Paul Rudolph’s Tuskegee Chapel, designed in 1960 with Moreland Griffith Smith and former Tuskegee Institute professors John A. Welch and Louis Fry. Photo by G. E. Kidder Smith.
Tuskegee University’s Department of Architecture has received a contribution of $100,000 from the Cooper Carry Charitable Foundation, Inc. The gift will be used to increase access to the architecture profession for African American students.
The foundation is the charitable wing of the Cooper Carry architectural firm, located in Atlanta, New York, and Washington, D.C.
According to a press release issued by the university:
Of the approximately 100,000 licensed architects in the United States, only two percent are African American – a statistic that has not changed significantly since the 1960s. The American Institute of Architect’s Large Firm Roundtable, of which Cooper Carry is a member, is an organization of 60 of the nation’s largest design firms. The roundtable firms have committed to hiring more African Americans, with an emphasis on recruitment from HBCU programs.
“Tuskegee is one of only seven accredited architecture degree programs, which collectively account for approximately half of all African American graduates in architecture. This gift will enhance student academic success and increase our commitment to the students by making sure they are prepared when they go out into the workforce as future architects,” noted Dr. Carla Jackson Bell, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs and former dean of the school.
Tuskegee University is home to several Paul Rudolph designed buildings, representing a relationship that spanned several decades. Most people know the iconic Tuskegee Chapel which Rudolph designed in 1960 with Moreland Griffith Smith and former Tuskegee Institute professors John A. Welch and Louis Fry.
The completed chapel exterior. The Estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.
The completed chapel interior. The Estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.
The chapel was the result of a Master Plan for the University which Rudolph proposed in 1958.
Rudolph’s early proposal for the Tuskegee Chapel, showing it integrated with the earlier Master Plan project.. The Estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.
Rudolph’s proposed master plan for Tuskegee Institute. The Estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.
Rudolph’s presentation model for the propsoed master plan project. The Estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.
Rudolph would later design several other buildings for the school as it grew from being known as the Tuskegee Institute into Tuskegee University. These include the Tuskegee Administration Building - also known as Kresge Center - with John S. Chase & Associates, and an unbuilt Cultural Center both in 1960.
The Tuskegee Administration Building (Kresge Center) designed by Paul Rudolph with John S. Chase & Associates in 1960. Photo courtesy the Tuskegee University Archives.
Rudolph updated the campus Master Plan in 1978 and then designed the General Daniel “Chappie” James Center in 1982 with Millkey & Brown Associates. The building is named for Tuskegee University's distinguished graduate, General Daniel “Chappie” James, the first Black American to achieve the rank of Four-Star General in the United States military.
Rudolph’s original model for the Daniel Chappie James Center. Photo courtesy the Tuskegee University Archives.
Photo of the completed Daniel Chappie James Center, courtesy the Tuskegee University Archives.
The partnership formed between the Cooper Carry Charitable Foundation and Tuskegee University’s Department of Architecture will help the architectural profession more represent the community it designs projects for in the future.
It may just be the start of a long and ongoing process towards social justice in the profession, but the partnership will ensure it will be one in which Paul Rudolph’s legacy continues to play an important part.