Sacramento County
Biographies
JAMES S. DEAN
JAMES S. DEAN--For more than a decade James S. Dean has been numbered among Sacramento's successful architects and during this period he has been intimately associated with building operations in the city. He was born in Belton, Bell County, Texas, December 27, 1885, a son of John A. and Eudora M. (Ware) Dean, both now deceased. After completing his high school course, he entered the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, from which he was graduated in 1906 with a degree of Bachelor of Science in architecture, and the next three years were spent in the study of architectural design in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Boston. He then became instructor in architecture and drawing at his alma mater in Texas, filling that position for four years, and on the expiration of that period went to Waco, Texas, where he opened an office, remaining at that place for a year.
In 1912 Mr. Dean came to California, locating in Sacramento, and for two years he acted as assistant designer in the bureau of architecture in the state department of engineering. In 1914 he was made assistant state architect, serving in that capacity for six years, and from 1920 until 1922 he was chief deputy for the firm of Hemmings, Peterson, Hudnutt, Inc. They were architects for Sacramento's new schools and Mr. Dean had entire charge of the work of planning, designing and construction, which was accomplished in a most efficient and satisfactory manner. He is now practicing independently and, owing to the prestige which he had previously won, his professional services are now in constant demand. He has the ability to combine utility and convenience with beauty of design and there is no phase of his profession, in either its technical or practical lines, with which he is not thoroughly familiar.
Mr. Dean married Miss Ruth Cook, of Iowa, and they now have a daughter, Charlotte Eudora. Mr. Dean is a Republican in his political views, but is not bound by the narrow ties of partisanship, placing the qualifications of the candidate above all other considerations. He is a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon college fraternity, and in Masonry he has attained the thirty-second degree. He is fond of outdoor sports and is president of the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club. Whatever touches the welfare of his city is to him a matter of deep concern, and his professional colleagues, bear testimony as to his character and pronounced skill.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento County,
California With Biographical Sketches, Pages 568-571. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA.
1923.
© 2007 Jeanne Taylor.