James Evans Jackson
PVT in 603rd Engineer Camouflage Bn : HQ & Service Co
Born 1899 in Scotland, Died 1989
Artist
United States Army, European Theatre of Operations
Occupation before the war: architect
College education before the war: Glasgow School of Art; Beaux Arts School of Design; UPenn
James E. Jackson was born on May 26, 1899 (or 1901) in Motherwell, Scotland. He graduated from the Glasgow School of Art, where he won three Lord Haldane Scholarships, and then moved to Philadelphia in 1921 where he studied at the Beaux Arts School of Design and at the University of Pennsylvania.
NOTE: The school names where he studied come from his obituary. Could not find a "Beaux Arts School of Design" in Philadelphia, but I have left the name as is. (There was a Beaux Arts Institute of Design in NYC.)
NOTE re his birthdate: His 1931 citizenship petition lists his birthdate as 1899. His military documents say his birth date was 1901; I believe he may have fudged his birthdate so that he could serve in the war.
In 1928 he married Mary, also born in Scotland, though it appears they met in the US. In 1931, when he filled out his citizenship petition, he stated his profession as architectural designer.
In February, 1942, when he registered for the draft, he was working as an architect at Simon & Simon Architects in Philadelphia. After he enlisted, he was eventually assigned to the 603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion, and served in Europe with the unit. According to Ghost Army Legacy Foundation records, he exhibited some of his art at a postwar show in Luxembourg.
After the war he returned to New York where he met the architect John Graham, and in 1947 he moved to Seattle to head the design department at John Graham & Associates.
In Seattle, he met R. Olwen Anderson who became his second wife in 1949.
He became an Associate at John Graham in 1958, and a senior partner by 1963. He participated in the design of the Northgate and SouthCenter malls, and in the preliminary design of the Space Needle. He was also a painter, exhibiting at the Seattle Art Museum and at the Frye Museum. He was also active in the Wabash Community Presbyterian Church.
He died on April 16, 1989 in Seattle.
Sources:
1931 naturalization petition
search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2717&h=96...
1942 draft card
search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2238&h=71...
1949 marriage record
search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2378&h=10...
1957 article from Seattle Daily Times re an art exhibit of his
genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A127D718D1E33F961%40GB3...
1958, 1963 PCAD (Pacific Coast Architecture Database)
pcad.lib.washington.edu/person/4629
1959 Seattle city directory
search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2469&h=81...
1959 article from Seattle Daily Times re his becoming partner (clipping attached)
genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A127D718D1E33F961%40GB3...
1989 Social Security death index
search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=3693&h=30...
1989 obituary from Seattle Times (says he was in "Army Corps of Engineers" in WW2
genealogybank.com/doc/obituaries/obit/0FA37B0CF93AA577-0FA37B0CF93...