Main fundraiser photo

Henry Jekel needs your help!

                                                                               Video courtesy of Andrew Villalobos and The Villalobos Group

It began with a wrecking ball.

There was a miscommunication. And then, suddenly, another Henry L.A. Jekel building was gone.

History is like that. If we don’t act to preserve it, it goes back to the dust. Henry L.A. Jekel's landmark projects span from Buffalo to Philadelphia to Washington D.C. to Riverside and places in between.

There are close to five dozen historic structures in Riverside alone, including the historic Neighbors of Woodcraft Home (James Complex, California Baptist University) and Castillo Isabella (Benedict Castle). 

In Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., he designed the first steel-frame Beaux-Arts classical skyscrapers, the Pennsylvania Building in Philadelphia and the Westory Building on Fourteenth Street in Washington, D.C., both of which are on the National Register of Historic Places.

We can’t afford to let him be forgotten. Neither can you. 

Inlandia is thrilled to be partnering with CBU, home to one of the original Jekel structures in Riverside, to publish this book. Help us bring this project to fruition and be one of the first to bring home a copy of this one-of-a-kind book.

Henry L.A. Jekel: Architect of Eastern Skyscrapers and the California Style, 1895-1950

Part Jekel biography, part local history, part architectural study guide, this book includes:

224 pages including these Henry Jekel case studies:
• Neighbors of Woodcraft Home (James Complex, California Baptist University)
• Castillo Isabella (Benedict Castle)
• Cielito Lindo (Fred Krinard Estate)
• Lion Head (Heisler Estate)
• The Harbor (N.H.B. Parker Residence)
• La Camarita (Phil and Esther Banks Residence)
• Gustav Hammer Residence
• The Pennsylvania Building in Philadelphia, PA
• The Westory Building in Washington, D.C.
• Granger Place Queen Ann double stacked house in Buffalo, NY

Plus photos and commentary on:
• Harry Hammond Estate
• H.P. Whitehead Residence (Rockledge Park)
• Nethery Residence (Rockledge Park)
• J.B. Cook Hacienda
• Webber Hacienda
• Moyer Cottage
• Charles Brouse Residence
• E.P. Clarke Residence
• Evergreen Memorial Park Office and Crematory
Plus many more….

Henry L.A. Jekel needs your help. Help us preserve his story because it’s a part of your story too. With hundreds of color photographs, this book is the most ambitious project Inlandia has embarked upon to date.

Donate at one of the following levels and receive these benefits:

• $5: Thank you note and our eternal gratitude. Printed name in book on donor page.

$25: Thank you note, eternal gratitude, printed name in book, PLUS some cool Jekel swag.

$75: Thank you note, eternal gratitude, printed name in book, swag, AND one (1) autographed copy of the soft cover edition of the book.

$100: Thank you note, eternal gratitude, printed name in book, swag, AND two (2) autographed copies of the soft cover edition of the book.

$250: All of the above PLUS one (1) autographed limited edition hard cover edition of the book.

$500: All of the above PLUS a THIRD autographed soft cover edition of the book AND a limited, archival produced, matted and signed by the artist art-quality print of the exclusive cover art.

$1000: All of the above PLUS one (1) additional soft cover copy to be donated to a library of your choice AND one (1) additional limited, archival produced, matted and signed by the artist art-quality print of the exclusive cover art AND (yes, more!) an invitation to a private wine and cheese reception hosted by authors.

$2000: All of the above plus an additional two (2) signed copies of the soft cover edition for a total of five (5) copies, AND one (1) additional autographed limited edition hard copy book AND one (1) FRAMED limited, archival produced, matted and signed by the artist art-quality print of the exclusive cover art PLUS two more unframed limited, archival produced, matted and signed by the artist art-quality print of the exclusive cover art AND (yes!) a private tour of Jekel residence or driving tour of Jekel homes.


More about the evolution of the book:

Vince Moses and Cate Whitmore didn’t set out to write about Jekel, but their subject kept finding them and soon they couldn’t turn their attention away. Who was this man who captivated them?

Henry L.A. Jekel was born January 13, 1876, on the edges of Buffalo, New York’s Canal District, “in this cauldron of urban growth, industrial chaos, sin, and wide-open opportunity”. The tenth child of Ashkenazi immigrants, Jekel had already made a name for himself by age 17, opened his own office at age 20, and by his mid-twenties was a pioneering leader in the design of a new kind of building: the skyscraper.
Jekel divided his time between New York City, Philadelphia, and Buffalo, honing his skills as an architect.

Jekel’s first sojourn in Riverside changed him for good. Here in the invigorating California sun, he began his transformation from the man of efficiency, battling to secure elite status among the skyscraper builders of the East Coast, toward the inner directed life of an atelier, or studio architect of romantic California houses, landscapes, and commercial buildings. In Riverside, Jekel seemed to realize that following his own architectural pole star meant more to him then the cut-throat world of competitive skyscraper construction.

To learn more about this fascinating architect and the legacy that he left, contribute to this project and be forever included among an elite group who made sure that Jekel’s story would endure. 

Release date: September 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-7324032-0-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018934572



About Vince and Cate

H. Vincent Moses, PhD, and wife Catherine Whitmore, MA live in Riverside, California where they own and operate Vincate & Associates Historical Consultants, specializing in historic preservation and Museums. As director of the Riverside Metropolitan Museum in 2003, Moses supervised the transfer of the National Historic Landmark Harada House to the City of Riverside, and earlier served as consulting museum historian for the planning and development of California Citrus State Historic Park in Riverside. Cate worked as Curator of Anthropology for the Riverside Municipal Museum, and then as Curator of History for the Riverside County Regional Parks and Open Space District, where she prepared museums at Jensen-Alvarado Historic Ranch and at the Banning Ranch and Wagon Museum. Cate oversaw the curation of archaeological and historical sites in the county. In 2003, Cate and Vince co-authored The Victoria Club: A Centennial Edition, and in 2017 acted as essayists and Senior Coordinating Editors of Myth & Mirage: Inland Southern California, Birthplace of the Spanish Colonial Revival, the exhibition catalog for the Riverside Art Museum’s PST LA/LA project funded by the J. Paul Getty Foundation. They have three sons and two grandsons.

Donations 

  • Don MacLean II
    • $100 
    • 6 yrs

Organizer

Cati Porter
Organizer
Riverside, CA
Inlandia Institute (Literary And Educational Center)
 
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.

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