I have recently created a tour about Julian Abele, the first African American graduate from Penn's School of Architecture: http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php?...true#Post687950

Julian Francis Abele - 1881-1950

Julian Abele was the first African American graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Architecture in 1902. Although his work is the prominent signature of the Philadelphia urbanscape with contributions like The Museum of Art, The Free Library and The Municipal Courthouse, most people are unaware of his accomplishments. Additionally, Julian designed a major portion of Duke University's campus.

Little was known about him until the late 80s when students on Duke's campus were protesting apartheid and built a shanty town in the middle of the quad. A letter to the school paper commented on the students' actions and remarked that perhaps the builders of the campus would be aggrieved with such a horrible site. In response, Susan Cook, grand-niece of Abele who was matriculating at Duke wrote a letter stating that he would not have objected to the shanty protest because he was a victim of apartheid in his own country and indeed he had not even traveled to view the campus he designed because of his revulsion of segregation then so prevalent in the South.

This tour is designed as a black history module so that African American students may learn about this remarkable man and his contributions to our society. Information was gleaned from the Philadelphia Library website and an article in the Smithsonian Magazine.

Let me know if this is helpful to any of you. Thanks.

Carter