Résumé

Bolotin designed many apartment complexes in the Seattle area during the late 1950s.

While still a student at the University of Washington in 1940, Bolotin worked in the campus libraries. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 18, accessed 03/02/2019.)

The Seattle City Directory, 1941, indicated that Bolotin worked as a sheet metal worker at this time. (See Seattle City Directory, 1941, p. 185.) This made sense, as his father maintained an automobile garage.

Draftsman, John T. Jacobsen, Seattle, WA, 1945.

Draftsman, McClelland and Jones, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1945-1946.

Designer, Victor N. Jones and Associates, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1946-1954.

Principal, George Bolotin, Architect, Seattle, WA, c. 1958. In 1958, Bolotin's office was located at 915 East Pine Street. (See Seattle City Directory, 1958, p. 214).

High School/College

Graduate, Garfield High School, Seattle, WA, 1930. Bolotin participated in the Speakers' Club at Garfield High School.

Coursework, Cornish School of the Arts, Seattle, WA, 1934-1936.

B.Arch., University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Seattle, WA, c. 1936-1941.

College Awards

Bolotin attended Cornish on a scholarship in the mid 1930s.

Relocation

Born in Dabrinka, Russia, George Bolotin and his parents settled in Seattle, WA, by at least 1924. George's father, Abraham, came to the US by 1916, according to a naturalization form of 03/24/1921 filed in Seattle's US District Court. Abraham sailed from Yokohama, Japan, to the US aboard the Tembi Maru, landing in Seattle on 01/15/1916. This form indicated that Nichama, Abraham's wife, remained in Russia in 1921. Presumably, George, only seven years old at this time, stayed with his mother, outside of the US. Abraham Bolotin lived at 1809 Broadway when he filed the declaration of intention to naturalize form. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Naturalization Records of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, 1890-1957; Microfilm Roll: 14; Microfilm Serial: M1542, accessed 03/02/2019.)

After 1924, the Bolotins moved to new Seattle addresses on an almost yearly basis during George's childhood. They dwelled at 201 24th Avenue South in 1924 (See Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1924, p. 349.) and during 1925-1926, they lived at 2205 East Spruce Street, in what was likely an apartment. (See Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1925, p. 320 and Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1926, p. 314.) They resided at 310 20th Avenue South in 1929 and at 2408 East Alder Street in 1931. (See R.L. Polk and Company's Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1929, p. 376 and Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1931, p. 234.) Restrictive covenants likely limited those areas in Seattle in which Jewish immigrants could settle in the 1920s and 1930s.

George attended Garfield High School by 1930, and, by 1935, he was a student at the Cornish School of the Arts while living with his parents at 508 30th Avenue in Seattle's blue-collar Central District. (See Seattle City Directory, 1935, p. 266.) He stayed at Cornish for parts of three years (1934-1936), sharpening his fine artistic skills. He became interested in architecture, and transferred to the University of Washington, Seattle (UW), where we matriculated from 1936-1941.

In 1940, George Bolotin lived with his wife in rented quarters at 4755 11th Avenue NE in Seattle's University District. They paid $12 per month at this time. He attended university at the time (probably the University of Washington), and worked in a library there. (The US Census of 1940 form had a notation "N.Y.A.S." under the place of employment of either George or Ruth. This may have stood for New York Academy of Sciences, although it is not clear what connection that this institution had with the Bolotins or Seattle at the time.) (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: T627_4376; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 40-81,accessed 02/03/2016.)

In 1951, he and Ruth resided at 9214 47th Avenue SW in Southwest Seattle (See Seattle City Directory 1951, p. 139), but by 1960 the couple had returned to the city's northeast, living at 5108 East 42nd Street in Seattle's comfortable Luarelhurst neighborhood. (See Seattle City Directory, 1960, p. 162.)

He died at age 65 in Seattle.

Parents

His father, Abraham Leibe Bolotin (born 09/15/1882 in Gomel, Russia, [now Belarus]-d. 10/16/1959 in Seattle, WA), worked as a manager of the Gear and Axle Service Company. His mother was Nichama (Ann) Vilensky (born c. 1889 in Russia-d. 04/25/1939 in Seattle, WA.) (His mother's first name was spelled variously as "Nichama," or "Nechama." Abraham spelled his wife's name as "Nichama" on a 1921 US Declaration of Intention to Naturalize form.) Nichama's parents were Solomon Vilensky and Etta Chaikin.

In 1935, a Samuel Bolotin lived with the family at 508 30th Avenue, and worked as a salesman at Gear and Axle Service. Presumably, he was an uncle or a brother to George. (See Seattle City Directory, 1935, p. 266.)

Abraham married at least twice; on 05/28/1954, he married Eugenia Beckerman in Seattle.

Spouse

George Bolotin married Ruth Greenfield (1917-2011) on 10/10/1938 in Pierce County, WA. Ruth was born in Barguzin, Siberia, Russia. Her parents, Ari and Judith Greenfield, fled persecution in Russia, and migrated to China in 1925. The family lived for some of Ruth's childhood in Chita, Siberia, before relocating to Harbin, China, later to Tianjin, China, and finally to the United States. Parts of Siberia and Harbin were open to Jewish immigration during the period; Jews from other parts of western Russia fled pogroms and systematic exclusion from Russian institutions and made stable homes in this less-prejudiced frontier area in Siberia and Manchuria. While in Tianjin, Ari and her uncle, Reuven, established the Tientsin Jewish School, where they worked as headmaster and a teacher, respectively. (See Archives West, "Ruth Bolotin Photograph Collection, 1929-1942," accessed 03/02/2019.)

This stability proved short-lived, and many Harbiners left for the US, Israel or other destinations before World War II. She attended Garfield High School and the University of Washington, and spent much of her time raising her two daughters. In 1940, the US Census indicated that she worked in sociology at the University of Washington. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: m-t0627-04376; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 40-81, accessed 03/02/2019.) She also enjoyed photography, processing her own film, and, along with her husband, were founding members of the Group Health Cooperative in Seattle. She also supported various environmental, social and Jewish groups. She passed away at age 93.

Her parents were who fled persecution in Russia in 1925, fleeing to

Children

George and Ruth had two daugthers, Suzie Bolotin and Carol Watts. They also had one child that died in infancy.

Biographical Notes

A military draft document of 10/16/1940, stated that Bolotin stood 5-feet, 8-inches tall, weighed 150 pounds, had a dark complexion with gray eyes and black hair. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 18, accessed 03/02/2019.)

SSN: 534-10-3142

• Seattle, WA (Architect's Death)
  Seattle, WA

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• Dobrinka, Lipetsk Russia (Architect's Birth)
  Dobrinka, Lipetsk Russia

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