Paul Henschke Sketches Lorain Landmarks – June 26, 1968

Back when summer vacation was really three months long (instead of ending in the middle of August like it does now), kids often didn’t know what to do with their time. Thus parents often found something for them to do.

One of the things that my parents did for my siblings and me in the summer of 1968 was to sign us up for art classes. These weekly classes sponsored by the Lorain recreation department were taught by well-known local artist Paul Henschke.

But it was much more than just drawing in a supervised environment. Mr. Henschke had a hunch that the Lorain of 1968 was not going to last forever; he knew that the cityscape was going to evolve. Consequently, for many weeks, the class met at various places around Lorain to sketch iconic sites. These included the Lakeview Park fountain and bathhouse; the back of the Broadway Building with its neon bowling sign; the Fire Station facing Washington Park; the Century Park bathhouse; the old City Hall.

Thanks to his foresight, those in his class who saved their drawings have a perfectly preserved view of many of the city’s landmarks from that era, as seen through a child. (I posted many of my drawings from the class in a three-part series that began here.)

Anyway, Mr. Henschke himself made a series of drawings of these very same landmarks. He explains his theory about preserving them through sketches in the article below, which appeared in the Lorain Journal on June 26, 1968.

He also makes reference to the art class he taught near the end of the short article.

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I wonder whatever happened to Mr. Henschke’s sketches? It sure would be great to see them all framed and hanging in a row on the walls of Lorain City Hall.