Wallace Augustus Rayfield (1874–1941), also known as W.A. Rayfield, was an American architect and educator. He was the second formally educated practicing African American architect in the United States.
Early life and education Wallace Augustus Rayfield was born around May 10, 1874 in Bibb County near Macon, Georgia. Rayfield attended schools in Macon, Georgia before moving to Washington, D.C. to live with his aunt after the death of his mother.
He was an apprentice at an architectural firm A. B. Mullett and Co. while attending Howard University in Washington, D.C. Rayfield received a B.S. degree in 1896 in classics from Howard University. He then completed a graduate certificate in 1898 from Pratt Institute, before earning his bachelor of architecture (B. Arch) in architecture from Columbia University in 1899.
Career
Upon graduation, he was recruited by Booker T. Washington to the role Directorship of the Architectural and Mechanical Drawing Department at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Tuskegee, Alabama. His students included William Sidney Pittman, and Vertner Woodson Tandy."W. Sidney and Portia Washington Pittman House, Prince George's County, Historic Site Summary Sheet: Section 8: Significance.
In 1907, Rayfield opened a professional office in Tuskegee, Alabama 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, Alabama 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.
He died on February 28, 1941.
Notable work Birmingham Art Club (1908), Birmingham, Alabama Dr. Arthur M. Brown Residence (1908), 319-4th Terrace, Birmingham, Alabama; demolished Sixth Avenue Baptist Church (1909), 1531-6th Avenue, Birmingham, Alabama 16th Street Baptist Church (1911), Birmingham, Alabama People's A.M.E. Zion Church (1911), Syracuse, New York T.C. Windham Construction Company Office Building (1912), Birmingham, Alabama Alabama Penny Savings Bank/Knights of Pythian Temple Building (1913), Birmingham, Alabama R. A. Blount Residence (1914), 322-6th Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama 32nd Street Baptist Church (1924), Birmingham, Alabama Antioch Baptist Church (1926), 956 W. 9th Street, Cincinnati, Ohio Trinity Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama Harmony Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church, Birmingham, Alabama 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, Alabama Rocky Springs Presbyterian Church, Laurens, South Carolina First Missionary Baptist Church, Decatur, Alabama Pythian Temple Building, Cotton Avenue, Macon, Georgia St. Luke African Methodist Episcopal Church, Birmingham, Alabama First Congregational Church (now part of Talladega College), Talladega, Alabama Dorms at Haven Institute and Conservatory of Music, Meridian, Mississippi
See also Robert R. Taylor, the first professionally trained African American architect in the U.S. African-American architects
References
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
External links
Wallace A. Rayfield site by Allen R. Durough at the Wayback Machine archived (March 16, 2012)