Robert Charles Bates (January 27, 1869 – May 2, 1950), was an American architect, educator, and textbook author. He was an African American architect and helped design and build many of the
Claflin University
Claflin University is a private historically black university in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Founded in 1869 after the American Civil War by northern missionaries for the education of freedmen and their children, it offers bachelor's and master's ...
campus buildings, a
historically black university
Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...
(HBU) in South Carolina. He is thought to be the first Black teacher of architecture at a HBU; and the first African American author of an architecture textbook.
Biography
Robert Charles Bates was born on January 27, 1869, in Columbia, South Carolina, where his father was a farmer. It is thought that he took a
correspondence course
Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...
in
mechanical drawing
{{Technical drawingsMechanical systems drawing is a type of technical drawing that shows information about heating, ventilating, air conditioning and transportation around the building (Elevators or Lifts and Escalator). He attended Clafin University's
Normal School
A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...
to become a teacher, but he was short two years from graduation.
In a turn of events and despite not graduating, he was appointed as the
superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
of manual training at Claflin University, determined by the
Freedmen's Aid Society The Freedmen's Aid Society was founded in 1859 during the American Civil War by the American Missionary Association (AMA), a group supported chiefly by the Congregational, Presbyterian and Methodist churches in the North. It organized a supply of ...
and the Southern Education Society. By fall of 1890, Bates was teaching architectural drawing at Claflin, and is believed to be the first Black teacher of architecture at a HBU. Two years later he published a textbook based on his class lectures, and despite being poorly written, it may be the first architecture book authored by an African American.
From 1897 until 1900, Bates moved to
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...
in order to teach mechanical drawing at
Elmira Reformatory
Elmira Correctional Facility, also known as "The Hill," is a maximum security state prison located in Chemung County, New York, in the City of Elmira. It is operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Th ...
. Followed by teaching vocational trade at the Jacob Tome Institution for Black
juvenile delinquents
Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...
and
orphans
An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died.
In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...
in
Port Deposit
Port Deposit is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. It is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River near its discharge into the Chesapeake Bay. The population was 653 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Port Deposit is located a ...
, Cecil County, Maryland.
Many of the biographical details of Bate's life are unknown. Bates' profile was included in the biographical dictionary '' African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865–1945'' (2004).
Bates died in Spencer, New York, on May 2, 1950, at the age of 81.
Publications
*
Works
* T. Willard Lewis Chapel (1890) at
Claflin University
Claflin University is a private historically black university in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Founded in 1869 after the American Civil War by northern missionaries for the education of freedmen and their children, it offers bachelor's and master's ...
, Orangeburg, South Carolina
* Fisk Building (main building, 1899) the north and south towers at Claflin University, Orangeburg, South Carolina (destroyed by a fire in 1913)
* Fisk Building (main building, 1900) classroom annex at Claflin University, Orangeburg, South Carolina (destroyed by a fire in 1913)
* John F. Slater Manual training building at Claflin University, Orangeburg, South Carolina
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 ...
*
Robert Robinson Taylor
Robert Robinson Taylor (June 8, 1868 – December 13, 1942) was an American architect and educator. Taylor was the first African-American student enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the first accredited African-Ame ...
, another early Black teacher of architecture at a HBU
*
William Wilson Cooke
William Wilson Cooke (1871–1949) was an American architect. He worked in the Office of the Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury and was the first African American man to be employed there. Cooke was the first A ...