When Kathryn Anthony, architecture professor, applied to the Chancellor’s office in fall 2003 for funds to create a Web site that would document the history of African-American architecture alumni at the University, she had no idea the end result would find its way to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago as part of the exhibit “Architecture: Pyramids to Skyscrapers.” An edited version of the African-American Architecture Alumni Web site Anthony and three architecture students created over the course of two years will be on display at the museum until the end of February.

“A little money went a long way,” Anthony said. “A few resources ended up with, I think, an impressive product and useful historical and contemporary documentation that we did not have before.”

The Web site is made up of eight different sections, including a portion devoted to the history of the University’s African-American architecture alumni. The architecture program at the University began in 1870, the second academic architecture program in the U.S. In 1904 Walter T. Bailey was the first African-American to graduate from the University with a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering. Since Bailey, there have been 105 African-American architecture alumni, according to the Web site.

The University’s School of Architecture is notable because it is one of the few public schools in the nation, not including historically black colleges and universities, to significantly contribute to the education of African-American architects in the U.S., maybe even more so than any other school. Anthony learned this fact at the National Organization of Minority Architects national convention in 2002 when University alumni at the convention told her. Their comments helped inspire Anthony to create a Web site acknowledging the University’s history regarding African-American architecture alumni.

“It’s an original work and much to my surprise, it really is one of the few examples of work like this in the country,” Anthony said. “In fact it is a national prototype. That’s what makes it special. No one has done exactly this. No other school has a site with their African-American architecture alumni featured exclusively along with their accomplishments.”

A link on the site invites African-American architecture students, past and present, to participate in the survey Anthony used to collect some of the data on the site and which was distributed to most of the featured African-American architecture alumni by regular mail.

Nicholas Watkins, Ph.D. Candidate in Behavioral and Cultural Factors in Design, was involved in the historical investigative process behind the African-American Architecture Alumni project. As a graduate student in 2003 he took a year-long research assistanceship with Anthony, who was able to hire Watkins and another graduate student with the awarded funds. The money had been set aside by former Chancellor Nancy Cantor’s office specifically for projects related to the Brown vs. Board of Education Committee. Anthony’s proposal was one of many to be awarded at the time.

Watkins spent hours in obscure University holdings, digging through the archives and getting his hands on as much relevant material as possible. He combed old “Illios” and read every School of Architecture newsletter he could find recording any information regarding African-American architecture students. Piecing all the data together and forming it into an easily accessible package was one of Watkins’ many contributions to the project.

Watkins said the entire experience was “eye-opening,” and gave him a profound respect for history, especially how it is made and incorporated into research. He also said the research of human interaction and architecture is one he believes has to be valued and taken more seriously.

“It (African-Americans in architecture) was not a topic I could relate to personally,” Watkins said. “It took some momentum to get interested in it, but it showed me the value of doing historical research.”

He said he hopes the Web site helps young minorities and African-Americans recognize that they too have a historical background in architecture.

“When people build something it is a reflection of self,” Watkins said. “I don’t think minorities in architecture have that recognition.”

Rodney Howlett, an architecture graduate student, became a part of the African-American Architecture Alumni project in fall 2004. He took on the task of updating and improving the African-American Architecture Alumni Web site as an extra credit project while he was a student in Anthony’s class, “Gender and Race in Architecture.”

In order to work with the Web site Howlett learned Dreamweaver, which was used to create the site. He initially thought he would be making general corrections to the site, but actually ended up designing the entire thing. Although the site is now up and running, Howlett said he feels it is still unfinished. He purposely designed the site so future students would be able to easily expand it.

“I think the web site is great,” Howlett said. “In addition to it being educational, it’s also extremely helpful for young graduates, such as myself, to have our resumes and work samples on the site along with our survey answers.”

Howlett also added that he felt it was an “extreme honor” to have the names of young graduates listed alongside some of the great architects such as Roger Margerum, Karl Thorne, Jack Travis and David Lee.

“I think the public at large is clueless about the contributions that African-American architects have made to society or the struggles that they have overcome and continue to face,” Howlett said. “Many people who see the site or hear about it might think we’re trying to shove diversity down their throats, when, in reality, we just want people to be informed and inspired. In addition we want to thank and recognize the University for 106 years of African-American architecture history.”

To view the African-American Alumni Architecture Web site visit http://www2.arch.uiuc.edu/africanamericanalumniresearch/