Résumé

Military service, US Army, 1943-1946. During World War II, Robbins entered the US military on 02/22/1943 and served untiluntil 01/04/1945 in the US. He served overseas between 01/05/1945 and 03/02/1946. He was discharged from the US Army on 08/14/1946 at Fort Dix, NJ.

Draftsman / Designer, Compton and Pierce, Architects, Cambridge, MA, c. 1953.

Draftsman / Designer, Goetz and Hansen, Architects, Oakland, CA. c. 1954.

Project Architect, Gerald McCue and Associates, Architects, Berkeley, CA.

Project Architect, Reid, Rockwell, Banwell, and Tarics, Architects, San Francisco, CA.

Draftsman, Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM), Architects, San Francisco, CA.

Architect, John Lyon Reid and Partners, Architects, San Francisco, CA.

Partner, Robbins and [James] Ream, Architects.

Principal, Jacob Robbins, Architect, Oakland, CA, 1961- .

Principal, Jack Robbins, FAIA Architect, Urban Design, Incorporated, Oakland, CA.

Director, City of Fremont, City Planning and Community Development Department, Fremont, CA, c. 1970-1977.

Professional Activities

Member, American Institute of Architects (AIA), East Bay Chapter, 1958- .

Member, Oakland Planning Commission, Oakland, CA, 1965- .

College

B.S., University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 1944.

M.A., University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 1949.

B.Arch., Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1950-1953.

Educational Awards

Recipient, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), Fulbright Grant, 1953.

Relocation

Jacob Bernard Robbins was born in Philadelphia, PA, on 09/02/1923. At age six in 04/1930, he lived with his parents--Louis and Edith--and three siblings at 519 South Melville Street in Philadelphia. The family owned its own house, valued at $10,000, on par with neighboring dwellings. The family also was prosperous enough to afford a household worker, a widow, Maggie Meltion (born c. 1897 in NC).

He attended the University of Chicago during the 1940s, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1944 and master's in 1949.

He matriculated at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, by 1950. Robbins resided a 26 Chauncy Street in Cambridge, MA, on 01/30/1950. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, U.S., Veteran Compensation Application Files, WWII, 1950-1966 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015, accessed 01/27/2026.)

In 1955-1956, Robbins and his family lived at 726 Avila Place in El Cerrito, CA. (See Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company Oakland Telephone Directory, May 1955, p. 447 and Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company Oakland Telephone Directory, May 1956, p. 441.)

In 1986, 1990 and 1992, Robbins was listed as living on Stonewall Road in Berkeley. CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010, accessed 01/28/2026.)

Parents

Both of Jacob's parents were Jewish immigrants born in Russia.

His mother was Edith Frances Kapnek (born 01/12/1898-d. 02/28/1990 in Alameda County, CA), who in 1950 lived in the Parkwood Manor Apartments in Upper Darby, PA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, U.S., Veteran Compensation Application Files, WWII, 1950-1966 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015, accessed 01/27/2026.) Edith was the youngest child of Beryl Kapneck (born 1851 in Russia-d. 11/29/1910 in PA) and Deborah (Dora) Behrman (or Berman) (born 1852 in Russia-d. 06/1938 in PA), and the only one of her family born in the US. All other Kapneks had been born in Russia and come to the US in about 1893, according to the 1910 US Census. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1910; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 5, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1388; Page: 6a; Enumeration District: 0071; FHL microfilm: 1375401, accessed 01/28/2026.)

She married Jacob's father Louis A.J. Robbins (born 11/30/1897 in Philadelphia, PA-d. 03/19/1948 in Bywood, PA), in 1921. Louis Robbins worked as a lawyer in Philadelphia, active between the 1920s and 1940s. Jacob's World War II draft registration card indicated that his father was employed by the University of Pennsulvania on 06/30/1942. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Pennsylvania, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 2102, accessed 01/27/2026.)

Spouse

He wed Elizabeth Greenough King (born 06/20/1925 in Kearny, NJ-d. 09/27/1978 in San Francisco, CA) wed on 07/12/1953 in Cambridge, MA. They divorced in 1976 in CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. California, U.S., Divorce Index, 1966-1984 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007, accessed 01/27/2026.)

Children

He and Elizabeth had three children: Deborah Robbins (born 01/22/1955 in Berkeley, CA), Daniel Robbins, (born in Berkeley, CA) and Peter Robbins (born in Berkeley, CA).

Biographical Notes

He was nicknamed "Jack." His middle name at birth was likely "Beryl," (or "Berel") for his mother's father Beryl Kapnek, although Jacob used the more conventional "Bernard" on military documents. Beryl Kapnek also went by the name, including "Benjamin." At this time, Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe often changed their names to more conventional, Anglicized ones to assimilate.

His World War II draft registration card listed Robbins as being Caucasian with a dark complexion, brown eyes, and black hair. At age 18, he stood 5-feet, 10-and-1/2-inches tall and weighed 150 pounds. The form indicated that he had a scar on his right hand below the thumb. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Pennsylvania, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 2102, accessed 01/27/2026.)

• Philadelphia, PA (Architect's Birth)
  Philadelphia, PA

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