L. Bancel LaFarge (1900–1989) was an American architect. He was a founding member of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.Flint, Peter B
"L. B. La Farge, 89, an Architect,"
''New York Times.'' July 4, 1989.

Early life and education

Louis Bancel LaFarge was born into a prominent American family. His grandfather, John LaFarge, was a noted American artist. His grandmother was a granddaughter of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry and a direct descendant of Benjamin Franklin. His father,

Bancel LaFarge Bancel La Farge (1865–1938) was an American artist known for his mural painting and decorative work. Biography La Farge was born in Newport, Rhode Island on September 23, 1865. He was the son of the artist John LaFarge and Margaret Perry LaF ...

, was an artist who continued his father's work in glass,Monuments Men Foundation
Monuments Men
LaFarge, Maj. L. Bancel] and his brother Tom was a mural painter. LaFarge was a graduate of Harvard College and the

Yale School of Architecture The Yale School of Architecture (YSOA) is one of the constituent professional schools of Yale University, and is generally considered to be one of the best architecture schools in the United States. The School awards the degrees of Master of Arc ...

. He married the advertising executive

Margaret Hockaday Margaret Elizabeth Hockaday LaFarge (1907-1992) was an American executive who established the Hockaday Associates advertising firm in New York City in 1949. Career Hockaday grew up in Wichita, Kansas and graduated from Vassar College in 1929. ...

, with whom he had three children: Timothy, Benjamin, and Celestine.

Career

LaFarge established himself as an architect in New York specializing in domestic architecture. His practice was interrupted by military service in the Second World War. At war's end, he returned to his work as an architect. At one time he served as president of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects (1958–1960), and he was a founding member of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (1965–70).

World War II

Major LaFarge was assigned to the 7th Army in Europe during the Second World War. He was the Chief of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) section. LaFarge was the first MFAA officer to arrive in France after

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

in 1944.

Notes

References

* American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas. (1946). ''Report.'' Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. * Nicholas, Lynn H. (1995)
''The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe’s Teasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War.''
New York:

Vintage Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was purchased by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Hous ...

.
OCLC 32531154

Archival resources

Charles Maurice Fleischner papers
Yale University Library, Manuscripts and Archives
LaFarge Family Papers, Yale University Library

External links

* PBS ( Oregon Public Broadcasting)
"The Rape of Europa."
2006 film, aired November 24, 2008 * Monuments Men Foundation
Monuments Men> LaFarge, Maj. L. Bancel
* Obituary: Flint, Peter B

''New York Times.'' July 4, 1989. {{DEFAULTSORT:LaFarge, L. Bancel 1900 births 1989 deaths Harvard College alumni Yale School of Architecture alumni Art and cultural repatriation Monuments men United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American architects United States Army officers La Farge family Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters