African-American architects are those in the architectural profession who are members of the African diaspora in the United States.

Their work in the more distant past was often overlooked or outright erased from the historical records due to the racist social dynamics at play in the country (and also due to the proxied nature of the profession itself), but the black members of the profession—and their historic contributions—have become somewhat more recognized since.[1][2]

"The experience of being Black in architecture involves learning about a discipline that does not include the contributions of African American architects like Paul Revere Williams, Robert R. Taylor, Walter T. Bailey and Wallace Rayfield within the canons of the profession... The experience of being Black in architecture requires you to unearth the accomplishments of other Blacks in architecture to understand how they navigated the often tumultuous waters of the profession."

Kwesi Daniels, 2020, department head at the Robert R. Taylor School of Architecture and Construction Science at Tuskegee University[1]

History

Julian Abele
Julian Abele
Paul Revere Williams (1917)
Paul Revere Williams (1917)
Norma Merrick Sklarek
Norma Merrick Sklarek

19th and 20th-centuries

The first African American architects appeared in the mid-1800s. Being African American and trying to become an architect in a White-dominated profession, especially in the 1800s-1900s was difficult.[3] Racism towards African Americans was prevalent in the 1800s-1900s and this was amplified by the addition and enforcement of Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow Laws enforced segregation of White and Blacks, therefore promoting direct racism. Many African American architects working during and after this time period faced obstacles due to overt racism perpetuated by the society and culture of the United States.

Schools

Claflin University (formerly Claflin College) was the first historically Black school to offer an architectural drawing course, starting around the 1890s.[4][5] Other early Black schools for architecture programs included Hampton University (formerly Hampton Institute), Florida A&M University, Howard University, North Carolina A&T State University, Prairie View A&M University (formerly Prairie View A&M College), Southern University, and Tuskegee University (formerly Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute).[5]

Men

Some architects such as Julian Francis Abele, Louis Arnett Stuart Bellinger, and Paul Revere Williams were able to obtain architectural degrees from top universities, architectural licenses, and positions at top architectural firms.[2][3] However, clients were often opposed to having their projects overseen by an African American architect.[6] This resulted in many African American architects working without credit.[6]

Julian Francis Abele

Julian Francis Abele (1881–1950), was the first African American to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania School of Architecture (1902).[7][8] 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.[9][10] 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.[11] 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.[12] Abele also helped design the Widener Memorial Library at Harvard.[13]

Paul Revere Williams

Paul Revere Williams (1894–1980), was raised in the Los Angeles area where he attended school.[14] After Graduating from high school, Williams attended the Los Angeles School of Art and eventually studied at University of Southern California (USC) (class of 1919).[15] Williams then worked for established firms run 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.[14] 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.[14]

Women

Both African American men and women dealt with similar issues regarding race, but African American women in the mid-1800 to 1900s dealt with discrimination based on sex as well.[16][17] 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.[16] 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 (1928–2012), was the first black woman to become a licensed architect in both New York state (1954) and in California (1962).[18] She graduated from Columbia University and worked for the architecture firms SOM and Gruen and Associates. She also was the first black woman to join the American Institute of Architects. Sklarek collaborated with Cesar Pelli on projects that include the Pacific Design Center and the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

Beverly Loraine Greene

Beverly Lorraine Greene (1915–1957), was the first black woman to become a licensed architect in the US.[19] She was based out of Illinois, and started her practice in Chicago.[19] She struggled to be noticed because of her race.[19] Greene went on to work on international projects such as UNESCO headquarters in Paris, and designed buildings for NYU.[19]

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 fewer than 1 in 5 new architects identify as a racial or ethnic minority, according to the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.[20]

The Directory of African American Architects[21] maintains an ongoing list of licensed African American architects. In 2007, there were 100,000 licensed architects in the United States, however only 1,571 of them were African American and 186 of these are African American women.[22] On October 24, 2019, there were 2,300 African American architects listed, including 467 women. African American architects represent about 2%[23] of all licensed architects (116,000)[24] 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,[25] 400 FORWARD, Hip Hop Architecture, First 500,[26] and Beyond the Built Environment.[27][28]

List of African-American architects

Women

Men

References

  1. 1 2 Fazzare, Elizabeth (2020-08-06). "15 Architects On Being Black In Architecture". Cultured Magazine. Archived from the original on 2020-09-27. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  2. 1 2 Davis, Kimberly (October 2005). "Black Architects: Embracing and Defining". Ebony. Vol. 60. Johnson Publishing Company. pp. 108–114. ISSN 0012-9011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dozier, Richard K. (2006). "African-Americans in Architecture". African American Registry (AAREG). Archived from the original on 2009-02-08.
  4. ↑ Moyer, Justin (October 18, 2019). "The son of a former slave became a groundbreaking architect. This crumbling building is about to come down". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wilson, Dreck Spurlock (2004-01-01). African American Architects: a Biographical Dictionary, 1865–1945. New York City, NY: Routledge. pp. 72, 443–445. ISBN 0-415-92959-8.
  6. 1 2 Clarke, Camille A. (2005). Wilson, Dreck Spurlock (ed.). "Black Pioneers in the Field of Architecture". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (50): 114–115. ISSN 1077-3711. JSTOR 25073391.
  7. 1 2 Bond, Max (Summer 1997). "Still Here: Three Architects of Afro-America: Julian Francis Abele, Hilyard Robinson, and Paul R. Williams". Harvard Design Magazine, No. 2, Recognizing Neglected Design. Archived from the original on 2010-01-18.
  8. ↑ Tillman, Zoe (December 5, 2006). "For an historic Penn grad, a murky legacy". The Daily Pennsylvanian. Archived from the original on 2008-06-25.
  9. ↑ Jonathan E. Farnham, Ph.D., "Julian F. Abele (1881–1950)" in Celebrating 75 Years on the Parkway: The Central Library of the Free Library of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: Free Library of Philadelphia, 2002), pp. 22-23.
  10. ↑ Abele, Julian Francis (1881–1950) data from the Philadelphia Architects and Buildings (PAB) project of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia
  11. ↑ David B. Brownlee, Ph.D., Making a Modern Classic: The Architecture of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1997), pp. 68-69.
  12. ↑ Julian Abele biography Archived 2009-01-13 at the Wayback Machine at Duke University
  13. ↑ "Out of the Shadows". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  14. 1 2 3 Huang, Elisa. "Remembering Paul R. Williams, Pioneering Architect". USC News. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  15. ↑ Bengali, Shashank (Spring 2014). "Williams the Conqueror: Paul R. Williams 1894–1980". Trojan Family Magazine. Archived from the original on 2013-05-27.
  16. 1 2 Slessor, Catherine (2018). "Finally Seeing Beyond the Lone Male Genius". Architects' Journal. 245: 56.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 "Top Women Architects". Ebony. Vol. 50, no. 10. August 1995. pp. 54–58. ISSN 0012-9011.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Craven, Jackie (November 10, 2019). "Black Architects After the Civil War". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  19. 1 2 3 4 "Barrier-Breaking African American Architects We Should Be Celebrating". Architectural Digest. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  20. ↑ "2020 NBTN Demographics". National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. 18 May 2020.
  21. ↑ https://blackarchitect.us/
  22. ↑ Landsmark, Theodore (March 16, 2007). "Is There a Black Architect in the House?". MIT World. Archived from the original on 2011-09-26.
  23. ↑ "2020 NBTN Demographics". National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. 18 May 2020.
  24. ↑ "2020 NBTN State of Licensure". National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. 18 May 2020.
  25. ↑ "Riding the Vortex". Now What?. May 25, 2018.
  26. ↑ "The First 500 Project with Tiara Hughes of NOMA (Transcript)". Entrearchitect, Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. 5 June 2018.
  27. ↑ Sablan, Pascale. "Beyond the Built Environment".
  28. ↑ Romo, Vanessa (March 12, 2023). "Very few architects are Black. This woman is pushing to change that". NPR. Retrieved March 12, 2023. To help get students interested, Sablan founded Beyond the Built Environment in 2017, a platform dedicated to amplifying the work of women and people of color who are architects around the world.
  29. ↑ Finger, Stan (1996-07-14). "Wichita native achieves her own Olympic glory". The Wichita Eagle. pp. 1A, 10A. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  30. ↑ "Cheryl Lynn McAfee, FAIA, NOMA, LEED AP, BD+C". The AIA College of Fellows Quarterly. AIA College of Fellows. 2022. pp. 36–37. Retrieved 2023-02-16 – via Issuu. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)CS1 maint: others (link)
  31. ↑ Betsky, Aaron (1993-09-26). "Stylemaker: Building With Heart". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  32. ↑ "Michaele Pride, Architect, and Educator". African American Registry (AAREG).
  33. ↑ "Woman who sued for front-yard veggie gardens dies in Florida". WTHR. August 27, 2019. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  34. ↑ Doss, Laine. "Miami Shores Couple to Village: Let Us Grow Our Vegetable Garden". Miami New Times. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  35. ↑ "Jamaican who fought for frontyard veggie gardens dies in Florida". Jamaica Gleaner magazine. 2019-09-17. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  36. ↑ D'Angelo, Madeleine (December 9, 2020). "Pascale Sablan Wins AIA 2021 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award". Architect Magazine.
  37. ↑ "Research project spotlights African-American architects from U. Of I". Archived from the original on 2008-07-06. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
  38. ↑ Johnson, Roy S. (2020-02-05). "Overlooked No More: Joseph Bartholomew, Golf Course Architect". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  39. ↑ Bell, Carla Jackson (2014-08-01). Space Unveiled: Invisible Cultures in the Design Studio. Routledge. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-317-65911-2.
  40. ↑ Weiss, Ellen (2012-01-01). Robert R. Taylor and Tuskegee: An African American Architect Designs for Booker T. Washington. NewSouth Books. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-1-58838-248-1.
  41. ↑ Wilson, Dreck Spurlock (March 2004). "Henry Clifford Boles". African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945. Routledge. pp. 61–63. ISBN 978-1-135-95629-5.
  42. ↑ Wilson, Dreck Spurlock (March 2004). "Charles Sumner Bowman". African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945. Routledge. pp. 68–70. ISBN 978-1-135-95629-5.
  43. ↑ "Overview".
  44. ↑ Dreck Spurlock Wilson, ed. (2004). "Thomas Wilson Boyde Jr.". African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945. pp. 71–75. ISBN 978-0-4159-2959-2.
  45. ↑ Wilson, Dreck Spurlock (2003-12-12). African-American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945. Taylor & Francis. pp. 97–100. ISBN 978-0-203-49312-0.
  46. ↑ Bainbridge, Judith T. (April 15, 2016). "Cook, William Wilson". South Carolina Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  47. ↑ "Louis E. Fry, Sr., FAIA: The recent deaths of individuals at the forefront of architectural practice, education, and theory will be felt worldwide". Architectural Record. New York City, NY. 188 (8): 32. August 2000 – via ProQuest.
  48. ↑ "Race No Great Handicap, Says Lincoln U. Architect". The Lincoln Clarion. 1942-12-11. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-09-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  49. ↑ "James H. Garrott (1897–1991)". BlackPast.org. 27 November 2017.
  50. ↑ Wilson, Dreck Spurlock (March 2004). "William Augustus Hazel". African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945. Routledge. pp. 273–278. ISBN 978-1-135-95629-5.
  51. ↑ Wilson, Kristina (2021-04-13). Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body: Race, Gender, and the Politics of Power in Design. Princeton University Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-691-20819-0.
  52. ↑ "Receives Masters in Architecture". The Black Dispatch. 1954-09-11. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  53. ↑ "Pagoda of Medicine". Historic Nashville, Inc. July 7, 2016. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  54. ↑ "Obituaries: Howard Mackey, 85, Dies; Former Dean at Howard U." The Washington Post. August 21, 1987.
  55. ↑ Spurlock Wilson, Dreck (2004). African-American architects : a biographical dictionary, 1865-1945. Wilson, Dreck Spurlock. New York: Routledge. pp. 267. ISBN 0203493125. OCLC 60712152.
  56. ↑ Who's Who Among African Americans. Gale Group, Cengage Learning. May 2003. p. 858. ISBN 978-0-7876-5915-8.
  57. ↑ "Charles McAfee's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  58. ↑ White III, Frank (July 1983). "Black Architects: Shapers of Urban America". Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company. 38 (9): 62–64.
  59. ↑ "William Henry Moses Jr., H.U. Department Founder". Daily Press. October 24, 1991. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
  60. ↑ "Architecture Race Academe: The Black Architect's Journey". MIT Department of Architecture. 2007. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27.
  61. ↑ Wilson, Dreck Spurlock (March 2004). "Donald Frank White (1908–2002)". African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945. Routledge. pp. 600–604. ISBN 978-1-135-95629-5.
  62. ↑ New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.). Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1. pg 204
  63. ↑ Dolkart, Andrew S. (2004). Guide to New York City Landmarks. New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 206–207. ISBN 978-0-471-36900-4.
  64. ↑ Anderson, Susan Heller (1989-11-04). "John L. Wilson Jr., 91, Architect Of Harlem River Houses, Is Dead". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-21.

Further reading

  • Howard University's Moorland-Spingarn Research Center and the "Archive of African American Architects", the largest archival repository on African American Architects
  • Wilson, Dreck Spurlock. African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865–1945, 2004
  • Hudson, Karen E. Paul R. Williams, Architect: A Legacy of Style. Rizzoli International Publications, 1993. ISBN 978-0-8478-2242-3
  • Kiisk, Linda. "20 on 20/20 vision: Perspectives on Diversity and Design." 2003
  • Kilment, Stephen A. "Young African American Women Architects sharpen ties to their communities." 2007.
  • Landmark, Ted. "Isolation and Diversity in Architecture"
  • Mitchell, Melissa. "Research project spotlights African American Architects from University of Illinois." 2006.
  • Williams, Paul R. The Will and the Way: Paul R. Williams, Architect. Rizzoli International Publications, 1994. ISBN 978-0-8478-1780-1
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