I am proud and excited to share that this month our 36th SAY IT LOUD Exhibition is opening at the Octagon Museum in Washington DC located at the AIA National Headquarters campus. All our exhibitions are incredibly important, but this exhibition is profound because not only do we feature women and BIPOC designers of Washington DC, but we are also displaying all 140 African American Fellows of the American Institute of Architects thanks to the support of the Architects Foundation.

There are approximately 2,455 licensed African American architects in the United States, a number that represents only 2 percent of the population of the country’s licensed architects. According to NCARB there are 116,242 architects in the United States. Of the 94,000 AIA members, less than 3% are elevated to the College of Fellows. In 2021, of the approximately 2,820 Fellows 140 are African American in the organizations 165 year history.

Leveraging the list originally started by Marshall Purnell and maintained by Kathy Dixon, our researchers were able to find the names, headshots, locations and project for every fellow!!!

In 2022 an additional 5 African American Fellows were elevated for a total of 145.

With the AIA College of Fellows grant, we were able to hire 6 researchers who are NOMAS / AIAS students. They researched online, called past offices, business partners, clients and fellows to gather the information. I am very grateful for their dedication and passion to gather the information over the past 5 months.

Sarahdjane Mortimer | Harvard University | Boston, MA | AIAS | NOMAS

Alexander Thomas | Macalester College | Minneapolis, MN | NOMAS

Cindy Zhou | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Brooklyn, NY | AIAS

Xavier Smith | California State Polytechnic University | Los Angeles, CA | NOMAS

Elise Park | New York Institute of Technology | New Hyde Park, NY | AIAS | NOMAS

Samuel Harrison | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Suitland, MD | NOMAS

Our SAY IT LOUD Exhibition initiative has always been a self-submitting process, this is the first time where we did the research, we cultivated the information, and revealed the hidden histories and contributions of our legends as we aspire to be their legacy.

African American Fellows in Alphabetical order:

Sir David Adjaye

Isham O. Baker

William J. Bates

Alicia M. Belton

Walter S. Blackburn

J. Max Bond Jr.

Stacy A. Bourne

Barbara Bouza

Gary Bowden

William E. Brazley, Jr.

Leon Bridges

Stanford R. Britt

William M. Brown, III

Robert L. Brown, Jr.

Van B. Bruner

Charles I. Bryant

Robert E. Bryant

Gabrielle A. Bullock

Wendell J. Campbell

Horace S. Cantrell, Jr.

Donna D. Carter

James Chaffers

John S. Chase

Edward E. Cherry

R. Corey Clayborne

Robert T. Coles

Peter D. Cook

Paul S. Devrouax, Jr.

Kathy Denise Dixon

James C. Dodd

Robert L. Easter

Darrell A. Fitzgerald

Anthony C. Floyd

Thomas Fowler IV

Philip Freelon

Louis E. Fry, Jr.

Louis E. Fry, Sr.

Harvey B. Gantt

Vergel Lee Gay Jr.

William Gilchrist

Anzilla R. Gilmore

Karl Grice

Dina A. Griffin

Kenneth G. Groggs

Rainy Hamilton

Melody Harclerode

Henry Hardnett

Oscar L. Harris

Dominique M. Hawkins

Andrew L. Heard

Ricardo C. Herring

Major L. Holland

Kevin M. Holland

Diane J. Hoskins

Zena K. Howard

Ray Huff

David Hughes

Granville W. Hurley

Ralph T. Jackson

Darren Lamarr James

Kermit J. Lee, Jr.

Michael W. Johns

Anthony N. Johns, Jr.

Jeh V. Johnson

Philip Craig Johnson

Emanuel Kelly

Robert A. Kennard

Francis Kéré

Donald I. King

Dan Kirby

Kwendeche

Mohammed Lawal

William R. Lawson

Victor F. Body Lawson

M. David Lee

Frank Christopher Lee

R. Steven Lewis

Saundra R. Little

Walter R. Livingston, Jr.

Robert Arthur King

Ivenue Love-Stanley

Howard H. Mackey

Robert P. Madison

Albert Mangones

William R. Manning

Roger W. Margerum

Michael L. Marshall

Mortimer M. Marshall, Jr.

Charles F. McAfee

Cheryl L. McAfee

Charyl F. McAfee-Duncan

Elmer H. McDowell

Ronnie W. McGhee

Melvin L. Mitchell

Renauld Deandre Mitchell

Kevin G. Montgomery

Curtis J. Moody

Dorian A. Moore

Robert L. Morgan

John W. Moutoussamy

Robert J. Nash

Terrance E. O’Neal

Sam Oboh

Kenneth Owens, Jr.

Thierry Paret

Clarence W. Pearson, Jr.

Frederick Perpall

Burchell F. Pinnock

Clyde Porter

Fred Powell

Kathryn Bradford Tyler Prigmore

Marshall E. Purnell

Hilyard R. Robinson

Joseph W. Robinson

Harry G. Robinson, III

Donald P. Ryder

Pascale M. Sablan

James E. Silcott

Howard F. Sims

Norma M. Sklarek

Carlton T. Smith

Kevin G. Sneed

John H. Spencer

William J. Stanley, III

Donald L. Stull

John D. Sulton

Sharon E. Sutton, PhD

Karl S. Thorne

Jack Travis

Jimmie E. Tucker

Denorval Unthank, Jr.

Harold R. Varner

Randall Vaughn

Roberta Washington

James R. Washington

John A. Welch

Paul R. Williams

Lorenzo D. Williams

Harold L. Williams

Allison G. Williams

Darell J. Williams

Michael E. Willis

John L. Wilson

Walter L. Wilson

Golden J. Zenon, Jr.

Exhibition will be open from June through December.

Please spread the word and come visit!!

Octagon Museum 1799 New York Ave NW, Washington, DC 20006

If you are wondering why I chose to send you this email, please know your support means everything to me. You are a part of my community and someone I aspire to make proud.

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