Thanks to a Lincoln volunteer group, students at every Lincoln Public Schools elementary school will have access to a children’s book about the architect who helped craft one of Nebraska’s most well-known monuments.
Lincoln Center Kiwanis Club and Foundation donated the funds needed to provide all 41 elementary schools in the district with a copy of “Immigrant Architect: Rafael Guastavino and the American Dream.”
Published in 2020, the book tells the story of Rafael Guastavino, an architect who immigrated to the United States from Spain in 1881 and contributed to many buildings across the world, including the Nebraska State Capitol.
Guastavino primarily worked with tiles to craft detailed, self-supporting arches and domes inside of buildings. Many of his designs can be found in New York City, but according to the book, the Nebraska Capitol building was his most spectacular piece of work.
“This building represented the height of achievement as …