While we celebrate diversity, we discriminate against people from different ethnicities even today. America has a long and brutal history of discrimination, which kept those belonging to different cultures under the boot for decades, especially those of African heritage. Through much struggle and toil, African Americans established themselves as an acknowledged pillar of American society. Although the fight to end racism has somewhat moved forward, hatred and prejudices are confoundedly prevalent in the country.
Professions like architecture and design, those powerful to shape society, were historically unavailable to aspirants with colored skin. Do you know that America established separate schools and colleges for Black people because the whites refused to have them in their classrooms? The mind boggles.
While the notion of setting aside one month out of the year to celebrate Black History Month to honor those contributions of popular African Americans is fairly ridiculous – why, we do not have a “White History Month” – in the spirit of the observance, I have listed the pioneers of African American design that you should know about. These legends altered the global landscape in architecture and interior design through their brilliant talents. They showed that every human being is capable of great skill regardless of the color of their skin.
Robert Robinson Taylor, Architect (1868-1942)
Born in 1868, Robert Robinson Taylor was the first African-American student enrolled at MIT. He was the first accredited African-American architect as well and contributed to the field for over four decades. The pioneering black architect partnered with another African-American architect, Louis H. Persley, to form what was possibly the first black architectural firm, called Taylor and Persley, in the country.
Taylor is credited to have designed 45 campus buildings of the Tuskegee Institute. Among his popular works is the Carnegie Library at Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina. Aside from his architectural contributions, he founded a pre-architecture preparation program for students and started technical drafting courses for young men registered in the Boy’s Industries Department. He not only became an inspiration but also created ways to help aspirants.
Paul Revere Williams, Architect (1894-1980)
Credited with designing over 2000 buildings in his decades-long career, Paul Revere Williams is a name you may not know, but if you have ever gawked at the stunning L.A. mansions, you are already familiar with his work. A marvelously talented man, Paul R. Williams was the first African American to become a certified architect west of the Mississippi. He was the leading draftsman to design many of L.A.’s iconic buildings, including several in Los Angeles International Airport and the Beverly Hills Hotel.
The first Black person ever to be included in the American Institute of Architects, Williams also designed the homes of many Hollywood stars, including Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Barbara Stanwyck, and Charles Correll to name a few. But his work as an architect of thousands of buildings is not the thing that makes Williams legendary. The fact that he served as a champion and voice for minorities during an era filled with racial discrimination in America, creating a path for every other Black creative makes him such a celebrated personality.
In his 1937 essay for American Magazine, I Am a Negro, Williams said; “The power of example is strong. A few decades ago Negroes had no examples within their own race to spur them on. But now, seeing men and women of their own color bettering their condition so phenomenally, they realize that they—or their children—can do as much.”
Beverly Lorraine Greene, Architect (1915-1957)
Being a Black person in America is hard as it is. Being a Black woman in America creates a whole different set of challenges and obstacles. Even today. However, in the early 19th and 20th centuries, few ladies broke those barriers, obstacles, and prejudices to fulfill their dreams in the creative world. Beverly Lorraine Greene is one of the pioneering women of American architecture. A graduate of the School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, she is believed to be the first African American woman licensed to practice architecture in the US.
She established contacts with leading black architects early on in her career, leading to major opportunities. She was in contact with the likes of Paul Revere Williams and Robert Rochon Taylor (son of Robert Robinson Taylor), and other prominent members of the black community.
But it would be wrong to say that her journey was easy and smooth. Despite her being qualified and registered, she found it difficult to find work in the city due to racial barriers. She, along with many other black architects, was often ignored by the mainstream press. In 1945, she found work in the city of dreamers, New York. Later, Greene worked with American architect Edward Durell Stone (who designed the Museum of Modern Art) on two projects. She also worked on numerous health facilities, and designs for UNESCO, and New York University.
Norma Merrick Sklarek, Architect (1926-2012)
Born in Harlem to Trinidadian parents, Normal Merrick Sklarek has an unparalleled career as a pioneering women architect in an America that was completely intolerant toward African Americans. Sklarek became the first African-American director of architecture at Gruen and Associates in Los Angeles in 1966, to be elected Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1980, and later, became the first African-American woman architect to create her architectural firm.
But these accolades and achievements didn’t come easy to her. Despite being qualified, Sklarek was turned away from 19 architectural firms. After years of disappointment and rejection, she registered for the New York State architect’s licensure exam. She was the first Black woman to become a licensed architect in New York in 1954 and was hired at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in 1955. Often called “the Rosa Parks of architecture,” Sklarek is known for Terminal One at L.A. International Airport, the Pacific Design Center, and the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.
Brothers Moses Mckissack III & Calvin Lunsford Mckissack, Architects (1879-1952) & (1890-1952)
The founders of the first black-owned professional architectural firm in America, brothers Moses Mckissack III & Calvin Lunsford Mckissack built numerous residential, commercial, and educational buildings across the country. The firm, McKissack & McKissack (1905), is still in business, and during its 118-year history has completed over 6,000 planning, design, and construction projects. The first major project for the company was to design the Carnegie Library on the Fisk University campus, which was a two-story Classic Revival building.
Other important projects undertaken by the firm include the dormitories for Roger Williams University in Nashville and Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee in the 1910s. In 1921, the firm constructed the historic Hubbard House in Nashville. Despite their talent, the McKissack brothers were initially denied licenses when Tennessee instituted a registration law for architects in 1922. After much petitioning and obtaining architectural degrees, they received their licenses.
The achievements of the McKissack brothers and their family-led business paved the way for countless young Black aspirants. The century-long history of the architectural firm is a symbol of resilience and brilliant craftsmanship.
Julian Francis Abele, Architect, (1881-1950)
A prominent African American architect and designer, Julian Francis Abele was the first Black person to graduate from what is today the School of Design. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with his architecture degree, Abele was immediately engaged by renowned architect Horace Trumbauer. He spent most of his professional life with the Horace Trumbauer firm, advancing to the position of chief designer in 1909 and taking over the office in 1938 after Trumbauer’s death.
Abele was part of design teams responsible for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Land Title Building, and several mansions like Edward Stotesbury’s Whitemarsh Hall. Other prominent projects include Irvine Auditorium, the Dunning Coaches Center, and the President’s House at Penn.
Not only Abele was a master architect, but he had a versatile art career too. He worked with wood, ceramics, and iron, copper, metal stained glass, and watercolors. He created furniture, jewelry, paintings, and lithographs for his friends and colleagues. While he was tremendously talented, his work as an architect often experienced obstacles due to racial prejudices.
Harold Curtis Brown, Interior Designer (1917-1975)
An illustrator and interior designer, Harold Curtis Brown studied at the Boston School of Fine Arts and New York’s New School of Design. One of the first Black interior designers – a Black gay designer – in America. In the 1920s and ‘30s, Brown made nightclubs such as the Cotton Club, Tilly’s, and the Saratoga Club more glamorous and bedazzling. He also decorated private homes and spent time designing in Paris and Washington D.C.
Brown did a large part of his work in the Bronx and Harlem for black clientele, but he also designed for affluent white patrons. One of the renowned works is designing the interiors of Central Park South’s Hotel Navarro, which later was turned into the first Ritz-Carlton hotel in 1911. Surprisingly, he completely disappeared from the design sphere in 1938. Some believe he began passing as a white to earn more money, indicating the wage disparity due to racial discrimination.
Charles “Chuck” Harrison, Industrial Designer (1931-2018)
Charles Harrison was the first Black industrial designer to be hired by and lead the design group of the Sears Corporation. He designed over 750 products including furniture, appliances, and lawn equipment for Sears and over 32 years became the first Black person to lead the entire design group at the company. He graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he was the first Black person to receive a degree in industrial design in the country. After serving in the army, he completed his Master’s in Art Education from the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Despite his qualifications, he struggled to achieve professional success owing to racial issues in America. Even with Sears, he initially met with rejection due to corporation policies that prohibited from hiring Black candidates. But he made a good impression on the design manager and was hired for freelance work. Finally, Sears called him back in 1961, hiring him. He was a true pioneer in the sense he broke the barrier at a large American corporation and paved the way for many others.
Sarah Elisabeth Goode, Furniture Designer (1855-1905)
One of the first known African American women to receive a US patent, Sarah Elisabeth Goode invented a cabinet bed, a folding bed. This amazing furniture invention solved the space constraint for so many people living in small apartments, way before the Murphy bed ever came into thinking. Goode operated a furniture store with her husband and heard working-class people that they couldn’t fit all the necessary furniture in their small apartments.
She set out to create a space-saving furniture piece that could work as a desk, cabinet, and bed. Her furniture design folded into a roll-top desk with sections for writing supplies and stationery. In 1885, her invention was patented. This patented folding bed went on to inspire the present-day Murphy bed.
These pioneers of African American design revolutionized their respective industries while making way for other Black creators. They broke barriers and faced prejudice and racism head-on so their successors wouldn’t need to struggle as much.
But I ask you why is it that we resort to celebrating people from a different ethnicity for one month and debase them the rest of the year? In the wise words of Morgan Freeman, “The only way to end racism is to stop talking about it.” People should simply stop reducing people to the color of their skin and begin treating them as human beings, with kindness and equality. And racism will end.
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