African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945 - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415929598 ISBN 13: 9780415929592

Publisher: Routledge, 2004

Synopsis

African-American architects have been designing and building houses and public buildings since 1865. Although many of these structures survive today, the architects themselves are virtually unknown. This unique reference work brings their lives and work to light for the first time. Written by 100 experts ranging from architectural historians to archivists, this book contains 160 biographical, A-Z entries on African-American architects from the era of Emancipation to the end of World War II. Articles provide biographical facts about each architect, and commentary on his or her work. Practical and accessible, this reference is complemented by over 200 photographs and includes an appendix containing a list of buildings by geographic location and by architect.

About this title

About the Author

Dreck Spurlock Wilson is an African-American architect and holds an M.A. in Urban Studies from the University of Chicago. Wilson has contributed to historical journals and books on African-American history, art, and architecture.

Reviews

This alphabetically arranged, 168-entry biographical dictionary contains articles from 250 to 4,000 words in length on African American architects practicing in the late nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth centuries. All articles are internally cross-referenced and extended by photographs of the architects and the buildings they designed. Using the definition of the word architect to mean a person who has created a design and presented it visually such that it could be constructed, the 100 contributors have profiled both licensed and unlicensed individuals. Examples include Julian Francis Able (1881-1950), who designed the Free Library of Philadelphia; William Wilson Cooke (1871-1949), who designed small-town post offices throughout the Midwest; and David Augustus Williston (1868-1962), one of the first African American landscape designers. Biographical entries include a building list for each architect, identifying the client and building name, the address of the building at the time it was built, and the year in which it was built. Also here are entries for nine architectural programs and eight so-called Negro Buildings designed for the most part by African American architects for one world's fair and seven southern regional fairs. The volume concludes with a general bibliography, an appendix listing buildings by state, and an accurate index.

The writing is generally clear and easy to read, though at times a little uneven. Most contributors are university or professionally affiliated, but some are relatives of the architects, and their articles tend to be less authoritative in tone. Despite this, there is nothing else comparable on the market, making African American Architects a sound purchase, especially for college and university libraries with architecture programs, though it is also intended for preservationists, architects, and historians. RBB
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Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415929598
• ISBN 13: 9780415929592
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 568
• Editor: Wilson Dreck Spurlock