Résumé

Apprentice, stone mason, Hamburg, Germany, c. 1903-1907.

Draftsman, Düsseldorf, Germany, 1912.

Draftsman, C.G. Bensel, Architekt, Hamburg, Germany, c. 1913.

Designer, Peter Behrens, Architekt, Hamburg, Germany, c. 1913-1914. He was forced to leave Behrens's office at the onset of World War I.

Service in the German Army during World War I, 1914-1919.

Art Director, Famous Players-Lasky Company, (later known as Paramount Pictures Corporation), Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1923-1927. A short tribute in the Los Angeles Times just after his death said: "A Fine Designer was lost to us when Jock D. Peters died March 29 at Alta Canada. He designed the first three floors of interiors for Bullock's Wilshire, the Hollander Shops in New York and did much designing for Paramount Pictures." (See "A Fine Designer..." Los Angeles Times, 04/08/1934, p. 40.)

Stage Designer, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Los Angeles, CA, c, 1925. His obituary in the Pasadena Post stated: "For a number of years, Mr. Peters was engaged in designing sets for the MGM Motion Picture Company.” (See “Jock D. Peters Passes at Home,” Pasadena Post, 04/03/1934, p. 5.)

Partner, Peters Brothers Modern American Design, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1927.

Associated Designer, [William F.] Ruck and Peters, Architecture and Interior Design, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1928.

Associated Designer, Feil and Paradise, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1930. Working with Feil and Paradise, his work on Bullock's Wilshire Department Store brought him rapid acclaim. "“He was about 43 years of age and in those short years had become widely known as an artist and designer, particularly of interiors. The interior decorations and designing of Bullock’s Wilshire building were his work and brought him instant recognition as a master in that field. Shortly after finishing his work on the Bullock building he was called to New York and designed the interior work on the Hollander building.” (See “Jock D. Peters Passes at Home,” Pasadena Post, 04/03/1934, p. 5.)

Teaching

Director, Handwerker- und Kunstgewerbeschule, Altona, Germany, a state school of crafts and applied arts in Altona near Hamburg, c. 1920-1922. Peters left this job when he came to the United States in 11/1922.

Professional Activities

Founding Member, American Union of Decorative Artists and Craftsmen (AUDAC), Los Angeles Chapter, 1930-1934. The Los Angeles Times said of AUDAC's formation in Los Angeles in 1930: A western chapter of ‘Audac,’ American Union of Decorative Artists and Craftsmen, has been formed here at the invitation of the parent organization in New York. The following are charter members: Jacob Assanger, painter; Will Connell, photographer; J.R. Davidson, Jock Peters and Kim Weber, designers, and Lloyd Wright, architect. Temporary officers are Jacob Assanger, chairman, and Will Connell, secretary. ‘Audac’ is an organization of practicing artists and architects in the industrial, decorative and applied arts. Its aims are described as ‘to lessen the discrepancy between the spirit of the modern age and its setting through the encouragement of designs that are in harmony with modern life. The New York organization has 120 members including Frank Lloyd Wright, Raymond Hood, Rockwell Kent, Steichen, Lucian Bernhard and Paul T. Frankel. [sic] Kem Weber of Los Angeles is a charter member and Jacques D’Arcy of Hollywood is also a member of the parent group. Active, associate and sustaining membership are provided for in the constitution of ‘Audac.’” (See “Decorative Craftsmen Form Group,” Los Angeles Times, 07/06/1930, part II, p. 6.)

Shortly after his death, an exhibition of Peters's artworks was mounted at the Los Angeles Junior College. Arthur Miller, art critic for the Los Angeles Times, noted the occasion: “Jock D. Peters, who died recently, was a remarkable designer for architecture, movies and the stage. His works are on view at Los Angeles Junior College art department, until June 11.” (See Arthur Miller, “Brush Strokes,” Los Angeles Times, 06/03/1934, p. 40.)

Archival documents on Jock Peters are housed at the Architecture and Design Collection of the University Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB);

High School/College

Peters learned building trade skills through both the apprentice method and in school environments.

Coursework, Baugewerkschule, Germany, c. 1907-1912.

Relocation

Jakob Detlef Peters was born in the village of Jarrenwisch, Schleswig Holstein, Germany. It was located in the west-central part of Schleswig-Holstein, about 114 km northwest of Hamburg, Germany. In 1903, Peters left home to start an apprenticeship with a stone mason in Hamburg. He left this apprenticeship by about 1907, when he started attending classes at one of Germany's Baugewerkschulen, building trade schools, although it is not clear which one it was. Germany had many begun in the 19th century, including those in Munich, Königsberg, Regensburg, Stuttgart, Hanover, Darmstadt, and Lübeck. The Staatliche Baugewerkschule in Königsberg, Prussia, [now Kaliningrad, Russia], was perhaps the best-known of these in Germany in 1907. Essen also completed its own Königliche Baugewerkschule (Royal Building College) in 1908.

After graduating from this school, he worked as a draftsman in Düsseldorf in 1912. (Essen's new Royal Building College would have been close by to Düsseldorf at the time.) Just before World War I, Peters married his wife, Herta. His five children were all born between 1914 and 1922, the only one not born in Hamburg was a son, Dierk, born in Düsseldorf in 1917.

Peters left Hamburg, Germany, as a second-class passenger aboard the S.S. Reliance, a Hamburg-Amerika Line steamship, on 11/15/1922. The Reliance made port in Cuxhaven, Germany, Southampton, England, Cherbourg, France, and New York, NY, arriving in the last city on 11/24/1922. At the time, Peters's profession was "professor" according to the ship's manifest. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Staatsarchiv Hamburg; Hamburg, Deutschland; Hamburger Passagierlisten; Volume: 373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 288 B; Page: 2567; Microfilm No.: K_1844, accessed 04/09/2021.)

When he entered the US, he indicated that his last foreign place of residence was in Altona, Germany, and that his brother, Fritz Peters, remained living in that city. This Port of New York entry manifest for alien passengers of 11/1922 indicated that Jock Peters's final destination was Pasadena, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1922; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Line: 20; Page Number: 153, accessed 04/09/2021.)

Peters's name first appeared in the Los Angeles, City Directory, 1924, (p. 1795). He was listed as an architect, living at 5202 Mt. Helena Drive at that time. The 1930 US Census also located the Peters Family residing in a rented house at 5202 Mount Helena Drive in Los Angeles, CA. They paid $65 in monthly rent. Jock Peters was listed as being an architect in "general practice" according to the census.

Working as an art director, Peters lived with his family at 1651 Hill Drive, Los Angeles, in 1932 when he applied for US naturalization.

His residences were mentioned in his Pasadena Post obituary: “He resided on Mt. Helena for some time, then on Hill drive near Townsend and recently moved to La Canada with the hope of benefitting his health.” He passed away at his La Canada residence on 03/31/1934. (See “Jock D. Peters Passes at Home,” Pasadena Post, 04/03/1934, p. 5.) Peters's last house was located at 5042 Monte Bonito Drive, on Los Angeles's Eagle Rock neighborhood. (See Names Heir's Estate," Eagle Rock Sentinel, 07/20/1934, p. 4.)

Spouse

He wed Herta Emma Maria Boeger (born 03/25/1889 in Oberhausen, Germany-d. 05/12/1957 in Los Angeles County, CA) on 12/20/1913 at Hamburg, Germany, according to Jock Peters's US passport paperwork. Herta did not accompany Jock on his 11/1922 transatlantic voyage, but came to New York, NY, on 03/26/1923, with her mother and five children. A US passport form for Herta Peters from 03/31/1932, noted that she traveled from Bremen, Germany, to the US on 03/27/1923 aboard the S.S. Millard Fillmore. (See Ancestry.com, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Naturalization Records of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division (Los Angeles), 1887-1940; Microfilm Roll: 34; Microfilm Serial: M1524, accessed 04/12/2021.)

She became naturalized a US citizen on 11/30/1934. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Naturalization Index Cards of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division (Los Angeles), 1915-1976 (M1525); Microfilm Serial: M1525; Microfilm Roll: 14, accessed 04/12/2021.)

In 1940, Herta lived with her four daughters at 5833 Eucalyptus Lane in Los Angeles, CA. She was a registered Democrat at the time, as was her daughter, Ursel. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1900-1968, accessed 04/09/2021.)

Children

Herta and Jakob had five children: Ursel "Ursula" Peters Deswart (born 12/09/1914 in Hamburg, Germany- d. 08/03/1991 in Los Angeles, CA), Dierk Detlef Peters (born 04/12/1917 in Düsseldorf, Germany-d. 03/20/2014 in Sisters, OR), Annemarie Marzi Peters (born 01/10/1920 at Hamburg, Germany), Eva Peters Engholm (born 02/16/1921 in Hamburg, Germany-d. 11/20/1987 in CA), and Herta Peters Anderson (born 06/18/1922 in Hamburg, Germany-d. 12/10/1993 in Orange County, CA). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Naturalization Records of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division (Los Angeles), 1887-1940; Microfilm Roll: 34; Microfilm Serial: M1524, accessed 04/09/2021.)

In 1940, Jock's daughters each had a job to help out the household. Ursel worked as a secretary at the 20th Century Fox Studio Library. Anne had a position as an apprentice interior designer with a furniture design firm. Eva and Herta both worked as secretaries, the former in an insurance brokerage, the other at the board of education. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Roll: m-t0627-00388; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 60-1156, accessed 04/09/2021.)

Annemarie and Eva attended Eagle Rock High School in Los Angeles in 1938. She resided in Los Angeles, CA, in 1994.

Eva married twice, the first time to Theodore Broadwell Geissler (born 10/18/1913 in Los Angeles, CA-d. 11/15/1957 in Mono County, CA). She had four children with Ted Geissler, Christi, Peter, Heidi and Ted. After his death, she wed again to Joseph Engholm, on 07/01/1967.

Biographical Notes

He changed the spelling of his first name from the German "Jakob" to the English "Jacob" in the US. He was nicknamed "Jock" and was known professionally under the name "Jock Peters." There was an unrelated "Jacob Dick Peters" (1888-1964), who worked for the Warehouse Union in San Francisco in 04/1942.

Peters, like a lot of soldiers during the First World War, was gassed in battle. He lost a lung to tuberculosis in 1918, and one of his prime reasons for migrating to Southern California was to restore his health.

He applied for US citizenship in Los Angeles, CA, on 03/18/1932. According to this naturalization paperwork, Peters was Caucasian with a fair complexion, blue eyes and blond hair. He stood 5-feet, 9-inces tall and weighed 140 pounds. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Naturalization Records of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division (Los Angeles), 1887-1940; Microfilm Roll: 34; Microfilm Serial: M1524, accessed 04/09/2021.)