Résumé

Draftsman, John J. Donovan, Architect, Oakland, CA, 1911-1912; Designer, Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE), San Francisco, CA, 1913-1915; Draftsman, John Reid, Jr., Architect, San Francisco, CA, c. 1915-1917; Draftsman, G. Albert Lansburgh, Architect, San Francisco, CA, c. 1917-1918; his World War I Draft Registration Card indicated that on 06/05/1917, Starks worked for Lansburgh's office at 709 Mission Street. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation, Registration State: California; Registration County: San Francisco; Roll: 1544256; Draft Board: 08,accessed 10/13/2016.)

Draftsman, Waddy Butler Wood, Washington, D.C., c. 1918-1919; he apparently worked with Wood while working for a US Army construction group during World War I. (See G. Walter Reed, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches, (Los Angeles: Historic Record Company, 1923), p. 936.)

Architectural Designer, Thomas Lamb, Architect, New York, NY, c. 1917-1921; Architectural historian John Lewis Powell has said: "While in Lamb's office, Starks worked on designs for several New York theaters, including the Rivoli and the Capital." He continued: "In 1921 Lamb signed an exclusive contract with the Famous Players theater chain and sent Starks to California to supervise the design and construction of a chain of theaters on the West Coast. When an anti-trust suit blocked construction of these buildings, Starks gave up his position with Lamb and settled in Sacramento." (See John Edward Powell, A Guide to Historic Architecture in Fresno, California Biographies of Architects, Designers, and Builders, "Leonard F. Starks (1891-1986)," accessed 07/21/2016.) Starks was sent to Sacramento in 06/1921 to supervise a string of new theatres commissioned by the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. The FTC stopped this West Coast expansion beginning in 08/1921.

Principal, Leonard F. Starks, Architect, Sacramento, CA, 1921- 1923; Partner, [E.C.] Hemmings and Starks, Architects, Sacramento, CA, 1923-1924. Edward C. Hemmings (1874-1924) worked with the firm of Hemmings-Peterson-Hudnutt c. 1921-1922, an association of two architects and a building contractor that produced designs for Sacramento schools and its main library. Partnering with Hemmings (who died in the second year of the partnership) early on provided Starks contacts in local government for future building work.

Partner, Starks and [Edward] Flanders, Architects, Sacramento, CA, 1925-1941. Starks knew Flanders while they both studied at the San Francisco Architectural Club. Both were officers of the club in 1918, Flanders, Vice-President, Starks, Treasurer. In 1932, the Starks and Flanders office was located at 1107 9th Street, Room #714.

Principal, Leonard F. Starks, Architect, Sacramento, CA, 1941-1965. On 04/25/1942, Starks's office was located in the Bank of America Building in Sacramento.

Starks retired from his architectural practice in 1965.

Professional Activities

Leonard F. Starks served as the Treasurer of the San Francisco Architectural Club in 1918. (See Architect and Engineer, vol. LVI, no. 1, 01/1919, p. 112.)

Archives

The California State Library in Sacramento maintains the Leonard F. Starks Collection, 1916-1923.

High School/College

Graduate, Lick Wilmerding Technical High School, San Francisco, CA,1908. Starks did not attend college, but gained architectural training at the San Francisco Architectural Club, an organization affiliated with New York's Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (BAID). BAID, in turn, was an American off-shoot of the Parisian École des Beaux-Arts, the graduate school many aspiring, college-educated American architects (c. 1880-1940) attended following undergraduate architectural degree programs in US universities. John Edward Powell has reported, "From 1908 to 1915 Starks worked in ateliers headed by Arthur Brown, Jr. and John Baur, under whom he produced fine student competition drawings." (See John Edward Powell, A Guide to Historic Architecture in Fresno, California Biographies of Architects, Designers, and Builders, "Leonard F. Starks (1891-1986)," accessed 07/21/2016.)

The book, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches,stated that Starks "...attended the Beaux Arts School and afterward studied for seven years under Arthur Brown." (See G. Walter Reed, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches, (Los Angeles: Historic Record Company, 1923), p. 936.) This may or may not have been the correct number of years, but he did exchange letters with Brown, and probably knew him through the San Francisco Beaux-Arts classes.

Relocation

Leonard F. Starks (1891-1986) was born in Healdsburg, CA. He worked in Oakland just before the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) from 1913-1915, and, thereafter, lived and worked in San Francisco. He resided at 365 5th Avenue in San Francisco on 06/05/1917. During World War I, he relocated with the US Army to Washington, DC. Starks avoided combat service with the military due to a physical disability, he was missing three fingers on his left hand. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation, Registration State: California; Registration County: San Francisco; Roll: 1544256; Draft Board: 08,accessed 10/13/2016.) (His World War II Draft Registration Card indicated that only two fingers were missing from his left hand. See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Draft Registration Cards for Fourth Registration for California, 04/27/1942 - 04/27/1942; NAI Number: 603155; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147, accessed 10/13/2016.)

He then worked for the famed movie theatre architect Thomas Lamb (1871–1942) in New York, NY from about 1919 until 1921. Starks, apparently a trusted designer in the Lamb office with a knowledge of CA, was sent to Sacramento in 06/1921 to supervise a string of Famous Players theatres. He worked for the New York architect until the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) initiated anti-trust litigation that curtailed Lamb's best client, the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, from building new theatres. (On 08/30/1921, the FTC began a restraint of trade lawsuit against Famous Players-Lasky Corporation and 12 other corporations and individuals alleging illegal vertical integration of the film production and exhibition businesses.) Amidst this uncertainty, Starks realized that Sacramento had a need for his services. A native of CA, he may have been looking for an opportunity to return West, and decided that the Sacramento Valley region had a promising future.

Starks formed two architectural partnerships in Sacramento, and practiced on his own for most of his career. In 1932, Starks lived with his wife, Eleanor, at 2531 P Street. On 04/25/1942, he lived with Eleanor at 2911 Riverside Boulevard in Sacramento.

He led a long life, dying in Sacramento at the age of 94.

Parents

His father was Abner Vance Starks (born 1869 in MO-died 1957 in Los Angeles, CA), his mother, Emma Ackerman Starks. They married in Eureka, CA, on 03/01/1891. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. California, Select Marriages, 1850-1945 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2014, accessed 10/13/2016.) In 1892, Abner worked as a hostler and, four years later, was a farmer in Healdsburg, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library, California History Section; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4 - 2A; CSL Roll Number: 132; FHL Roll Number: 978588, accessed 10/13/2016.)

Spouse

He married Eleanor Whalen of Boston, MA.

Biographical Notes

A biography of Starks published in 1923 erroneously indicated that Starks has been born in San Francisco, CA, on 12/08/1890. (See G. Walter Reed, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches, (Los Angeles: Historic Record Company, 1923), p. 936.) Starks's World War I and World War II Registration Cards, each written in his own hand, indicated that he had been born in Healdsburg on 12/08/1891. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation, Registration State: California; Registration County: San Francisco; Roll: 1544256; Draft Board: 08,accessed 10/13/2016 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Draft Registration Cards for Fourth Registration for California, 04/27/1942 - 04/27/1942; NAI Number: 603155; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147, accessed 10/13/2016.)

According to the his World War I Draft Card, Starks was tall, with a medium build, and had blue eyes and brown hair. In 1942, his World War II Draft Card indicated that he stood 5-feet, 9-inches tall and weighed 170 pounds.

According to the Online Archive of California, in retirement, Starks became an active watercolorist: "He organized the Rocky Rollers Art Group, a group of five men over the age of 70 who painted in water color and oil. He continued painting until 1982 when his eyes began to fail." (See Online Archive of California (OAC), "Guide to the Leonard F. Starks Collection, 1916-1923," accessed 10/13/2016.)

SSN: 558-50-4622.

• Healdsburg, CA (Architect's Birth)
  Healdsburg, CA

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• Sacramento, CA (Architect's Death)
  Sacramento, CA

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