A PEOPLE’S PROGRESS, PART 1 OF 3

America, we are not done yet. But we must prove this to ourselves.

Greetings,

I hope everyone had a fabulous Father’s Day weekend, including Juneteenth activities that families could enjoy together. Here in my neck of the woods, most of the festivities were rained out. But Sunday’s grey skies did not destroy my mood. My sister and I ventured out after church to deliver gifts to our dad. He was surprised and grateful for the family pictures we presented him. Many of them spurred conversations about moments shared in the past, which somehow led to a barely known Black History fact.

With excitement, my dad shared a highlight reel of Paul Revere Williams, the architect to Hollywood’s rich and famous. In 1922, Williams became the first known Black member of the American Institute of Architecture. Born in 1894, he designed homes for White celebrities like Frank Sinatra, Barbara Stanwyck, Danny Thomas, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Williams is responsible for some of America’s most famous buildings. 

As I sat there listening to my dad relay the facts, I knew I had to learn more about Williams. I believed his success was somehow formulaic. But I had to know for sure.

His Story 

Like many Blacks in his day, Williams had a heartbreaking start in life. Before Williams was born, his dad was a Memphis businessman who left the city for Los Angeles with his wife and small son, Chester. Williams was born shortly after the move, but his father died when he was only two. Tragically, his mother passed away two years later, leaving him and his older brother orphans. Williams was raised by foster parents–the Clarksons. 

“A family friend raised him and told him he was so bright; he could do anything he wanted. And what he wanted was to design homes for families — perhaps because he lost his own so early in his life.” 

Heard on  All Things Considered By Karen Grigsby Bates, on NPR. June 22, 2012. 

Although he was the only Black at his elementary school, he completed his education, received a high school degree in 1912, and immediately began a self-study of architecture. In 1916 he was admitted into the University of South California, where he studied architectural engineering while taking on various apprenticeships with local architectural firms. He became a certified building contractor working on small projects in between times. 

Show Thyself

After entering the draft in 1917, he married his wife. And at 25, Williams, his supportive wife, and foster mother moved into an ordinary Black community in South Central Los Angeles, where he resided for 30 years. At the same time, in 1920, Williams worked as a draftsman for renowned architect Arthur Kelly. The same year he was appointed to the L.A. City Planning Commission by the Mayor of Los Angeles, 

Designing homes in a wealthy White neighborhood did not instantaneously change Williams’ circumstances. According to KOCE-TV, a PBS television station licensed to Huntington Beach, California, “Despite warnings that the African American community is not large or wealthy enough to support an architect, Williams finds work in this growing segment of society.”

In 1924, he masterfully designed the Second Baptist Church, the first African American Baptist Church in L.A. and one of the first major construction projects in the area. The project is fully staffed by Black-owned businesses per the pastor’s request. Williams also builds homes for wealthy Blacks, including Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, and funeral homes in the area.

A man’s gift makes room for him,

And brings him before great men. 

Proverbs 18:16 (NKJV) – “man” and “him” represents a human, as in mankind.

An essay by Williams, entitled “I Am a Negro,” was published in American Magazine in July of 1937, reflecting the battles he faced. Williams would have been 43 at its publication. Here is a quote from the autobiographical essay: 

I came to realize that I was being condemned, not by a lack of ability, but by my color. I passed through successive stages of bewilderment, inarticulate protest, resentment, and, finally, reconciliation to the status of my race. Eventually, however, as I grew older and thought more clearly, I found in my condition an incentive to personal accomplishment, an inspiring challenge. Without having the wish to “show them,” I developed a fierce desire to “show myself.” I wanted to vindicate every ability I had. I wanted to acquire new abilities. I wanted to prove that I, as an individual, deserved a place in the world.

Tomorrow, I will continue to layout the fascinating yet duplicatable formula for success.

Yours in progress and love. Really,

Leah

“For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh but serve one another through love.”

Galatians 5:13 (CSB)