African-American Alumni at the Department of Architecture

A distinguished list of African-American architects have received their degree at MIT, beginning with Robert Robinson Taylor (1868-1942), the first African-American to have received an architectural degree in the US.

Robert Robinson Taylor, born in Wilmington Virginia, was the son of a white slave-owner and black mother, and as such had been allowed enough freedom before the Civil War to go into business for himself. He developed a prosperous career as a contractor and builder, constructing cargo ships that plied trade routes between the United States and South America via the Caribbean. Also active in building construction, he erected a number of commercial and residential edifices in the Wilmington area and elsewhere. He went to Boston in 1888 to study and MIT, receiving his degree in 1892. During that period, Taylor met Booker T. Washington, the prominent black educator and race leader from Tuskegee, Alabama, who in 1881, had founded Tuskegee Institute--a black school that started as a normal (teacher training) school, but that within a couple of decades became one of the best-known African-American schools in the nation. Taylor arrived at Tuskegee in the fall or winter of 1892 and with the exception of a brief period from 1899-1902, when he returned to Cleveland to work on his own and as a draughtsman for the architectural firm of Charles W. Hopkinson, his entire career was spent at Tuskegee. There he served as instructor in architectural drawing and as architect to the institution and eventually as the director of "mechanical industries" (sometimes referred to simply as "industries" or as "industrial training") until his retirement in the mid-1930s. He built several buildings on campus and elsewhere and was noted as a strong promoter of other African-American architects.

The above notes were taken from an article by Clarence G. Williams. See also: Ellen Weiss, "Robert R. Taylor of Tuskegee: An Early Black American Architect," ARRIS: Journal of the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians 2 (1991): 3-19.

In 1994, a Robert R. Taylor Professorship was created by MIT to honor the life and work of Taylor. The first holder of the position is Marcus Aurelius Thompson, an internationally acclaimed violist and chamber music player. Trained at the Juilliard School of Music, he made his New York solo recital debut in 1968 at Carnegie Recital Hall. In addition to his active performance schedule, Professor Thompson has made important teaching and administration contributions to MIT's Music Section.

Among the African Americans who have received degrees from MIT Department of Architecture in the last decades, there are:

Robert T. Coles, who received his Master’s Degree from MIT in 1955, is President of the firm Robert Traynham Coles, Architect, established in 1963. It is the oldest African-American owned architectural firm in New York State and the Northeast. Coles received his Bachelor from the University of Minnesota. He received the AIA’s Whitney M. Young Jr. Citation in 1981 for his contributions to the cause of social justice. He has received numerous other awards including the AIA New York State Chapter in 2004 to recognize a lifetime of notable contributions by an architect to the profession. The work of the firm includes such major commissions as the Frank Reeves Municipal Center in Washington DC, the Ambulatory Care Project for Harlem Hospital, and the Frank Sedita Middle School in Buffalo. Coles is also an educator. He was the Langston Hughes Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Kansas in 1989 and between 1990 and 1995 an Associate Professor of Architecture at the Carnegie Mellon University.

Charles A Cofield, class of 1972, has had a distinguished career as an advocate of the disabled. Now retired, he worked in Los Angeles as director of housing program.

Gerald W. Billes, who received his Masters Degree in Architecture from Tulane in 1970 and a Masters Degree in Urban Design from MIT in 1972, lives and works in New Orleans. Billes is the head of his own firm that has done work ranging from residential projects to master plans. Among his recent projects are: Aquarium of the Americas (1995) in New Orleans, the French Market Masterplan & Revitalization (1997), and the Armstrong International Airport Concourse C of the New Orleans airport (1997).

Wes Henderson earned a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Design with a minor in history in 1974 and then a Master of Architecture degree from MIT in 1976. He returned to his home state Texas and taught at Prairie View A&M University, from 1976 to 1986. He became a licensed architect in Texas in 1981. He earned a doctoral degree from UCLA in the history of architecture in 1992, after which he taught at the University of Texas in Austin until 1999 and Texas A&M University in College Station until 2003. He is current teaching at Florida A&M University. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects and the National Organization of Minority Architects. He was assistant editor for the recently published Dictionary of African American Architects 1865-1945.

William A. Gilchrist is the Director of the Department of Planning, Engineering & Permits for the City of Birmingham, Alabama. Mr. Gilchrist received the Boston Society of Architect’s Chandler Prize for Design and the Karl Taylor Compton Award for Excellence and Achievement from MIT and was among the first Aga Khan Traveling Fellows at MIT and Harvard University. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He was first chair of the AIA Committee on Design Assistance and was national co-chair for the AIA Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team, R/UDAT. Mr. Gilchrist is a trustee of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and chaired the City Planning and Design Task Group for the ULI Advisory Panel on the rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He serves on the Visiting Committee to the department of architecture at MIT, the advisory committees to the Auburn University Center for Architecture and Urban Studies, and Carnegie Mellon University Remaking Cities Institute.

Philip G. Freelon, who got his Master’s degree from MIT in 1977 and his Bachelor degree from North Carolina State, is the president of Freelon Group an architectural firm with over fifty employees based in Research Triangle Park and Charlotte North Carolina. The firm, which has built everything from stadiums to private residences, has received numerous awards, including recently an AIA Merit Award (2006) for their Museum of African Diaspora in San Francisco. Feelon received a Lobe Fellowship from Harvard University GSD (1989-90). He has also taught at Harvard, MIT, Hampton University and elsewhere.

Diane J. Hoskins received her Bachelor of Science degree from MIT in 1979 before going on to complete her architectural education at UCLA. An AIA member, she is Executive Director at Gensler Architects, based in new York city. She serves on Gensler's Board of Directors and heads the firm's strategic management efforts. She has also collaborated on significant projects such as Discovery Communications, Gaylord National Harbor Conventions Center and Hotel and the United States Patent & Trademark Office. She was the founding member of Gensler’s global Workplace Task Force which focuses on the development of innovative workplace strategies for clients.

Darian C. Hendricks, who received a Bachelor of Science from MIT in 1989 and a Benjamin Franklin Programme Diploma from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Science-Po), has over 17 years experience working in both professional consulting and product companies, especially in the financial and energy services, retail, not-for-profit, technology and telecommunication sectors. Hendricks has been a Director and consultant for Sapient Corporation, Cambridge, MA, and a Senior Product Designer at Lotus Development Corporation, Cambridge, MA. Hendricks has started a business and design consultancy in 2003 called Manwarin Scott, Inc. d/b/a havens indesign studios. The company helps businesses create value for the clients and customers by designing integrated digital and analog experiences that create paradigm shifts within their industries. He currently serves as a President and Executive Director, Robert R. Taylor Network, Inc. (RRTN); Member, Council for the Arts at MIT; Science Advisor, Science Network, New England Board of Higher Education; and Member, Coordinating Committee, Somerville Cares About Prevention, Somerville, MA.

Larry Sass, who received his BArch from Pratt Institute BArch in 1990, received his SMArchS (1992) and his Ph.D. (2000) from MIT. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at MIT. Before going into academia, Professor Sass worked for several large architectural practices in Boston and New York between 1990 and 2001. His research is in the area of rapid prototyping and its relationship to building construction. Current research projects are focused on the design fabrication using computer modeling and prototyping to be used as representational tools in the design process versus paper drawings. Current teaching is in the area of Design Fabrication, that is building design using prototyping and fabrication tools as a design process.