Harold Eric Kebbon, FAIA, was a prolific architect. He was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and held several positions, secretary and vice president, within the New York, AIA. During his career, he designed over 100 schools as well as several post offices, court houses, private residences, housing developments, etc.. He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on June 6, 1890 to Gustave A. Kebbon and Datie Louise Eldridge (Kebbon/Stearns). He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1912 with a Bach. of Science Degree in Architecture and was both the senior class president and Editor-In-Chief of the MIT yearbook "Technique". Upon graduation, he travelled and studied in Europe and upon returning, initially worked for M.I.T. designing buildings valued at $6,000,000 in construction for the campus. During WW1, he enlisted into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and was commissioned a Captain and later was promoted to the rank of Major. In 1921, he married Jane Holmes Jutte and they had two children, Eric Jr. in 1923 and Janie Fay in 1928. After the war, he started is own firm which lasted until the early 1930's after the Great Depression started in 1929. With the start of the depression, private client/construction work slowed and architects were out of work and as such he became more involved in designing public buildings. During the 1930's, he was selected by the U.S. Treasury to design several post offices - Poughkeepsie, N.Y, Tallahassee, Fl., and Greenville, S.C.. In 1938, he was appointed by the New York City mayor, Fiorello H. La Guardia, as architect of the Board of Education and superintendent of school buildings, design and construction and he held that position until Jan. 1, 1952 when he resigned his position but stayed with the N.Y.C. Board of Education as one of their architects for various projects. Some of the schools that he designed include Benjamin Franklin, Forest Hills, Fort Hamilton, James Fenimore Cooper, P.S. 117 High School in East Harlem, Midwood High School in Brooklyn, and Joan of Arc High Schools. From 1956-1958 he worked for the noted firm of McKim, Mead, and White in New York City after which he retired from active practice. His buildings were typically classically designed, either Federal Style, Colonial Style, or Beaux-Arts buildings, symmetrical with a central pedimented facade with either Roman arches or Greek columns and long horizontal flanking wings. He would study the character of the place and select a style and material that would be most appropriate. His designs also typically incorporated a landmark cupola, lantern, or dome at the center of a gabled roof. He died on April 18, 1964 at St. Barnabas Hospital for Chronic Diseases in the Bronx. According to his WW2 registration form, he was 6'-4" tall with light brown hair and blue eyes. Sadly, his two children died within 6 years of his death, his daughter died in 1968 and his son died soon after in 1970. His wife Jane, was born on May 28, 1895 and died on March 27, 1992. His many public buildings and private residences still live on and continue to help educate and serve millions of students and the general public every year. His gravestone reads: ARCHITECT - below which is listed: BEAUTY - INTEGRITY - HUMANITY.
Contributor: bill gregory (48943708) •