Architect Albert H. Swanke Dies In New Orleans At 86
Times Picayune 01-9-1996

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Albert Homer Swanke, a nationally known architect, died Monday in New Orleans,
where he lived for the past 10 years. He was 86.

Mr. Swanke's projects included extending the East Front of the U.S. Capitol,
restoring the original Senate and Supreme Court chambers in the Capitol and
building the James Madison Memorial Building of the Library of Congress, all
in Washington, D.C.

He also was a consultant in the 1980s to the French-American Committee for the
Restoration of the Statue of Liberty.

Mr. Swanke was born in Thomasville, Ga., and graduated from the Georgia
Institute of Technology in 1930 and the Beaux Arts Institute of Design in New
York City in 1931.

He was an architect and partner in several New York architectural firms for
the next 50 years, retiring in 1982 as senior partner in Swanke, Hayden,
Connell Architects. After retiring, he moved to Savannah, Ga., and later New
Orleans.

In New York, he worked on the Federal Office Building and U.S. Customs Court,
the Queens County Courthouse and Prison, the Home Insurance Co. Building, the
Grumman Aircraft Engineering Plant on Long Island and other buildings.

In New Orleans, his projects included refurbishing the Sewerage & Water Board
building and the Whitney National Bank's Poydras Street branch.

Mr. Swanke and his firm also worked on NATO air bases at Dreux and Evreux,
France, many U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide, more than 250 bank
buildings nationally, the Park Plaza Building in Newark, N.J., and an addition
to the Chicago Board of Trade Building.

Mr. Swanke was a Navy officer in World War II, commanding landing craft during
landings in France and the Pacific, and a lieutenant commander in the Navy
Reserve.

He was a member of the executive committee of the American Institute of
Architects, a board member of the American Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals and a trustee of the New York Medical College, Westchester
Medical Center.

He was a member of the Boston Club in New Orleans, the Metropolitan Club in
Washington, the Century Association in New York, the University Club of New
York, the Navy League, and the Larchmont, N.Y., and Savannah yacht clubs.

Survivors include his wife, Pratt Williams Swanke; a son, Albert Homer Swanke
Jr. of Princeton, N.J.; a stepson, Charles King Mallory III of Washington,
D.C.; a sister, Lillian S. Cook of Marianna, Fla.; and three grandchildren.

A funeral will be held Thursday at 3 p.m. at St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian
Church, 1545 State St.