Wallace Rayfield

Wallace Augustus Rayfield (born Macon, Georgia around May 10, 1874 – February 28, 1941) was the second formally educated practicing African American architect in the United States.

Biography

Rayfield attended schools in Macon, Georgia before moving to Washington, DC after the death of his mother. He was an apprentice at an architectural firm while attending Howard University. He then completed a graduate certificate from Pratt Institute before earning his bachelor's degree in architecture from Columbia University in 1899.[1] Upon graduation, he was recruited by Booker T. Washington to the Directorship of the Architectural and Mechanical Drawing Department at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. In 1907, Rayfield opened a professional office in Tuskegee from which he sold mail-order plans nationwide. He also advertised "branch offices" in Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile and Talladega, Alabama and Atlanta, Savannah, Macon and Augusta, Georgia.

He left Tuskegee Institute and moved to Birmingham in 1908 to focus on his young practice. He was elected as Superintending Architect for the Freedman's Aid Society and Connectional Architect of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

Notable works

• 16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama, 1911
• People's A.M.E. Zion Church, Syracuse, New York (1911)
• T.C. Windham Construction Company Office Building, Birmingham, Alabama, 1912
• Alabama Penny Savings Bank/Pythian Temple, Birmingham, 1913 (possibly designed by Rayfield)
• 32nd Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, 1924
• 6th Avenue Baptist Church, Birmingham
• Trinity Baptist Church, Birmingham
• Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church, Birmingham
• Ebenezer Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois
• St Paul's Episcopal Church, Batesville, Arkansas
• Trinity Building, South Africa
• Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Pensacola, Florida
• Morning Star Baptist Church, Demopolis, Alabama
• Marlinton Methodist Church, Marlinton, West Virginia
• Marlinton Presbyterian Church, Marlinton, West Virginia
• Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church, Milton, Florida
• Madame Clisby Residence, Birmingham
• Dr A. M. Brown Residence, Birmingham
• R. A. Blount Residence, Birmingham
• Rocky Springs Presbyterian Church, Laurens, SC
• First Missionary Baptist Church, Decatur, AL
• Pythian Temple Building, Cotton Avenue [Macon, Georgia]

See also

• Robert R. Taylor, the first professionally trained African American architect in the United States
• William Sidney Pittman and Vetner Tandy, students of Rayfield's

References

1. http://alafricanamerican.com/2012-honorees/wallace-rayfield/

• Hamilton, G. P. (1911) "W. A. Rayfield, B. S., Birmingham, Ala." in Beacon Lights of the Race. Memphis, E. H. Clarke & Brother, pp. 451–7
• Brown, Charles A. (1972) W. A. Rayfield: Pioneer Black Architect of Birmingham, Ala. Birmingham: Gray Printing Company
• McKenzie, Vinson. (Fall 1993) "A Pioneering African-American Architect in Alabama: Wallace A. Rayfield, 1874–1941." Journal of the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art & Architecture. Vol. 13
• Durough, Allan R. (2010) The Architectural Legacy of Wallace A. Rayfield: Pioneer Black Architect of Birmingham, Alabama. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press ISBN 978-0-8173-1683-9
• Ward, Logan (January/February 2011) "Rediscovering Mr. Rayfield: The legacy of a pioneering African American architect is being restored by an indefatigable Southern Baptist preacher" Preservation Magazine at the Wayback Machine (archived August 28, 2012)

External links

• Wallace A. Rayfield site by Allen R. Durough at the Wayback Machine archived (March 16, 2012)
• Wallace Rayfield at BhamWiki.com