Julian Francis Abele

Julian Francis Abele (1881–1950) was a prominent architect, serving as the chief designer in the offices of Horace Trumbauer in Philadelphia. Abele contributed to the design of more than four hundred buildings, including Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University (1912–1915), Philadelphia’s Central Library (1917–1927), the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1914–1928), the University of Pennsylvania’s Eisenlohr Hall (1910–1911), the official residence of its presidents, and the west campus of Duke University (1924–1954), including Duke Memorial Chapel (1930–1935).

Following Trumbauer’s death in 1938, Abele co-headed the architectural firm and designed additional buildings at Duke, including the Allen Administrative Building and Cameron Indoor Stadium. Born in Philadelphia, Abele was educated at the Institute for Colored Youth (later Cheyney University), the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art (the now defunct University of the Arts, 1896–1898), and the University of Pennsylvania (B.A. in architecture, 1902), where he was the architecture department’s first Black graduate. 

At Penn, Abele was recognized with a number of awards, including first prize in the competition for the Library Tablet to commemorate alumni gifts, first prize in the competition for the Conklin Memorial Gateway at Haverford College, first mention from the Beaux Arts Society, the Arthur Spayde Brooke Memorial Prize, and the T-Square Club Prize. Abele immersed himself in the Beaux-Arts style as a student and remained committed to this kind of architecture. He was noted not only for his adaptation of historical styles to create fine exteriors, but also for his successful rendering of interior space and its decorative details. 

He was a master architect, but he also worked skillfully with wood, ceramics, iron, copper, brass, precious metals, stained glass, and watercolor. When Abele joined the American Institute of Architects in 1942, Philadelphia Museum of Art director Fiske Kimball called him “one of the most sensitive designers in America.” Smithsonian Magazine described him as “probably the most accomplished [Black architect] of his era.” The main quad at Duke University is now officially named Abele Quad with a dedication plaque at the busiest spot on campus. Julian Abele Park, at 22nd and Carpenter Streets in Philadelphia, is named in his honor.