at HGA in Washington, DC. But knowing that he had an impact which still today can be felt and admired throughout a great city like Philadelphia gives me chills.Julian Abele.Courtesy of Duke UniversityDuring its peak reign during Americas Gilded Age, the Trumbauer firm was known for designing lavish residential manors for prominent business magnates and robber barons across the Eastern Seaboard. The firms storied portfolio also included public commissions like churches, hotels, libraries, and museums that were meant to inspire wonder and awe.At the turn of the 20th century, it was customary for architectural designs to be credited to the firm as a whole, so most designersincluding Abeledidnt initial the offices drawings. Though this lack of attribution means that Abeles fingerprints across the design process have had to be unearthed over time, it didnt correlate to a lack of respect for, or recognition of, his talent. From what I gather, he was paid a nice salary for the time, he was obviously a highly valued employee, Cook says. I have to give Trumbauer some credit as well, because he was a white man whoat the turn of the centuryentrusted a Black man to design his most prized commissions for the incredibly influential clients he had.Abele was responsible for the design of all of Trumbauers cut stone building commissions (as working with limestone was his specialty), and he was celebrated for his brilliant implementation of Beaux Arts in America, a French architectural style marked by a synthesis of neoclassical French, Renaissance, and Baroque elements, including sculptural ornamentation, arched windows, and grandiose entrances and staircases known as noble spaces.An indoor stadium at Duke University designed by Abele.Courtesy of Duke UniversityThe influence of Beaux Arts architectureAccording to Dreck Spurlock Wilson, ASLA, NOMA, and associate professor of architectural history at Howard University, Abele was always interested in 18th-century French architecturein fact, he identified as a Francophile. Abele reportedly attended the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art, which had a strong French influence on him, and by the time he began his studies at the University of Pennsylvania, it was one of the four or five schools of architecture in the US that was actually practicing and teaching the philosophy of Beaux Arts.Bill Whitaker, curator and collections manager of the Architectural Archives at the University of Pennsylvania, suggests that Abeles adoption of this style was equal parts problem-solving and innovation. [It was about] absorbing lessons of the past but also embracing the changing dynamics of the modern world, he explains. [Abele] was really an incredible expert with French Renaissance architecture; I think he loved the nuance of it and loved studying it. He was immediately recognized as a talent. During his sophomore year, Abele joined the architecture society; by his senior year, his classmates had elected him as president.Once Abele was a professional architect, he would go on to design Eisenlohr Hall, which functions as the on-campus home of UPenns president. Whitaker claims that credit for this design was only discovered in recent years, when a rare instance of his initials was found on a set of drawings for the structure. You can see him establishing himself within the firm, and his skills are clear, he says. Its his hand that is developing the critical elements on the faade of buildings.The Cook-Abele House in Spokane, Washington, as photographed in 1959.Courtesy of the Washington State Digital ArchivesAfter Abele graduated from UPenn in 1902 (and before he joined Trumbauers firm as the assistant to a chief designer in 1906), he traveled west to Spokane, Washington, to visit his older sister Elizabeth Abele Cook and her family. During this trip, he designed their home, which was formally recognized as a historic property by Spokanes Landmark Commission in a unanimous vote last year. Its maybe his first attribution for a significant structure, and the only one west of the Mississippi, says Logan Camporeale, historic preservation specialist for the city and county of Spokanes historic preservation office. It has had a lot of changes [since] and sometimes historic preservationists may not be interested in a building like this because it has changed so much, but the story is so important.The home, which was completed in 1905, still has vestiges of the French eclectic style Abele drew up. Its really not typical in Spokane, there are only a handful of other examples which came at least a decade later, Camporeale notes of the aesthetic, adding that he was ahead of the curve and really interested in Beaux Arts, so it makes sense he was experimenting with [another] French style [early in his career].Wilson shares that when Abele returned to Philadelphia and began working for the offices of Trumbauer, there were only about four Negro architects who were licensed and practicing. The architect ascended fairly quickly, becoming chief designer in 1909. Even still, on his application to the American Institute of Architects, where he gained admission in 1942, he only lists the Cook-Abele House in Spokane and a project he worked on after Trumbauers death in 1938 (when he became cohead of the firm with William O. Frank) as his past work experience. So he himself did not want to take specific credit for jobs within the Trumbauer office, Whitaker notes.Philadelphia Museum Of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 27, 2016.Photo by Raymond Boyd/Getty ImagesThe beautification of PhiladelphiaAbeles work aligned neatly with the City Beautiful Movement that gained prominence at the turn of the 20th century. (This architecture and urban planning philosophy proposed that beautification efforts in major American citiesin the form of grandiose buildings, striking sculptures, and morewould not only promote aesthetic delight, but would improve quality of life and civic virtue among citizens.) This approach to progressive social reform was a leading concern of the upper class, which the Trumbauer firm was decidedly cozy with, so its no surprise that their clients were also major patrons of the projects borne of this movement; they were commissioned to design the Philadelphia Museum of Art and central library branch.Abeles love of the classical Beaux Arts style, which he became more deeply acquainted with during a Trumbauer-sponsored trip across Europe, was a perfect fit for this agenda, and the architects work on civic commissions made strides in elevating Philadelphias profile as an American city equal to Paris or other European cities. As chief designer at the firm, Abele presented his hand-drawn designs to the art commission for review, so his Black identity was certainly no secret to collaborators, peers, and stakeholders.The monumentality of the museum is wonderful, people dont build buildings like this anymore, says David Barquist, H. Richard Dietrich Jr., curator of American Decorative Arts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It creates a sense of drama when you walk in the door that sets you up for the fact that youre in a special place about to have a special experience.The Parkway Central Library, based on the 18th century Htel de la Marine building on the Place de la Concorde in Paris, is very much of the same style. When the building opened in 1927 it was state of the art, not only in terms of the mechanics of the building and retrieval systems for materials in the book stacks, but also in terms of services for childrenthe department had its own entrance which gave children the autonomy to [come here] independently and browse collections, says Marija Gudauskas, head supervisor of Parkway Central Librarys Map Collection and Print and Picture Collection. His work was trying to rejuvenate the past and meet it with the present. He wanted to connect people with history.Doorway to the Duke University Chapel in Durham, North Carolina.Photo by Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty ImagesKing of the college campusBeyond civic commissions, Abeles designs also decorated university campuses outside the city of Philadelphia: His student-competition-winning design for a Beaux Arts pedestrian gateway was built on the campus of Haverford College in 1901; his design for Harvard Universitys Widener Library was erected in 1915; and, as part of the Trumbauer firms commission to redesign Duke Universitys east campus and the west campus anew in the 1920s, Abeles work can be seen across some 40 buildings, including the chapel, indoor stadium, main administration building, and all of the structures on the main quad.Valerie Gillispie, university archivist at Dukes Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, cites the chapel as the centerpiece because of its location and magnificence. Duke is unusual because the east campus has some older buildings that were remade into a Georgian-style campus, and then on the west campus the design is neo-Gothic, she explains as a stylistic departure from Abeles earlier work. This Gothic Wonderland, as todays students affectionately call it, was likely inspired by the former Duke presidents appreciation for the way Princeton University and Chicago looked, and its aesthetically a stronger fit for the regional Southern context than it would have been in the Northeast.Today, Dukes main quad is named for Abele, and his portrait hangs regally in the reading room of the campus library. But at the time he was designing the school, its unclear how much time he actually spent in Durham and North Carolina, according to Gillispie. While administrators certainly were aware of his Black identity, she notes that Abele was a very proud man and did not like putting himself in the position to be treated as a second-class citizen, so what we are pretty sure of is that he didnt come down to campus and North Carolina very much, because he wouldnt have been accommodated in the way Trumbauer was.In keeping with the blueprint his ancestor laid, Cook says he has always sought out working on projects where there was an opportunity to uplift and inspire places that really contribute to the betterment of our built environment in his own career. Cook, who was one of the three lead designers for the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, counts sensitive, small landscape interventions, like a memorial and restoration of a burial ground of enslaved persons at Thomas Jeffersons Monticello, as projects that are influenced by Abeles commitment to important civic structures.Years ago, my grandfather [Julian Abele Cook Sr.] said to me: When you go to see a doctor you go because youve got some pain, and when you go to see a lawyer you may also have some issues youre wrestling with, Cook shares. But when you go to see an architect, you go with a dream. Thats why I got into architecture, and thats why my grandfather did, and he probably learned that at the feet of Julian Abele, who had such an illustrious career.
English
Arabic
French
Spanish
Portuguese
Deutsch
Dutch
Italiano
Russian
Romaian
Portuguese (Brazil)
Greek