Benjamin F. McAdoo: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{Short description|American architect (1920–1981)}}

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{{Infobox person

| name = Benjamin F. McAdoo

| image = Benjamin F. McAdoo (Tyee, 1946).jpg

| alt = A black and white photo of McAdoo wearing a suit and glasses.

| caption = McAdoo in 1946

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1920|10|29}}

| birth_place = [[Pasadena, California]], United States

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'''Benjamin Franklin McAdoo Jr.''' (October 29, 1920 – June 18, 1981) was an [[African Americans|African American]] architect. The first Black architect to practice in [[Washington (state)|Washington state]], McAdoo designed a number of residential, civic, and commercial structures in the [[Seattle]] area in a [[Modern architecture|modernist]] aesthetic influenced by the [[Northwest Regional style]]. Born in [[Pasadena, California]], he attended college in South California, where he became inspired by the work of [[Paul R. Williams]] and began to pursue architectural training. After working as a draftsman for local architectural firms and the [[United States Marine Corps]], he pursued his [[Bachelor of Architecture]] at the [[University of Washington]] in [[Seattle]], graduating in 1946. He became the first licensed African American architect in the state of Washington, and after a brief period designing remodels and alterations, he began to receive commissions designing private residences.

His career was heavily boosted due to favorableFavorable coverage in [[The Seattle Times|''The Seattle Times'']] by architecture journalist Margery Phillips boosted his career. A residence designed by McAdoo in [[Burien, Washington|Burien]] was declared the "Home of the Year" by the ''Seattle Times'' in association with the [[American Institute of Architects]]. After designing a number of low-income houses and apartments throughout the 1950s, including eighty single-family houses in his "House of Merit" design, he was hired by the [[United States Agency for International Development|Agency for International Development]] to design [[Modular building|modular houses]] in [[Jamaica]]. He returned to the United States after eighteen months in Jamaica, and beganbriefly workworked for the [[United States Department of State|Department of State]] and the [[General Services Administration]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], where he aided [[Edward Durell Stone]] in designing the [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]]. He returned to Seattle in 1964, andwhere beganhe pursuingpursued public and civic architectural commissions. In addition to his architectural work, he participated in the [[NAACP]], hosted a weekly radio show on racial issues for several years, and unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the [[Washington House of Representatives]].

==Early life and education==

On October 29, 1920, Benjamin Franklin McAdoo Jr. was born in [[Pasadena, California]] to Alfaretta DeRoussel and Benjamin F. McAdoo, Sr., He was the eldest of their four children. Benjamin McAdoo Sr., worked a variety of jobs, including as a general contractor, while Alfaretta worked as a music instructor. McAdoo grew up in a racially diverse neighborhood of Pasadena, one of a few neighborhoods tolerating black renters due to [[redlining]] practices in much of the city. He attended school at [[Pasadena High School (California)|Pasadena High School]], while working part-time with his father's business ofon hardwood flooring instillationinstallation and tree hauling.{{sfn|Cottrell-Crawford|Heuser|2023}}{{Sfn|PCAD}}

After graduating in 1938, heMcAdoo began attendingattended [[Pasadena City College|Pasadena Junior College]]; at this time, he was living alongside his parents and siblings with his paternal grandmother, who ran a grocery store in the area. He was active in the local [[Seventh Day Adventist Church]], giving speeches and sermons at church events. He became interested in architecture, motivated by his belief in [[Right to housing|housing as a human right]] and by his admiration for California African-American architect [[Paul R. Williams]]. In 1940, he won second place in a school contest to design an architect’sarchitect's office and living quarters. In 1941, he studied architecture at the [[University of Southern California]] in Los Angeles, working nights and attending classes during the day. Hebut was ultimately forced to withdraw from the university due tofor financial concerns,reasons. andHe then began work at a number of private firms in Los Angeles.{{sfn|Cottrell-Crawford|Heuser|2023}}{{Sfn|PCAD}}{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}}

In 1942, he worked as a draftsman for the South East Housing Architects in Los Angeles. That July, he joined the [[United States Marine Corps]] at [[Camp Roberts, California]], where he continued to work as a draftsman. Soon afterwards, he married Alice Thelma Dent. AlongsideIn their1943, newbornthe daughter, hecouple relocated with histheir familynewborn daughter to [[Portland, Oregon]] infor 1943McAdoo to pursue a job at the [[Kaiser Shipyards]] designing pipe systems for [[oil tankers]]. He sent inquiries to the architecture departments of the [[University of Oregon]] and the [[University of Washington]] (UW), both of which approved ahis request to transfer credits from his previous colleges. He ultimately chose to enroll in UW, due to a more receptive response to his letters and his belief that Seattle was a more racially tolerant environment than Oregon. While at UW, he published a junior project entitled "An Automobile Salesroom and Shop for Maintenance and Repair" in the university's architectural year book. He entered employment at the firm of [[James J. Chiarelli]] and [[Paul Hayden Kirk]] while in college.{{sfn|Cottrell-Crawford|Heuser|2023}}{{Sfn|PCAD}}{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}}

== Architectural practice ==

HeMcAdoo graduated with a [[Bachelor of Architecture]] degree on June 22, 1946. Over the following year, he briefly worked at the firms of [[James J. Chiarelli]] and [[Paul Hayden Kirk]]. In October 1946, he became the first licensed African American architect in the state of Washington.The{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}}{{Sfn|Dunham|2022a}}{{sfn|Mumford|2014|pp=50–51}} In the April of the following year, McAdoohe left Chiarelli & Kirk to beganfound his own practice from his apartment in the [[Capitol Hill, Seattle|Capitol Hill]] neighborhood. Business was favorable for architects at this time due to a postwar housing boom corresponding to the rise of [[Modern architecture|modernist architecture in the United States]]. The housing market in Seattle had been limited since the [[Great Depression]], with the last major expansion in the late 1920s. He was initially hired for remodels and alterations, designing seventeen such commissions during his first year of business.{{sfn|Cottrell-Crawford|Heuser|2023}}{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}}{{sfn|Mumford|2014|pp=50–51}}

In June 1947, he received his first full commission soon after founding his practice, for the [[Madrona, Seattle|Madrona]] residence of local dentist and Black community activist John P. Browning. After living in various homes to the south of Seattle, he moved into the city proper in 1949, living in a renovated house across the street from the Browning residence. He participated in a small homes design competition in 1947, designing a {{convert|887|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} ranch house featuring a [[butterfly roof]]. Although the design did not receive the prize, it was reviewed favorably in a column in ''[[The Seattle Times]]''.{{sfn|Cottrell-Crawford|Heuser|2023}}{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}} His work received consistently favorable coverage by ''Seattle Times'' architecture columnist [[Margery Phillips]], with Phillipsher coverage becoming a major source of publicity across his early career. Beginning in 1954, Phillips launched a "Home-of-the-Month" column in association with the [[American Institute of Architects]]. One of McAdoo's works was chosen as one of the first winners, and would ultimately be featured ten times in Phillips' columns. In 1956, a home McAdoo designed for George Hage was selected as "Home of the Year".{{Sfn|PCAD|}}{{Sfn|Houser|}}{{Sfn|Dunham|2022b}}

[[File:Ben Mar Apartments 1951.png|alt=A black and white photo of a small apartment building|thumb|McAdoo's Ben Mar Apartments, 1951]]

McAdoo had a strong focus on designing low-income housing. In 1948, he designed the nine-unit Ben-Mar Apartments, named for his children Benjamin and Marcia. Unlike other apartment complexes in the area, these apartments were not limited to White tenants.{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}} In 1950, he created a design for a {{Convert|620|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} single-family house titled the "House of Merit", featuring two bedrooms, a combined living and dining room, a projecting carport, and exterior walls covered in [[Wood shingle|wood shakes]]. The House of Merit design was intended to be affordable and easy to construct; five of these homes were constructed before the end of the year, with around eighty constructed over the following three years.{{Sfn|Williams|2021}} Following his increased business success in the early 1950s, he purchased an office building for his firm in 1951. The following year, he purchased a home in the [[Montlake, Seattle|Montlake]] neighborhood. At this time, less than 0.1% of the neighborhoods residents were Black. Local opinion among the predominately White residents was divided on his arrival due to tensions over [[racial integration]] in the city.{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}}{{Sfn|Dunham|2022a}}▼

McAdoo's early designs were strongly influenced by the emerging [[Northwest Regional style]], alongside general [[modern architecture]]. Key aspects of his designs include exposed structural elements, flat roofs, frequent use of wood, floor-to-ceiling windows, a reliance on horizontal lines, and the integration of the design into the surrounding landscape.{{Sfn|Ochsner|2017|pp=12, 20}}{{Sfn|Mumford|2014|p=329}}{{Sfn|Mahmoud|2022}} His 1955–1956 design for the [[Ota Residence|Kenneth & Kimi Ota house]], the residence of a Japanese-American family living in [[Rainier Valley, Seattle]],. It combined [[mid-century modern]] design with aspects of traditional [[Japanese architecture]].{{Sfn|Mahmoud|2022}}

As residential neighborhoods spread across Seattle in the late 1950s, McAdoo and his wife chose to relocate from the [[Montlake, Seattle|Montlake]] neighboring into a residence outside of the Seattle city limits in 1958, seeking to live closer to nature and take advantage of larger, less expensive properties. He selected a plot in the rural neighboring community of [[Bothell, Washington|Bothell]], which had no enforced laws against Black property owners. McAdoo and fellow architect Edward Watanabe designed the spacious residence in [[mid-century modern]] style, totaling {{Convert|3,600|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} across a main floor and an exposed basement.{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}}{{Sfn|Michelson|2012}} Phillips featured McAdoo's residence three times in her ''Seattle Times'' coverage.{{Sfn|Dunham|2022b}}▼

▲McAdoo had a strong focus on designing low-income housing. In 1948, he designed the nine-unit Ben-Mar Apartments, named for his children Benjamin and Marcia. Unlike other apartment complexes in the area, these apartments were not limited to White tenants.{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}} In 1950, he created a design for a {{Convert|620|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} single-family house titled the "House of Merit", featuring two bedrooms, a combined living and dining room, a projecting carport, and exterior walls covered in [[Wood shingle|wood shakes]]. The House of Merit design was intended to be affordable and easy to construct; five of these homes were constructed before the end of the year, with around eighty constructed over the following three years.{{Sfn|Williams|2021}} Following his increased business success in the 1950s, he purchased an office building for his firm.{{Sfn|Dunham|2022a}}

▲As residential neighborhoods spread across Seattle in the late 1950s, McAdoo and his wife chose to relocate from the [[Montlake, Seattle|Montlake]] neighboring into a residence outside of the Seattle city limits, seeking to live closer to nature and take advantage of larger, less expensive properties. He selected a plot in the rural neighboring community of Bothell, which had no enforced laws against Black property owners. McAdoo and fellow architect Edward Watanabe designed the spacious residence in [[mid-century modern]] style, totaling {{Convert|3,600|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} across a main floor and an exposed basement.{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}}{{Sfn|Michelson|2012}} Phillips featured McAdoo's residence three times in her ''Seattle Times'' coverage.{{Sfn|Dunham|2022b}}

=== Overseas and D.C. ===

After hosting ana Ghanaian ambassador, McAdoo traveled to [[Ghana]] in 1960, seeking to set up an architectural business in the newly-independent country. Such ventures were ultimately unsuccessful, but led to him meeting with President [[Kwame Nkrumah]] and hosting Ghanaian [[Student exchange program|exchange students]] at his house. In 1961, he designed the "Pagoda of Medicine" in [[Nashville, Tennessee]], serving as the medical offices of his brother-in-law Carl A. Dent. That same year, he was appointed the Chief Housing Advisor of the [[United States Agency for International Development|Agency for International Development]], and was sent to design [[Modular building|modular homes]] in [[Jamaica]]. He arrived in [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]] on January 14, 1962.{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}}{{Sfn|Mahmoud|2022}}{{Sfn|Lee|2022|p=64}}

[[File:Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C., LCCN2011632175.tifjpg|alt=A photograph of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as seen over the water|thumb|McAdoo served as the coordinating architect for the [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts|Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]] under [[Edward Durell Stone]].]]

These homes were fashioned from concrete blocks and were able to be constructed by untrained builders, and allowed low-income areas to be connected to water and electrical infrastructure. While in Jamaica, McAdoo lived in a middle-class neighborhood, unlike the upper class accommodations where most foreigners were residing. He attended ceremonies for the [[Independence of Jamaica]] on August 6, 1962, alongside other American dignitaries such as President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]].{{Sfn|Mahmoud|2022}}

After staying in Jamaica for 18 months, McAdoo briefly stayed in [[Washington, D.C.]], where he did architectural work for the [[United States Department of State|Department of State]] and the [[General Services Administration]].{{Sfn|Mahmoud|2022}} Even duringDuring this time, he continued to do some work in Seattle, designing the Four Seas Restaurant with Robert K. L. Wong.{{Sfn|Houser|}} He served as the coordinating architect for several of [[Edward Durell Stone]]'s designs in Washington, D.C., including the [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]] and the never-built [[National Fisheries Center and Aquarium]].{{Sfn|Mumford|2014|p=329}}{{Sfn|Mahmoud|2022}} He attempted to organize a Latin America division of the USAID, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He returned to Seattle in 1964.{{Sfn|Williams|2021}}

=== Later career ===

[[File:Queen Anne Pool exterior.jpg|alt=A modern photograph of the Queen Anne Pool, a brick building with a stepped roof and a large blue awning|thumb|McAdoo designed the [[Queen Anne Pool]] (built 1977).]]

Upon returning to Seattle, McAdoo and his family initially lived in an apartment atop his offices in Capitol Hill. After a difficult housing search held back by redlining practices and seller's discrimination, they moved to the [[Hilltop Community]] in [[Bellevue, Washington]], where they lived in a home designed by Paul Hayden Kirk.{{Sfn|Mahmoud|2022}} McAdoo continued his work with the General Services Administration at its [[Auburn, Washington|Auburn]] offices, with his private architectural practice as a secondary job. In the late 1960s, he returned to private practice full-time, where he specialized in civic and educational buildings such as the Southcenter Blood Bank (1970), the University of Washington Ethnic Cultural Center (1972), and the [[Queen Anne Pool]] (19781977).{{Sfn|Houser|}}

McAdoo worked up until his death on June 18, 1981. His funeral was held at Green Lake Seventh Day Adventist Church.{{sfn|Houser}}{{sfn|Seattle Times|1981}} After his death, architects Garold Malcolm and Richard Youel continued his firm under the name "McAdoo, Malcolm and Youel". The firm would go on to construct a number of projects over the next twenty years, including the [[Des Moines Library]].{{sfn|Drosendahl|2016}}{{Sfn|Mumford|2014|p=331}}

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==Personal life and political ventures==

[[Charles M. Stokes]], the first Black state representative in Washington, made an attempt at running for State Senate office in 1954. McAdoo, seeking to fill the now-vacant seat in the heavily Black 37th District, ran as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] on a civil rights platform, advocating the elimination of sales taxes on food and clothing, greater funding for public schools, and support for the [[United Nations]]. He placed second in the district's Democratic primaries, behind [[Fred H. Dore]]. The third place candidate, Paul Revelle, disputed the results, as McAdoo resided outside of the district. A superior court judge ruled that he was ineligible; he appealed the decision to the [[Washington Supreme Court]], which maintained the ruling. His attorneys said the ruling was because the "Democrats didn’tdidn't want a [[Negro]] on ballot".{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}} In 1964, he was elected president of the Seattle chapter of the [[NAACP]]. The same year, he began hosting a weekly [[KUOW-FM]] radio show discussing racial issues., This showwhich ran until 1968.{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}}{{Sfn|Houser|}}

McAdoo was a member of a variety of architectural and civic organizations, including the American Institute of Architects, the [[National Council of Architectural Registration Boards]], the National Organization for Minority Architects, the [[Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce]], and the [[Society of American Military Engineers]]. He was a board member of the [[Bloodworks Northwest|King County Central Blood Bank]], the Seattle Environmental Review Committee, the University of Washington's Educational Opportunity Program, and the board of trustees of [[Walla Walla University|Walla Walla College]]. He was a licensed architect in five jurisdictions; Alaska, hethe District of Columbia, Montana, Oregon, and Washington state.{{Sfn|SPI|1981|p=C16}} McAdoo and his wife had two daughters and a son.{{sfn|Cottrell-Crawford|Heuser|2023}}{{sfn|SPI|1981|p=C16}}

== Works ==

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|{{Sfn|PCAD|}}

|-

|[[Ota Residence]]

|Kenneth and Kimi Ota House

|10300 61st Avenue S, [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle, WA]]

|1955–1956

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|{{Sfn|Seattle Times|1981|p=C22}}{{sfn|Archives West|2023}}

|-

|[[Queen Anne Pool]]

|1920 1st Ave W, [[Seattle|Seattle, WA]]

|1974–1977

|1974–1978

|{{Sfn|PCAD|}}

|-

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*{{cite journal|first=Jessica|last=Mahmoud|title=Benjamin F. McAdoo Jr.|website=Black Arts Legacies|publisher=[[Crosscut.com|Crosscut]]|date=June 1, 2022|access-date=August 9, 2024|url=https://blackartslegacies.crosscut.com/articles/benjamin-mcadoo}}

*{{cite web|first=Alan|last=Michelson|title=Benjamin F., Jr., and Thelma McAdoo House|website=SAH Archipedia|publisher=[[Society of Architectural Historians]]|date=2012|access-date=August 9, 2024|url=https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/WA-01-033-0087}}

*{{cite web|title= Benjamin Franklin McAdoo Jr. (Architect)|website=Pacific Coast Architecture Database (PCAD)|publisher=[[University of Washington]]|date=2005–2024|url=https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/person/2167/|first=Alan|last=Michelson|ref={{harvid|PCAD}}}}

*{{cite book|title=Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects|editor-first1=Jeffery Karl|editor-last1=Ochsner|edition=2nd|jstor=j.ctvcwnd1m|publisher=[[University of Washington Press]]|isbn=9780295806891|date=2014|first=Esther Hall|last=Mumford|chapter=Benjamin F. McAdoo Jr.}}

*{{cite journal|title=The Emergence of Regional Modernism in Seattle Architecture: From the 1930s to the 1950s|journal=[[Pacific Northwest Quarterly]]|volume=108|issue=1|date=2017|jstor=44790797|pages=12–28|first=Jeffery Karl|last=Ochsner}}

*{{cite journal|title=Working at the Intersection of Equity & Architecture: The contributions of Benjamin McAdoo, Jr.|first=Tyler S.|last=Sprague|journal=Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History|date=2022|volume=36|issue=4|pages=20–27|url=https://www.washingtonhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/36_04_WINTER_Interior_wCovers_lo_Res.pdf}}