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James Oscar Betelle (1879-1954) was a Newark, NJ based civic architect. Public schools were his speciality—if you grew up in the New York Tri-State area, there's a good chance you went to one.
Betelle drifted in obscurity for sixty years, until the day I paused to wonder, "who designed my school?" More…
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August Sieder, Jr.
I don’t actively research Betelle much anymore, but I do have automatic searches in place at a number of websites. eBay is the busiest, where occasional magazines and postcards pop up. I mostly ignore those, as it’s generally material I … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Biographical
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“A Simple But Impressive Ceremony”
James Betelle’s death is one of the more curious aspects of his story. He died in Italy, ending up in an unmarked pauper’s grave, while in Delaware, a stone with his name on it sits quietly in an old cemetery. … Continue reading
His Earthly Labors
The Newark Sunday Call of December 3, 1916, offered this brief obituary for Ernest F. Guilbert, who died two days earlier: Few men in the last generation have left a more enduring mark upon this community than one who came … Continue reading
Doings in the Hive of the Three Busy B’s
Office parties—when the staff lets their hair down, the boss awkwardly pretends to be “one of the gang”, and at least one person gets embarrassingly drunk—are a staple of the corporate world. These days, such events are limp, pathetic affairs, … Continue reading
The Point of Pencils
The output of new works from Guilbert & Betelle plummeted in the 1930s, as the Depression caused a suspension of school infrastructure programs. The firm layed off most of the staff, which numbered over 200 just a few years earlier. … Continue reading