Pre-Nazi Swastika Architectural Details

I traveled into the Twelve Mile Circle — the Delaware geo-oddity that inspired the name for this site — while visiting with some dear friends last weekend. In Wilmington, at Rodney Square specifically, I happened to glance up. There I noticed the wonderful Egyptian Revival architectural details on the Wilmington Public Library. My earlier Egyptian Revival Churches research somehow sensitized me to the style. So I suppose that offered evidence that I’ve actually learned a few things while publishing this rag. Now I could bore my companions with additional tales of trivial knowledge.

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An Unexpected Sight

Then I noticed the swastika. I already understood that it was an ancient symbol. It existing for thousands of years before the Nazis co-opted it and converted it into a symbol of hate.(¹) As the US Holocaust Memorial Museum explained:

“The swastika has an extensive history. It was used at least 5,000 years before Adolf Hitler designed the Nazi flag. The word swastika comes from the Sanskrit svastika, which means ‘good fortune’ or ‘well-being’… In the beginning of the twentieth century the swastika was widely used in Europe… Despite its origins, the swastika has become so widely associated with Nazi Germany that contemporary uses frequently incite controversy.”

I Couldn’t Have Agreed More

The Wilmington swastika jumped like a bolt into my consciousness by its mere existence. That happened even though I understood its historical usage on an intellectual level. It reflects the severely negative connotations forever associated with its later usage. Edward Lippincott Tilton, a master architect of public libraries in the United States, could not have foreseen the result of his decorative choice when he designed the building in 1922. Likely it would have appalled him had he not passed away before the war.

The Wilmington Public Library included various architectural details based on classical ideals. None of them became the least bit controversial except for the swastika. Feel free to check some of them out on Street View. I’m a fan of the little owl sculptures on the second-floor window ledges.

How Unusual Is This?

I posted my discovery on a 12MC social media page(²). Reader “Benjamin” kindly posted a couple of links including a vintage photo with an advertisement for Swastika Sodas and a page on the Early Use of the Swastika in Washington State. That led me to wonder about the prevalence of swastikas as a North American architectural detail during the early 20th Century. You know, before such usage became unthinkable.

More examples survived than I could have possibly imagined, both in clockwise and counter-clockwise orientations. Below are just a few that I noticed either photographically or on Street View.

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Skillman Branch Library, Detroit, Michigan, USA

Notice the decorative fret running around the Skillman Branch Library perimeter. This included both attached and standalone swastikas (also visible in Street View). Historically, the library dated to 1931/32 [link no longer works]. They originally called it the Downtown Library until its extensive renovation and re-opening [link no longer works] in 2003.

The Skillman Branch derives most of its recognition as the location of the extensive National Automotive History Collection.

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Lampposts, Glendale, California, USA

The City of Glendale, California erected a series of cast iron lampposts along some of its busier downtown commercial and residential streets in the 1920’s. Notably they adorned Broadway between Glendale Avenue and Brand Boulevard. So more than 900 vintage lampposts included decorative swastika bands within their design. In response to a complaint, the City Attorney conducted an extensive evaluation in 1995 and concluded,

“The contention was that these approximately 2 inch by 3 inch symbols encircling the base of these old lampposts, were Nazi swastikas, were offensive and should be removed… Not a scintilla of evidence exists to indicate that the counter clockwise swastika design at the base of the lampposts was intended as a political or other statement in support of any group or organization.”

The City Attorney offered several alternatives including “take no action and preserve the lampposts as they are“. An April 2011 Street View image seemed to confirm that selection.

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Jefferson County Courthouse, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Swastikas also appeared on columns outside of the main entrance to the Jefferson County courthouse in Birmingham, Alabama. This granite and limestone Art Deco building dated to 1929, as designed by the noted Chicago architectural firm Holabird & Root.

The building’s National Register of Historic Places application listed numerous exterior architectural details.

“Bas-relief sculpture adds subtle and sometimes elegant decorative detailing to the facade. Particularly notable are the series of sculptures by Leo Friedlander symbolizing attributes associated with the seat of justice and cultural and political influences from the county’s past. Over the west entrance the panels depict the Indians, the Spanish, the French, early American settlement, the Confederacy, and the English. Other panels of the building symbolize vigilance, power, justice, and mercy. Columns topped with the American motif of New World corn flank the main entrance. Handsome Art Deco lanterns also mark the entrances.”

Nowhere did it mention swastikas.

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The Travellers Hotel, Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada

North American usage of this motif extended beyond the United States. Consider this façade of the Travellers Hotel (map), in Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada, constructed in 1913:

“The large and highly detailed Traveller’s Hotel building speaks to the prosperity and optimism that existed in pre-war Ladysmith… an excellent example of an Edwardian-era, commercial style building… The most striking features are the brick swastika symbols on the front facade. At the time of construction, the swastika was a relatively common symbol of prosperity and peace; during World War II, concerns were expressed about the symbol’s association with Nazism. The building was not altered in response to these concerns and the Traveller’s Hotel remains in substantially original condition.”

Today the investors hope to “revitalize and reopen” this historic hotel.

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Kimo Theater, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Native Americans. Navajo and other tribal nations of the US Southwest frequently used swastika-like decorative designs. The Kimo Theater in Albuquerque (map) carried this theme forward. Also, the City of Albuquerque has a Kimo Theater swastika page that describes more. The Kimo Theater, first opened in 1927 and now owned by the city, represented the “flamboyant, short-lived architectural style” known as Pueblo Deco.

Thus, the Kimo Theater wasn’t a throwback to ancient Egypt, Greece or Rome. It represented Native American, particularly Navajo artistic elements, for whom the swastika represented “life, freedom and happiness.”

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12MC Loves Footnotes!

(¹)For example, and as noted previously in 12MC to represent a Buddhist temple in Japan. Or the name of a town in Ontario, Canada.

(²) I try to post unique tidbits, breadcrumbs and non sequiturs on each of the various 12MC pages. Sometimes it’s here on the flagship site within those “completely unrelated” footers. Sometimes I put them on satellite locations such as Twitter. Readers won’t get the full 12MC experience on any one site; they all contribute to the whole. Often I use Twitter to announce new articles, mock spammers and conduct nonsensical public conversations that chase away readers. That’s why I can’t seem to get my subscriber base to grow. Imagine that. There will never be a 12MC Facebook page, though. There’s no particular rhyme or reason for what I post where except in very general terms