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Beverly Lorraine Greene (October 4, 1915 – August 22, 1957), was an American architect. According to architectural editor Dreck Spurlock Wilson, she was "believed to have been the first
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
female licensed as an architect in the United States." She was registered as an architect in
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
in 1942.


Biography

Beverly Lorraine Greene was born on October 4, 1915, to attorney James A. Greene and his wife Vera of
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, Illinois. The family was of African-American heritage. She had no brothers or sisters. She attended the racially integrated
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
(UIUC), graduating with a bachelor's degree in
architectural engineering Architectural engineers apply and theoretical knowledge to the engineering design of buildings and building systems. The goal is to engineer high performance buildings that are sustainable, economically viable and ensure the safety health. Archi ...
in 1936, the first African-American woman to earn this degree from the university. A year later she earned a master in city planning and housing. She was also involved in the drama club ''Cenacle'' and was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The following year, she earned her master's degree from UIUC in city planning and housing. After graduation, she returned to Chicago and worked for Kenneth Roderick O'Neal's architecture firm in 1937, the first architectural office led by an African American in downtown Chicago, before she was hired by the
Housing Authority A housing authority or ministry of housing is generally a governmental body that governs aspects of housing or (called in general " shelter" or "living spaces"), often providing low rent or free apartments to qualified residents. The existence o ...
in 1938. She became the first licensed African-American woman architect in the United States when she registered with the
State of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
on December 28, 1942. Despite her credentials, she found it difficult to surmount race barriers to find work in the city. She and other black architects were routinely ignored by the mainstream Chicago press. A 1945 newspaper report about the
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, wi ...
's development project at
Stuyvesant Town Stuyvesant may refer to: People * Peter Stuyvesant (1592–1672), the last governor of New Netherland * Peter Gerard Stuyvesant (1778–1847), lawyer, landowner and philanthropist. * Rutherfurd Stuyvesant (1843–1909), socialite and land develope ...
led Greene to move to New York City. She submitted her application to help design it, in spite of the developer's racially segregated housing plans; and much to her surprise, she was hired. After only a few days, she quit the project to accept a scholarship for the master's degree program at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. She obtained the degree in architecture in 1945 and took a job with the firm of Isadore Rosefield. Rosefield's firm primarily designed health facilities. Though she remained in Rosefield's employ until 1955, Greene worked with
Edward Durell Stone Edward Durell Stone (March 9, 1902 – August 6, 1978) was an American architect known for the formal, highly decorative buildings he designed in the 1950s and 1960s. His works include the Museum of Modern Art, in New York City, the Museo de A ...
on at least two projects in the early 1950s. In 1951, she was involved with the project to build the theater at the
University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...
and in 1952, she helped plan the Arts Complex at Sarah Lawrence College. After 1955, she worked with
Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981), was a Hungarian-born modernist architect and furniture designer. At the Bauhaus he designed the Wassily Chair and the Cesca Chair, which ''The New York Times'' have called some of the most i ...
, assisting on designs for the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
United Nations Headquarters in Paris and some of the buildings for the University Heights Campus of
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...
, though both of those projects were completed after Greene's death. She died on August 22, 1957, in New York City, aged 41. Her memorial service took place at the Unity Funeral Home in Manhattan, one of the buildings she had designed.


Projects

with Marcel Breuer * Grosse Point Public Library, Grosse Point, Mich., 1951 * Winthrop House Rockefeller addition, Tarrytown, N.Y., 1952 *
UNESCO Headquarters UNESCO Headquarters, or Maison de l'UNESCO, is a building inaugurated on 3 November 1958 at number 7 Place de Fontenoy in Paris, France, to serve as the headquarters for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ...
, Secretariat and Conference Hall, Place de Fontenoy, Paris, 1954–57 * New York University Building Complex, University Heights campus, Bronx, N.Y., 1956


See also

*
African-American architects African-American architects are those in the architectural profession who are members of the African diaspora in the United States. Their work in the more distant past was often overlooked or outright erased from the historical records due to ...


References


Sources

* *


External links


Pioneering Women of American Architecture, Beverly Lorraine Greene
*“IAWA Biographical Database.” Accessed October 15, 2021. https://iawadb.lib.vt.edu/search.php?searchTerm=g. *Helgeson, Jeffrey. ''Crucibles of Black Empowerment.'' Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, Beverly Lorraine 1915 births 1957 deaths 20th-century African-American artists 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century American architects African-American architects American women architects Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni People from Chicago University of Illinois School of Architecture alumni