Kenneth Roderick O'Neal (1908–1989), was an American architect, engineer, and painter. He founded the first Black-owned and led architecture firm in downtown

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. O'Neal had studied under

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...

, and served as a mentor for early career architects including

Beverly Lorraine Greene 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 female licensed as an architect in the Un ...

, John Moutoussamy, and

Georgia Louise Harris Brown Georgia Louise Harris Brown (June 12, 1918 – September 21, 1999), is considered to be the second African American woman to become a licensed architect in the United States. She was also the first black woman to earn a degree in architecture from ...

Biography

Kenneth Roderick O'Neal was born on July 30, 1908, in

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, Franklin County, Missouri. He attended Sumner High School in St. Louis. O'Neal graduated with a B.A. degree (1931) in

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

, and a B.S. degree (1935) in

structural engineering Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and muscles' that create the form and shape of man-made structures. Structural engineers also must understand and cal ...

from

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. After graduation, he moved to Chicago to attend classes at

Armour Institute Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...

(now Illinois Institute of Technology), studying under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. In his early career, O'Neal worked under

Walter T. Bailey Walter Thomas Bailey (January 11, 1882 – February 21, 1941) was an American architect from Kewanee, Illinois. He was the first African American graduate with a bachelor of science degree in architectural engineering from the University of Illin ...

. He opened the first Black-led architecture firm in downtown

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and by 1940, he was a licensed architect in the state of Illinois. In 1937, Beverly Lorraine Greene had briefly worked for O'Neal's architecture firm, and he had served as one of her mentors. Georgia Louise Harris Brown, the second African American woman to become a licensed architect in the United States, had also worked at the firm of O'Neal from 1945 to 1949. Architect John Moutoussamy had also been mentored by O'Neal and worked at the firm. O'Neal published two design books: "A Portfolio of Modern Homes" (1949), and "A Volume of Contemporary Homes" (1980). He retired in 1983. O'Neal had married three times. After retirement, he moved to Tucson, Arizona, followed by a move to Honolulu, Hawaii. He died at age 80 on March 17, 1989, in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Work

* Lawrence E. Smith residence (1964), 8348 South Calumet, Chicago, Illinois

Publications

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ONeal, Kenneth Roderick 1908 births 1989 deaths People from Union, Missouri University of Iowa alumni Illinois Institute of Technology alumni African-American architects 20th-century African-American painters 20th-century American painters Architects from Chicago 20th-century African-American artists People from Honolulu

Biography

Work

Publications

See also

References