I am proud and excited to share that this month our 36th SAY IT LOUD Exhibition is opening at the Octagon Museum in Washington DC located at the AIA National Headquarters campus. All our exhibitions are incredibly important, but this exhibition is profound because not only do we feature women and BIPOC designers of Washington DC, but we are also displaying all 140 African American Fellows of the American Institute of Architects thanks to the support of the Architects Foundation.
There are approximately 2,455 licensed African American architects in the United States, a number that represents only 2 percent of the population of the country’s licensed architects. According to NCARB there are 116,242 architects in the United States. Of the 94,000 AIA members, less than 3% are elevated to the College of Fellows. In 2021, of the approximately 2,820 Fellows 140 are African American in the organizations 165 year history.
Leveraging the list originally started by Marshall Purnell and maintained by Kathy Dixon, our researchers were able to find the names, headshots, locations and project for every fellow!!!
In 2022 an additional 5 African American Fellows were elevated for a total of 145.
With the AIA College of Fellows grant, we were able to hire 6 researchers who are NOMAS / AIAS students. They researched online, called past offices, business partners, clients and fellows to gather the information. I am very grateful for their dedication and passion to gather the information over the past 5 months.
Sarahdjane Mortimer | Harvard University | Boston, MA | AIAS | NOMAS
Alexander Thomas | Macalester College | Minneapolis, MN | NOMAS
Cindy Zhou | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Brooklyn, NY | AIAS
Xavier Smith | California State Polytechnic University | Los Angeles, CA | NOMAS
Elise Park | New York Institute of Technology | New Hyde Park, NY | AIAS | NOMAS
Samuel Harrison | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Suitland, MD | NOMAS
Our SAY IT LOUD Exhibition initiative has always been a self-submitting process, this is the first time where we did the research, we cultivated the information, and revealed the hidden histories and contributions of our legends as we aspire to be their legacy.
African American Fellows in Alphabetical order:
Sir David Adjaye
Isham O. Baker
William J. Bates
Alicia M. Belton
Walter S. Blackburn
J. Max Bond Jr.
Stacy A. Bourne
Barbara Bouza
Gary Bowden
William E. Brazley, Jr.
Leon Bridges
Stanford R. Britt
William M. Brown, III
Robert L. Brown, Jr.
Van B. Bruner
Charles I. Bryant
Robert E. Bryant
Gabrielle A. Bullock
Wendell J. Campbell
Horace S. Cantrell, Jr.
Donna D. Carter
James Chaffers
John S. Chase
Edward E. Cherry
R. Corey Clayborne
Robert T. Coles
Peter D. Cook
Paul S. Devrouax, Jr.
Kathy Denise Dixon
James C. Dodd
Robert L. Easter
Darrell A. Fitzgerald
Anthony C. Floyd
Thomas Fowler IV
Philip Freelon
Louis E. Fry, Jr.
Louis E. Fry, Sr.
Harvey B. Gantt
Vergel Lee Gay Jr.
William Gilchrist
Anzilla R. Gilmore
Karl Grice
Dina A. Griffin
Kenneth G. Groggs
Rainy Hamilton
Melody Harclerode
Henry Hardnett
Oscar L. Harris
Dominique M. Hawkins
Andrew L. Heard
Ricardo C. Herring
Major L. Holland
Kevin M. Holland
Diane J. Hoskins
Zena K. Howard
Ray Huff
David Hughes
Granville W. Hurley
Ralph T. Jackson
Darren Lamarr James
Kermit J. Lee, Jr.
Michael W. Johns
Anthony N. Johns, Jr.
Jeh V. Johnson
Philip Craig Johnson
Emanuel Kelly
Robert A. Kennard
Francis Kéré
Donald I. King
Dan Kirby
Kwendeche
Mohammed Lawal
William R. Lawson
Victor F. Body Lawson
M. David Lee
Frank Christopher Lee
R. Steven Lewis
Saundra R. Little
Walter R. Livingston, Jr.
Robert Arthur King
Ivenue Love-Stanley
Howard H. Mackey
Robert P. Madison
Albert Mangones
William R. Manning
Roger W. Margerum
Michael L. Marshall
Mortimer M. Marshall, Jr.
Charles F. McAfee
Cheryl L. McAfee
Charyl F. McAfee-Duncan
Elmer H. McDowell
Ronnie W. McGhee
Melvin L. Mitchell
Renauld Deandre Mitchell
Kevin G. Montgomery
Curtis J. Moody
Dorian A. Moore
Robert L. Morgan
John W. Moutoussamy
Robert J. Nash
Terrance E. O’Neal
Sam Oboh
Kenneth Owens, Jr.
Thierry Paret
Clarence W. Pearson, Jr.
Frederick Perpall
Burchell F. Pinnock
Clyde Porter
Fred Powell
Kathryn Bradford Tyler Prigmore
Marshall E. Purnell
Hilyard R. Robinson
Joseph W. Robinson
Harry G. Robinson, III
Donald P. Ryder
Pascale M. Sablan
James E. Silcott
Howard F. Sims
Norma M. Sklarek
Carlton T. Smith
Kevin G. Sneed
John H. Spencer
William J. Stanley, III
Donald L. Stull
John D. Sulton
Sharon E. Sutton, PhD
Karl S. Thorne
Jack Travis
Jimmie E. Tucker
Denorval Unthank, Jr.
Harold R. Varner
Randall Vaughn
Roberta Washington
James R. Washington
John A. Welch
Paul R. Williams
Lorenzo D. Williams
Harold L. Williams
Allison G. Williams
Darell J. Williams
Michael E. Willis
John L. Wilson
Walter L. Wilson
Golden J. Zenon, Jr.
Exhibition will be open from June through December. Please spread the word and come visit!!
Octagon Museum
1799 New York Ave NW,
Washington, DC 20006
If you are wondering why I chose to send you this email, please know your support means everything to me. You are a part of my community and someone I aspire to make proud.