User:Eykshaw/African-American architects

Background
The first African American architects appeared formally in the mid-1800s and entered into a white-dominated profession. Anti-Black racism was amplified by the enforcement of Jim Crow laws, which segregated Black folks, promoting direct racism. According to the great-grandniece of Julian Abele, a prolific Black architect, it was because of the Jim Crow laws that Abele never visited Duke University after it had been constructed, despite designing much of the campus. Although the Jim Crow laws were abolished by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, racism still imbues architecture as a field. In 2021, just 1.9% of licensed architects were Black.

Attention was drawn to the inequitable treatment and representation of Black architects in the 1960s during the civil rights movements. For example, students and faculty at Yale's School of Arts and Architecture went on strike to protest the denial of admission of several African American students as well as Yale's general perpetuation of racism as an institution. At a National Convention of the American Institute of Architects, civil rights leader Whitney Young criticized American architects by calling out pervasive, structural racism. Action was taken by the AIA between 1968 and 1974 to attempt to rectify racism in the architectural field and academia. The organization elected Black architects to their governing board and established the Minority Scholarship Program to support minority architecture students; these changes slowed during the recession in the late 1970s and were further hindered by changes in political power, especially with the election of both Nixon and Regan. Low and moderate income housing programs, a primary part of Black architects' practice, were put on hold in 1973 by Nixon and dismantled in 1980 by Regan.

Representation of African Americans in the field of architecture has always been disproportionate in comparison to their percentage within the nation's population. This is in part due to a lack of a more broad educational access in the late 1800s and early 1900s but also economic and cultural struggle and minimal awareness. The experience of black youth with the profession of architecture doesn't exist, so new generations of creative thinkers don't explore architecture as a career choice. Inadequate funding and low budgets for art and technology programs in primary and secondary schools that breed self-expression and creative intuition cause no true foundation for a field like architecture. For instance, Julian Abele's high school teachers discouraged him from pursuing architecture as a career because they believed the Black community would not be able to support him. Architecture is also not immediately involved in social work directly related to black communities which is another reason why the profession struggles in the recruitment of African American talent. Although the numbers of practicing African American architects are growing by the day, the statistics for licensed practitioners are still a small percentage. Overall, Black architects do not have access to the supportive resources that are allowed to the majority, resulting in systemic barriers that exacerbate inequity within the field. However, this is slowly changing. Black designers have been making a difference in many local communities across the country and continue to impact the built environment.

Men
Some architects such as Julian Francis Abele, Louis Arnett Stuart Bellinger, and Paul Revere Williams were able to obtain an architectural degree from top universities, an architectural license, and positions at top architectural firms. These architects took different approaches to achieve success in their careers, but they shared common experiences in that each still operated within a racist environment. Clients were often opposed to having their projects overseen by an African American architect. This resulted in many African American architects working on a design for a project, but losing credit for their work.

Julian Francis Abele
Julian Francis Abele (1881–1950) The first African American to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania School of Architecture (1902). After traveling and studying in Europe under the sponsorship of Horace Trumbauer, Abele returned to Philadelphia and joined Trumbauer's firm in 1906. He served as chief designer from 1909 to 1938. The Philadelphia Museum of Art was a collaboration between Trumbauer's firm and that of Zantzinger, Borie and Medary. While another Trumbauer architect, Howell Lewis Shay, is credited with the building's plan and massing, the presentation drawings are in Abele's hand. It was not until after Trumbauer's death that Abele signed his architectural drawings, or claimed credit for being the main designer of Duke University's west campus. Abele also helped design the Widener Memorial Library at Harvard. In addition to not being properly credited for his work, Abele was denied room and board due to his race when he traveled to Duke for a site visit. Upon his death in 1950, the local newspaper dedicated just three paragraphs to his contributions.

Paul Revere Williams
Paul Revere Williams was raised in the Los Angeles area where he attended school. After Graduating from high school, Williams attended the Los Angeles School of Art and eventually studied at USC. Williams then worked for established firms ran by Wilbert D. Cook Jr. and George D. Hall. Williams received his architecture license from the state of California, and was the first black person in the American Institute of Architects (AIA), joining the Southern California Chapter in 1923, and the first black person to become a fellow of the AIA, in 1957. In 1921, he became the first African American Architect west of the Mississippi. Williams was also a member of the Los Angeles Planning Commission in 1920, the California Housing Commission in 1947, the National Monument Commission in 1929, and the National Housing Commission in 1953. Williams designed residential buildings as well as churches, schools, and other commercial buildings. Williams took advantage of wealthy white families as his primary clientele group, working within the preexisting framework of a white-centric field to gain notoriety amongst both white and black communities.

Robert R. Taylor

Robert Robinson Taylor was born in Wilmington, North Carolina on June 8, 1868. After attending Williston School in Wilmington and later the Gregory Normal Institute, a school for blacks operated and maintained by the American Missionary Association, Taylor became Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) first black graduate, and the nation’s first known accredited African-American architect. During his time at MIT, Taylor would encounter Booker T. Washington, the prominent black educator and race leader from Tuskegee, Alabama. On several occasions, a recruitment to work at the Tuskegee Institute, a “co-educational, privately controlled, professional, scientific, and technical institution […] designated as a national historic landmark in recognition of the role […] in the economic and social advancement of blacks” by Washington was made. Taylor posed as an ideal recruit due to his ethnicity and education from a premier technical institute. However, Taylor did not accept this offer immediately after graduation. Instead, by his own testimony, he “took up the practice of architecture and designed several private and public buildings” before encountering Washington once again and accepted the offer.

In the thirty years Taylor was present at the Tuskegee Institute, his most notable contribution comprised of the Science Hall, also known as Thrasher Hall and the chapel. This body of architectural work also included other buildings such as the Carnegie Library. Beyond designing “a formal plan for the whole [Tuskegee] campus around 1900” and constructing the campus’ buildings, Taylor also taught architecture ; building trades and managed campus development, and "eventually [served] as "Directors of Industries" and under, Washington's successor, Robert Russa Moton, Vice President." The current School of Architecture and Construction Science program at the now named Tuskegee University is named after Robert Robinson Taylor himself.

Chapel (1898, Tuskegee Institute)

The chapel features a 105-foot exterior with separate entrances for boys and girls, "and a cavernous interior of high-arched hammer-beam trusses that so impressed writer (and Tuskegee student) Ralph Ellison that he described it in his novel Invisible Man." Once coined as a "cathedral of black belt" by a New York journalist, Taylor offered a place for African Americans "a sense of place and ownership" creating an institutional presence.

Carnegie Library (1901, Tuskegee Institute)

Funded by “Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie", Taylor’s design of the Carnegie library became Tuskegee’s first library. While four large classical columns are featured on its main façade , Taylor attempts to create a “rhythmic façade” by the “use of varying window shapes and spacing” on the sides. Following the success of this first Carnegie library, Taylor would continue to build “over two thousand other “Carnegie Libraries” worldwide, including some belonging to public and university library systems”. These include two other black colleges: Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina (1908) and Wiley University in Marshall, Texas (1910).

Mario Gooden
Mario Gooden, born in 1965, is an architect based in New York and is the sole principal at Huff + Gooden Architects. He graduated from Clemson University in 1987 and received his Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture in 1990. Gooden's philosophy for his architecture includes creating spaces that speak to the cultural landscape and the intersectionality of architecture, race, gender, sexuality, and technology. He is affiliated with Global Africa Lab, exploring design methods and research aided by new technologies and media within the context of spatial typologies in Africa and its diaspora. He also looks at how political histories and globalization shape architecture, urbanism, culture, and the ecologies within African spaces. Mario Gooden is a cultural practitioner that has been showcased nationally and internationally and published in several journals. Aside from heading his own firm and the Global Africa Lab, Gooden also works as a professor at the University of Columbia teaching theory and design and focusing on global topics and culture.

Women
The first African American women architects, such as Norma Merrick Sklarek and Beverly Loraine Greene, were faced with many challenges as they completed their journey of becoming architects. For years prior, the architecture industry was dominated by white men. In the 1900s, it was difficult for an African American man to receive a fair chance to become employed at a firm because of racism. On top of this, women were fighting for equal rights. Women architects not only had to overcome many setbacks due to their race but also due to their gender. Some common setbacks faced by Sklarek included being denied entry into the world of architecture, and not receiving recognition for their work. African American women had to work extremely hard just to have the chance to be educated in the field. As Sklarek demonstrated throughout her career, it was possible for African American women to excel in the architectural world, but the numbers of women within the field were low, and seem to have remained low from the time Sklarek was actively working to more recent years.

Norma Merrick Sklarek
Norma Merrick Sklarek (April 15, 1928–February 6, 2012) is the first African American woman architect in United States history. She is also one of the only two women with a bachelor's degree in architecture. After graduating from Columbia University's architecture program in 1950, Sklarek passed her architectural licensing exam in New York in 1954 and California's licensing exam in 1962. She became the first African American woman architect in the United States. She is also the first woman in American History to be elected as a fellow in the American Institute of Architects (AIA). After getting the Architectural license, Sklarek first worked for Skidmore, Owens, and Merrill (SOM) in 1955. Then she worked in the Gruen Associate for over 20 years. She became the first African American woman director of Architecture at Gruen Associate. Sklarek found her owned architectural firm, Siegel, Sklarek, Diamond, in 1980. She described her firm as the largest architectural firm that is woman-owned. Her notable architectural projects are American Embassy in Tokyo (1976) and Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles (1975).

Behind the success of Sklarek, there were many challenges she overcame as an African women architect. In the 1950s, there were not many woman architects in the United States, and the architecture industry was dominated by white and male. Thus, Sklarek was being discriminated against for her gender and race. Sklarek failed to find an architectural position after graduation. Even though she got a job later, she was not allowed to say herself as an architectural designer in front of her clients. The former president of AIA, Marshall Purnell, said, "She is an excellent architect capable of doing any project. However, she was not allowed to express herself as an architect in front of clients." Most clients could not trust an African American woman architect to design their projects. Thus, Sklarek was doing project management most of the time instead of designing. According to her interview at California Architect magazines, Skarek said she was treated differently from her male co-workers. For example, she is a highly visible employee compared to her male co-workers. Later, When Sklarek established her firm, she explained that it was challenging to get the projects because of her gender. She needed to spend a lot of time and money to prove that they were equal or better than males.

Beverly Loraine Greene
Beverly Loraine Greene was the first black woman to become a licensed architect in the US. She was based out of Illinois, and started her practice in Chicago. She struggled to be noticed because of her race. Greene went on to work on international projects such as UNESCO headquarters in Paris, and designed buildings for NYU. During Greene's professional career, she worked on Stuyvesant Town in New York City for a short few days before leaving to attend Columbia University on a scholarship. Although the time she spent on the project was limited, Greene is often recognized as the woman behind the 80-acre development. Her involvement on the project was unprecedented for Metropolitan Life [the owner of the complex] due to their historically racist practices, hence an important milestone in her professional career.

Elizabeth Carter Brooks
Elizabeth Carter Brooks was one the few black women in her era that was actually considered an architect as well as a patron. Brooks attended the Swain Free School which provided her with a fundamental understanding of design and practical application. She learned about historic architectural styles, sculpture and painting which all heavily influenced the design of her home at 396 Middle Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Brooks had a vast education compared to many other black architects, she had years of technical training and learned many skills, but what made her a great designer was her commitment to the black community. Brooks designed institutions for the betterment of African American people and was also involved in the earliest attempts to preserve historic black sites. She purchased the Sergeant William H. Camey house because of the role it played in the Civil War and its importance in honoring Black Union troops.

Amaza Lee Meredith
Amaza Lee Meredith was a practicing architect in the early 1920s and 1930s. Born in Virginia in 1895, Amaza was born to a black mother and white father who legally was not able to be married; this was during this time of racial segregation and infrastructure set in place to restrict black people in Virginia. Despite the obstacles and traumas set in this time period, Amaza rose to the occasion graduating top of her class in high school and eventually from Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute, or what is now Virginia State University with a degree in fine arts. Amaza had no formal training in architecture, but was fond of expressing her creativity through multiple medias. She designed her home, adjacent to Virginia State University, 'Azurest South,' and it was considered an advanced residential design, greatly contributing to the definition and style of 'modernity' in that era. Although she was never registered as an architect, Amaza practiced under the name 'Azurest Syndicate, Inc.,' along with her sister, designing residences for wealthy white people, including the Roosevelt family, and middle-class black people.

21st Century
Although the culture and society in the United States have improved from the 19th and 20th centuries, African American architects and other people of color who desire to become an architect continue to deal with a lack of diversity in the field. Only 2% of licensed architects in the United States are Black or African American, and less than 1 in 5 new architects identify as a racial or ethnic minority, according to the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.

The Directory of African American Architects  maintains an ongoing list of licensed African American architects. On October 24, 2019 there was 2,300 people listed including 467 women. African American architects represent about 2% of all licensed architects (116,000) and African American women represent approximately 0.4%, according to the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). There are several organizations and initiatives focused on increasing representation including the National Organization of Minority Architects, Riding the Vortex, 400 FORWARD, Hip Hop Architecture, First 500, Beyond the Built  and many others.

A more recent project that is vital to the positive change surrounding the image of African American architects is the National Museum of African American Heritage and Culture in Washington, D.C. The project was completed in September 2016 and designed by four notable African American architects including: J. Max Bond, Jr., who was called the dean of the nation’s black architects up until his passing in 2009; Phil Freelon, the heir to Bond’s legacy; Zena Howard, the only woman on the team; and David Adjaye, graduate of Howard and crucial to making the diasporic connection between African American and African heritage that showed up in many aspects of the design. The NMAAHC project was an important moment in history because it recognizes the contribution of African American architects to the built environment and changed the trajectory of expectations moving forward.

Women

 * Georgia Louise Harris Brown is considered to be the second African American woman to become a licensed architect in the United States. who worked in Chicago and Brazil with Mies.
 * Alma Carlisle was an LA based preservationist in the mid-20th century.
 * Alberta Jeannette Cassell is one of the first two African American women to graduate from Cornell University in 1948, along with Martha Cassell Thompson. She became a naval architect with the United States Naval Sea Systems Command between in the 1970s.
 * Ivenue Love-Stanley, co-principal (with her husband William J. Stanley III) of the Atlanta-based firm, Stanley, Love-Stanley, PC.
 * Helen Eugenia Parker designed Trinity Hospital in Detroit.
 * Martha Cassell Thompson is one of the first two African American women to graduate from Cornell University in 1948, along with Alberta Jeannette Cassell. She was the chief restoration architect for the National Cathedral.
 * Roberta Washington, founder of Roberta Washington Architects, PC. located in New York City, a full architectural design and planning services

Men

 * Walter T. Bailey, was the first African-American graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Engineering in 1904 and an honorary master's degree from the same school in 1910. Bailey assisted in the planning of Champaign's Colonel Wolfe School before being appointed head of the mechanical industries department at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where he supervised planning design and construction of several campus buildings.

•Louis Arnett Stuart Bellinger (1891-1946) was responsible for the design of significant buildings in and near Pittsburgh.


 * J. Max Bond Jr. (1935-2009) became a partner of Davis Brody Bond in 1990 when it joined forces with Bond Ryder and Associates. The firm was renamed Davis Brody Bond in 1996.
 * Calvin Brent (1854–1899) generally thought to be the first African-American architect to practice in Washington, D.C.
 * John S. Chase, in 1952, became the first African American to enroll and graduate from the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture and later became the first African American male licensed to practice Architecture in the state of Texas. In addition, he was also the first African American admitted to the Texas Society of Architects and the Houston Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). In 1970 John S. Chase became the first African American Architect to serve on the United States Commission of Fine Arts and in 1970, he co-founded the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), (along with 12 other black architects).
 * Henry Beard Delany (1858–1928) taught at St. Augustine College from 1885–1908 and designed several buildings there.
 * George Washington Foster (1866–1923) was among the first African-American architects licensed by the State of New Jersey in 1908, and later New York (1916)
 * Robert P. Madison, FAIA, founder of Robert P. Madison, International, is the first African American to graduate from Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University). When Madison completed and passed requirements for his architectural licensing examination in June 1950, he is believed to have become Ohio's first licensed African American architect. Madison was one of only 14 architects invited to tour China in 1974 after Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China ended 25 years of isolation between the U.S. and China.
 * William Sidney Pittman (1875–1958) established an early firm in Washington, D.C.
 * Marshall E. Purnell, in 2007, was elected to serve as the 2007 First Vice President/ President-elect / 2008 President of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Washington, DC. Purnell, an AIA regional director from the Mid-Atlantic Region and design principal of Devrouax+Purnell Architects and Planners PC, Washington, DC, has been involved in numerous AIA activities, including service on the Board Advocacy and Diversity committees, as well as on the AIA Scholarship, Historic Resources and Housing committees. He has also been involved in leadership at the local component level through the AIA District of Columbia chapter and is a fellow of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), of which he was elected president, and to several other executive positions.
 * Wallace Rayfield (1874–1941) was the second formally educated practicing African-American architect in the USA.
 * Hilyard Robinson (1899–1986) is best known for the design of the Langston Terrace Dwellings, built in 1936. Robinson also designed the Army training base of the infamous Tuskegee Airmen.
 * Vertner Woodson Tandy (1885–1949) was the first African-American architect licensed by New York.
 * Robert R. Taylor, was the first African American admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Architecture and the only African American among 19 first-year students in the architecture atelier of the first school of architecture in the United States. In 1892, he became the first African American to earn a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from MIT ("African American Architects – A Biographical Dictionary 1865–1945).