Black History:  Special Delivery!!

 

Robert Robinson Taylor (1858 – 1942)

Robert Robinson Taylor (1858 – 1942) is recognized as the first academically trained Black architect in the U.S.  Taylor grew up in North Carolina, where he worked for his father (Henry Taylor) as a carpenter and foreman.  Henry Taylor was a successful builder. Robert Taylor’s mother was Emilie Taylor.  Both Henry Taylor and Emilie Taylor were reported to be of mixed race.    

Robert Taylor graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  The final project he completed for his bachelor’s degree in Architecture was “Design for a Soldier’s Home.”  The project examined suggested a design to provide housing for aging civil war veterans. He graduated from MIT in 1892 at the top of his class with a bachelor of science degree in architecture.  Taylor was the first black person to graduate from MIT with an architectural degree. 

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