Wallace Rayfield

Wallace Augustus Rayfield (1874–1941), was an American architect and educator.[1] He was the second formally educated practicing African American architect in the United States.[2][3]

Wallace Augustus Rayfield
BornMay 10, 1874
Bibb County, Georgia, U.S.
DiedFebruary 28, 1941
U.S.
Other namesWallace A. Rayfield
EducationPratt Institute
Alma materHoward University
Columbia University
Occupation(s)Architect, educator
Known forSecond formally educated practicing African American architect in the U.S.

Biography

Wallace Augustus Rayfield was born around May 10, 1874 in Bibb County near Macon, Georgia.[4] Rayfield attended schools in Macon, Georgia before moving to Washington, D.C. to live with his aunt after the death of his mother.[4]

He was an apprentice at an architectural firm A. B. Mullett and Co. while attending Howard University.[4] Rayfield received a B.S. degree in 1896 in Classics from Howard University.[4] He then completed a graduate certificate in 1898 from Pratt Institute, before earning his bachelor of architecture (B. Arch) in architecture from Columbia University in 1899.[5]

Upon graduation, he was recruited by Booker T. Washington to the role Directorship of the Architectural and Mechanical Drawing Department at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Tuskegee, Alabama. His students included William Sidney Pittman, and Vertner Woodson Tandy.[6][7]

In 1907, Rayfield opened a professional office in Tuskegee, Alabama from which he sold mail-order plans nationwide. He also advertised "branch offices" in Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile and Talladega, Alabama and Atlanta, Savannah, Macon and Augusta, Georgia. He left Tuskegee Institute and moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 1908 to focus on his young practice. He was elected as Superintending Architect for the Freedman's Aid Society, and Connectional Architect of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

He died on February 28, 1941.

Notable work

See also

References
  1. Dozier, Richard K. (2006). "African-Americans in Architecture". African American Registry (AAREG). Archived from the original on 2009-02-08.
  2. Ward, Logan (January 2011). "Rediscovering Mr. Rayfield: The legacy of a pioneering African American architect is being restored by an indefatigable Southern Baptist preacher". Preservation. Archived from the original on 2012-08-26.
  3. Craven, Jackie (November 10, 2019). "Black Architects After the Civil War". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  4. Wilson, Dreck Spurlock (March 2004). African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945. Routledge. pp. 50, 474–477. ISBN 978-1-135-95629-5.
  5. "Wallace Rayfield - Alabama African American History". 23 December 2014.
  6. "W. Sidney and Portia Washington Pittman House, Prince George's County, Historic Site Summary Sheet: Section 8: Significance.
  7. Weiss, Ellen (2012-01-01). Robert R. Taylor and Tuskegee: An African American Architect Designs for Booker T. Washington. NewSouth Books. ISBN 9781588382481.
  8. Historic American Buildings Survey. "Thirty-Second Street Baptist Church, 518 Thirty-second Street, South, Birmingham, Jefferson County, AL". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  • Hamilton, G. P. (1911) "W. A. Rayfield, B. S., Birmingham, Ala." in Beacon Lights of the Race. Memphis, E. H. Clarke & Brother, pp. 451–7
  • Brown, Charles A. (1972) W. A. Rayfield: Pioneer Black Architect of Birmingham, Ala. Birmingham: Gray Printing Company
  • McKenzie, Vinson. (Fall 1993) "A Pioneering African-American Architect in Alabama: Wallace A. Rayfield, 1874–1941." Journal of the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art & Architecture. Vol. 13
  • Durough, Allan R. (2010) The Architectural Legacy of Wallace A. Rayfield: Pioneer Black Architect of Birmingham, Alabama. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press ISBN 978-0-8173-1683-9
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