Walter Thomas Bailey (January 11, 1882 – February 21, 1941) was an American architect from

Kewanee, Illinois Kewanee () is a city in Henry County, Illinois, United States. "Kewanee" is the Winnebago word for greater prairie chicken, which lived there. The population was 12,509 at the 2020 census, down from 12,944 in 2000. Geography According to the ...

. He was the first African American graduate with a bachelor of science degree in architectural engineering from the

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 Univ ...

and the first licensed African-American architect in the state of Illinois. He worked at the

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 ...

, and practiced in both Memphis and Chicago. Walter T. Bailey became the second African American that graduated from the University of Illinois.

Early life and education

Walter Thomas Bailey was born January 11, 1882, in

, where he attended

Kewanee High School Kewanee High School, or KHS, is a Public school (government funded), public four-year high school located at 1211 E. Third Street in Kewanee, Illinois, a city in Kewanee Township of Henry County, Illinois, in the Midwestern United States. KHS is p ...

. He enrolled at the

in 1900. Bailey was the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

graduate of the University of Illinois' School of Architecture with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

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 ...

.Mitchell, Meliss
Research Project Spotlights African-American Architects from U. of I.
, ''University of Illinois News Bureau'', February 9, 2006, accessed November 29, 2010. He earned that degree in 1904 and was granted an honorary

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in architecture from the university in 1910.Walter T. Bailey 1904 MSAE
"Alumni", ''University of Illinois Urbana Champaign African American Architecture Alumni Project'', updated 2008, accessed November 29, 2010. On October 15, 1905, Walter T. Bailey married Josephine L. McCurdy. In the same year, Josephine gave birth to their first born, Edyth Hazel. Seven years later they gave birth to their second child, Josephine in 1913.

Architectural career

Bailey was the first licensed African-American architect in 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 ...

.Bey, Lee.
Art Moderne beauty: First Church of Deliverance
, ''

WBEZ WBEZ (91.5 FM) – branded ''WBEZ 91.5'' – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Financed by corporate underwriting, government funding and lis ...

, 91.5'', February 15, 2010, accessed November 29, 2010. Initially, after he graduated, Bailey worked for a small architectural firm owned by Henry Eckland in his hometown of Kewanee. During this time he also worked for a

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

, firm, Spencer & Temple. Bailey assisted in the planning of the 1905 Colonel Wolfe School in Champaign during this period. In 1905 Bailey was appointed as the head of the Mechanical Industries Department at the

. While at Tuskegee, Bailey designed several campus buildings including White Hall (1908), and a girl's dormitory. He remained at Tuskegee until 1916 when he moved to

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

and opened a practice on

Beale Street Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, th ...

. After Bailey's move to Memphis he began the first of multiple commissions for the

Knights of Pythias The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded in Washington, D.C., on . The Knights of Pythias is the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was founded ...

. He designed the Mosaic State Temple Building and the Pythian Theater Building, both in

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

in 1922. The next year he undertook another

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

commission, this one in

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

, the Pythian Bath House and Sanitarium. The Pythian Bath House and Sanitarium was constructed solely for the use of African Americans. Overton Hygienic Building Chicago IL

Through his Knights of Pythias connections Bailey was given what would be the largest commission of his career, the National Knights of Pythias Temple in Chicago, Illinois. Construction began on the building in 1924 and Bailey moved his office to the city. The construction of National Pythian Temple cost $850,000. The site of the temple was on Chicago's south side in an area known as "Bronzeville" or "Black Metropolis". Bailey first rented an office on the second floor of the Overton Hygienic Building on South State Street.Savage, Beth L. and

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 ...

. ''African-American Historic Places'',
Google Books link
,

John Wiley and Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, in p ...

, 1994, p. 207, (). Construction on the National Knights of Pythias Temple proceeded slowly and by 1928 the interior of the building remained unfinished. The National Pythian Temple "was planned to be the headquarters of the Knights of Pythias and to house the lodge's combined national offices, numerous meeting halls, and rent-producing stores and offices." Walter T. Bailey designed terra- cotta griffins in the frieze of the Knights of Pythias Temple. Though the Knights of Pythias eventually lost ownership of the building, Bailey did maintain his office in the structure after its completion.Wilson, Dreck Spurlock. ''African-American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary (1865–1945)'',
Google Books link
,

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...

, 2004, pp. 15–26, (). The Knights of Pythias Temple was demolished in 1980. A large decorative fragment from the building, an Egyptian pharaoh in glazed terra cotta, probably designed by Baily to celebrate black pride, is conserved in the collection of the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

. Aside from the Knights of Pythias Temple in Chicago Bailey had few major commissions during the 1920s and the subsequent Great Depression greatly decreased business for Bailey and many other black entrepreneurs in the area. The last major project for Bailey was the

Chicago Landmark Chicago Landmark is a designation by the Mayor and the City Council of Chicago for historic sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, archite ...

art moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...

First Church of Deliverance in 1939. The First Church of Deliverance designed in Art Moderne style, was inspired by Reverend Clarence H. Cobbs. The art Moderne style is predominately composed of strong horizontals with large glass panel windows. Walter T. Bailey implemented the style of Art Moderne by adding lines of green terra-cotta blocks on the facade of the Church of Deliverance. The building served as both a church and a radio station for Reverend Clarance Cobbs to broadcast sermons.

Death

Bailey died on February 21, 1941 in Chicago, from pneumonia and complications caused by heart disease. Obituaries at the time stated he was working on two projects when he died. One was the Olivet Baptist Church, the other was reportedly the Ida B. Wells Homes but that work was probably in a secondary capacity.

Selected works

*1905 – Colonel Wolfe School, Champaign, Illinois *1906 – Alabama Agricultural Fair Negro Building,

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

*1910–1915 – First Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama *1922 – Mosaic State Temple Building, Little Rock, Arkansas *1922–1923 – Pythian Theater Building, Little Rock, Arkansas *1923 – Pythian Bath House and Sanitarium, Hot Springs, Arkansas *1924 – Fraternal Savings and Trust Bank, Memphis, Tennessee *1924 – Knights of Pythias Building,

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

*1924 – Woodmen of Union Bath House, Hot Springs, Arkansas *1924–1928 – National Knights of Pythias Temple, Chicago, Illinois *1928 – Momence Country Club,

Momence, Illinois Momence is a city and capital of Momence township, Illinois it is located in Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,171 at the 2000 census, and 3,310 in 2010. It is part of the Kankakee–Bradley Metropolitan Statisti ...

(plans only) *1929 – Mt. Moriah Lodge No. 28 Free and Accepted Masons,

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

*1939 – First Church of Deliverance, Chicago, Illinois *1940 – Ida B. Wells Homes, Chicago, Illinois *1941 – Olivet Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois

References

External links

Biking the Boulevards
, with Geoffrey Baer, ''

WTTW WTTW (channel 11) is a PBS member television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by not-for-profit broadcaster Window to the World Communications, Inc., it is sister to commercial classical music radio station WFMT (98.7 FM). The ...