User:JPRiley/Stull

Don Stull (May 16, 1937 – November 28, 2020) was an American architect in practice in Boston from 1966 until his retirement in 2014. When Stull began working in the 1960s he was one of only an estimated dozen Black architects working in the United States, and his practice Stull Associates, later Stull & Lee Inc., was the first Black-owned architectural firm in Boston. Stull designed many Boston landmarks, including the former Harriet Tubman House (1974), Roxbury Community College (1988), Ruggles station (1988) and the Boston Police Department headquarters (1997).

Don Stull (May 16, 1937 – November 28, 2020) and M. David Lee  (born August 31, 1943) are? were? American architects who worked in collaboration from 1969 until 2014 and were partners from 1984???

Life and career
Donald Leroy Stull was born March 16, 1937 in Springfield, Ohio to Robert Stull, a foundry worker, and Ruth Callahan Stull, née Branson. He developed an interest in architecture after working on construction sites with his uncle, a mason. He was educated at the Ohio State University and Harvard University, graduating from the latter in 1962 with an MArch. At Harvard he met architect Walter Gropius and worked for the firm he led, The Architects Collaborative, and after graduation he worked for Samuel Glaser Associates. Both of these firms were at work on the John F. Kennedy Federal Building at the time of his employment.

In 1966 Stull left Glaser to establish his own practice, Stull Associates. This was the first Black-owned architectural firm in Boston. Early on he developed a specialty in the design of affordable housing, which would be a mainstay of his practice. This housing was typically for housing authorities and various urban-focused development organizations, which led to larger public projects in an era of large-scale urban redevelopment. Stull and his associates developed an approach to these projects that focused on maintaining existing neighborhood character and minimizing displacement. In 1972, after the cancellation of the Southwest Corridor highway, Stull Associates was retained to propose alternate uses for the unused right-of-way. After the decision to use the right-of-way for a subway line covered by a linear park, the firm was placed in charge of planning the project. They assigned the design of the park and individual stations to other firms, while retaining the design responsibility of Ruggles, one of three large intermodal stations on the new line. The station and park were completed in 1988 and 1990, respectively. For this work the firm was awarded a Presidential Design Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Stull Associates' Blackstone Elementary School (1975) in Boston and the former Jackie Robinson Middle School (1977) in New Haven were the first municipal projects in those cities to be assigned to a Black architect.

Proir to establishing Stull Associates, Stull had never worked alongside another Black architect. As the owner of his firm, he made a point to assemble a diverse staff, providing a springboard for women and members of ethnic minorities in the historically white and male architectural profession. One of these was M. David Lee, a Harvard graduate student who Stull hired as a summer intern in 1969. After his graduation in 1971 Lee joined the firm full time and was later made a principal. In 1984 he became a named principal when the firm was reorganized as Stull & Lee. In a 1989 article on Stull & Lee in the Boston Globe, the partners described their successes and difficulties as Black architects. Said Lee, "[b]eing a Black firm has worked both ways ... [w]e have had access to public sector projects driven by affirmative action goals. On the other hand, we have had to tell engineers: 'Don’t just call us when you need minority representation on your project. Call us when you just want quality work.'"

In the 1980s and 1990s Stull & Lee completed a new campus for the Roxbury Community College (1988) and the Boston Police Department headquarters (1997). They also, in collaboration with Wallace Floyd Design Group, prepared guidelines and concept designs for the highway ventilation structures for the Big Dig. The design for the structures themselves were prepared by architects at TAMS Consultants. The first of these to be designed and completed was Ventilation Building 7 over the Ted Williams Tunnel, which was awarded the Harleston Parker Medal of the Boston Society of Architects in 1999 as well as honors from the American Institute of Architects. Cost overruns resulted in design elements from Ventilation Building 7 being repeated in the other structures. Stull & Lee grew to have 60 employees before the Great Recession, which neccesitated a downsizing to only 10. Stull retired in 2014, after which Lee took over management of the firm.

Amongst other awards, Stull received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Ohio State University in 1970 and was awarded an honorary degree from the Boston Architectural College in 2011. He was a member of the American Institute of Architects and was elected a Fellow in 1981.

Personal life
Stull was married and had three children. He died November 28, 2020 at home in Milton, Massachusetts at the age of 83.

Stull Associates, 1966–1984

 * 1969 – Unity Bank and Trust Company offices, 416 Warren St, Roxbury, Boston
 * 1970 – Cochituate Cooperative Homes, 1-37 Interfaith Ter, Framingham, Massachusetts
 * 1970 – Presidential Courts, 223 Pearl St, Stoughton, Massachusetts
 * 1971 – 100 Centre Plaza, 100 Centre St, Brookline, Massachusetts
 * 1971 – Village Park, Village Park Rd, Amherst, Massachusetts
 * 1972 – Hill Homes Cooperative, 454-484 Hancock St, Springfield, Massachusetts
 * 1974 – 1550 Beacon Plaza, 1550 Beacon St, Brookline, Massachusetts
 * 1974 – Algonquin Heights, Algonquin Ter, Plymouth, Massachusetts
 * 1974 – Inman Square Apartments, 1221 Cambridge St, Cambridge, Massachusetts
 * 1974 – Harriet Tubman House, 566 Columbus Ave, Boston
 * 1975 – Blackstone Elementary School, 380 Shawmut Ave, Boston
 * 1976 – Rutland Road Plaza, 60 E 93rd St, Brooklyn
 * 1977 – Jackie Robinson Middle School, 150 Fournier St, New Haven, Connecticut
 * 1978 – Jack Satter House, 420 Revere Beach Blvd, Revere, Massachusetts
 * 1979 – Casa Maria Apartments, 130 Endicott St, Boston
 * 1980 – Marcus Garvey Gardens, 44 John Eliot Sq, Roxbury, Boston
 * 1985 – Council Tower, 2875 Washington St, Roxbury, Boston

Stull & Lee, from 1984

 * 1988 – Dawson-Longley Apartments, 400 Massachusetts Ave, Boston
 * 1988 – Roxbury Community College campus, Roxbury, Boston
 * 1988 – Ruggles station, Ruggles St, Roxbury, Boston
 * 1990 – Park Place by the Bay, 915 NW 1st Ave, Miami
 * 1991 – United States Post Office, 55 Roxbury St, Roxbury, Boston
 * 1994 – Ruggles Center, 1135 Tremont St, Roxbury, Boston
 * 1997 – Boston Police Department headquarters, 1 Schroeder Plaza, Roxbury, Boston
 * 1997 – Massport Ventilation Building 7, Harborside Dr, East Boston, Boston
 * 2003 – Orchard Gardens K-8 School, 906 Albany St, Roxbury, Boston
 * 2005 – MassBiologics laboratories, 460 Walk Hill St, Mattapan, Boston
 * 2005 – Savin Hill station, 121 Savin Hill Ave, Dorchester, Boston