Franklin Augustus Seiberling, Jr.

Frank A. Seiberling Jr. — 1908-1990

From an Obituary, Princeton Alumni Weekly, May 16, 1990 issue ...

Frank A. Seiberling '31...died, Jan. 24, [1990] after a brief illness. He lived in North Liberty, Ia., a suburb of Iowa City.

Professionally, Frank was a distinguished art historian. The youngest of three Seiberling brothers to graduate from Princeton, he came to us from Lawrenceville where he was active in dramatics and debating. At college, he was business manager of the Bric-a-Brac and the Nassau Herald. He was on the debating team and served as treasurer of Arbor Inn.

After Princeton, Frank studied abroad for three years, and in 1948 he obtained his doctorate from the Univ. of Chicago, where he was assistant to the editor of the College Art Bulletin. For several years, he was supervisor of education at the Toledo Museum of Art. During WWII, he was stationed in Italy, and later in Vienna, as an interpreter. From 1946 to 1959, Frank was professor of art history and head of the school of art at Ohio State Univ. From 1959 to 1976, he was head of the dept. of art and art history at the Univ. of Iowa. During this time, he led the effort to build the school's art museum.

Frank's many friends relished his wit and affability, his unfailing courtesy, and his stimulating intellectual and cultural interests. He is survived by his wife Nancy and by four children and two grandchildren, to whom we extend deepest sympathy.

The Class of 1931

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From Louis I. Maston, Seiberling Family in America from 1741 to 2005, Colorado Springs, CO, 2005, p.48 ...

Franklin Augustus Seiberling [Frank Seiberling Jr.—growing up in Akron, OH—] attended Portage Path School for his elementary schooling and West High School for secondary schooling. He claims to have formed a basketball team of friends who played other teams, in the gymnasium of Stan Hywet Hall. From 1923-27, he attended Lawrenceville School, NJ. The summer of 1927, he attended the University of Grenoble, in France. He entered Princeton University in 1927, graduating with a degree in history. He then attended the University of Chicago, in the Art History graduate program. He studied in Munich, Germany, for a year. He completed his graduate study, after the war, receiving his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1948. Franklin was the Director of Publicity, and later, Supervisor of Education at the Toledo Museum of Art. He also taught Art History at the University of Toledo. Between 1943-45, he was a private in the U.S. Army, stationed in Italy. After the war, he served as an interpreter in Vienna. Returning from the war, he became an Assistant Professor of Art History at Ohio State University. He later served as Chairman of the School of Art. From 1959-76, He was the Director of the School of Art and Art History at the University of Iowa. He married Nancy Pendleton Jackson, who also taught art history at the University of Toledo. Nancy was the daughter of Alton Blanchard Jackson. Franklin Seiberling [Frank Seiberling Jr.] died in 1990, apparently of cancer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

See also:

Frank A. Seiberling Jr. was an amateur radio operator in the 1920s and 30s. Click Here for a biography (in PDF format) from a ham radio perspective, by Robert R. (Pat) Ballantine (W8SU) of Warren, Ohio, posting at www.geocities.com/w8jyz/.

______________________________________