Louis "Leo" Hudson Persley (c.1888–1932), was an American architect. Persley became the first African American to register with the new Georgia State Board of Registered Architects on April 5, 1920. He was part of what was possibly the nation’s first black architecture firm, ''Taylor and Persley'', a partnership founded in July 1920 with Robert Robinson Taylor. He had several spellings of his name including Louis Hudison Persely, Lewis H. Persley, and Louis Pursley.

Biography

Louis Persley was born and raised in Macon, Georgia, to Black parents Maxine and Thomas K. Persley. He attended Lincoln University, and graduated from

Carnegie Institute of Technology Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

(now Carnegie Mellon University) in 1914. He was a professor of architectural and mechanical drawing from 1915 until 1916 at

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

in Tuskegee, Alabama. In July 1920, Persely and fellow architect Robert Robinson Taylor had formed a black architecture firm together, ''Taylor and Persley''. This was possibly the first black architecture firm in the United States. They collaborated on many designs, including of several buildings on Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) campus. He died on July 13, 1932, at the age of 42, of kidney failure, and he is buried at Linwood Cemetery in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood of

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

. A historical marker commemorates him in front of the First AME Church in Athens, Georgia. Persley's profile was included in the biographical dictionary '' African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865–1945'' (2004).

Buildings

First African Methodist Episcopal Church The First African Methodist Episcopal Church (First AME Church), formerly known as Pierce’s Chapel, is an AME church established in 1866 by Rev. Henry McNeal Turner, and located at 521 North Hull Street in Athens, Georgia. It is listed on the ...

(1916) in Athens, Georgia * Campbell Chapel A.M.E. Church (1920) in Americus, Georgia; listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

*Chambliss Hotel (1922), Macon, Georgia *

Colored Masonic Temple The Fourth Avenue Historic District in Birmingham, Alabama was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The listing included 17 contributing buildings on . It includes the 1600-1800 blocks of 4th Ave., N. and part of the 300 ...

(1922; or 'Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge') in Birmingham, Alabama; for the Free and Accepted Masons *Central City Funeral Home (1928), Cotton Avenue, Macon, Georgia *Samaritan Building, Athens, Georgia (demolished) *Dinkins Memorial Building at

Selma University Selma University is a Private historically black Baptist Bible college in Selma, Alabama. It is affiliated with the Alabama State Missionary Baptist Convention. History The institution was founded in 1878 as the Alabama Baptist Normal and The ...

, Selma, Alabama; with Robert Robinson Taylor * Masonic Temple in Birmingham, Alabama; with Robert Robinson Taylor *Several buildings on the campus of

, Tuskegee, Alabama; with Robert Robinson Taylor **James Hall Dormitory (1921), Tuskegee Institute **Sage Hall Dormitory (1927), Tuskegee Institute **Logan Hall Dormitory (1931), Tuskegee Institute **Armstrong Science Building (1932), Tuskegee Institute **Hollis Burke Frissell Library (1932), Tuskegee Institute

References

External links

* Video
Architecture, Race and Academe
from Massachusetts Institute of Technology {{DEFAULTSORT:Persely, Lewis 1888 births 1932 deaths 20th-century American architects People from Macon, Georgia Carnegie Mellon University alumni African-American architects 20th-century African-American people Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) alumni

Biography

Buildings

See also

References

External links