{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Short description|African American architect and engineer (1888–1958)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Archie Alexander | image = Archie Alexander.jpg | office = [[List of Governors of the United States Virgin Islands|Governor of the United States Virgin Islands]] | president = [[Dwight Eisenhower]] | term_start = April 9, 1954 | term_end = August 31, 1955 | predecessor = [[Morris Fidanque de Castro|Morris de Castro]] | successor = [[Charles Kenneth Claunch|Charles Claunch]] (acting) | birth_name = Archibald Alphonso Alexander | birth_date = {{birth date|1888|5|14}} | birth_place = [[Ottumwa, Iowa]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1958|1|4|1888|5|14}} | death_place = [[Des Moines, Iowa]], U.S. | party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | spouse = {{marriage|Audra Linzy|1913}} | education = {{ubl |[[Highland Park College]] (attended) |Cummins Art College (attended) |[[University of Iowa]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])}} }} '''Archibald Alphonso Alexander''' (May 14, 1888{{spnd}}January 4, 1958) was an American [[architect]] and [[engineer]]. He was an early African-American graduate of the [[University of Iowa]] and the first to graduate from the University of Iowa's College of Engineering. He was also a governor of the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]].
== Early life and education == Alexander was born in [[Ottumwa, Iowa]], to Price and Mary Hamilton Alexander, part of a small African American community.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Wynes|first=Charles E.|doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1001909|title=Alexander, Archie Alphonso (1888-1958), engineer|date=April 15, 2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|series=American National Biography Online}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Alexander|first=Archie Alphonso|title=Archie Alphonso Alexander|url=http://mallhistory.org/items/show/137|access-date=June 11, 2020|website=Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. View original photograph.}}</ref> He was the eldest of their nine children. When the family moved to a farm outside [[Des Moines]], Price became head custodian at the Des Moines National Bank. Alexander graduated from Oak Park High School in 1905. He then attended Highland Park College and Cummins Art College before matriculating at the State University of Iowa (later known as the University of Iowa) to study engineering.<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Dreck Spurlock |title=African-American Architects : A Biographical Dictionary 1865–1945 |year=2004 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York, NY |isbn=0-415-92959-8 |pages=11–12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k5r5cXC67igC&pg=PP20 }}</ref> Not only was Alexander the only African-American student at the University at the time, but he was the first African-American student to graduate from the University of Iowa's engineering program. He graduated in 1912.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Weingardt|first=Richard G.|date=October 1, 2009|title=Archibald Alphonso Alexander|journal=Leadership and Management in Engineering|volume=9|issue=4|pages=207–211|doi=10.1061/(ASCE)LM.1943-5630.0000029|doi-access=free}}</ref> His professors warned Alexander that it would be difficult for him to find work as an African-American engineer.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> Alexander was also a football player at the University of Iowa, where he was a three-year starting tackle and earned the nickname "Alexander the Great".<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> Throughout college, Alexander worked multiple part-time jobs to support himself and pay tuition.<ref name=":3" /> Alexander was also a member of the predominantly black [[Kappa Alpha Psi]] fraternity.<ref name=":3" /> During the summer, Alexander worked as a draftsman for [[Marsh Engineering Company]], a Des Moines company that designed many significant bridges.<ref name=":0" /> In 1921, Alexander also studied bridge design at the [[University of London]] while on a sabbatical.<ref name=":3" /> He later obtained his civil engineering degree from Iowa State University in 1925.
== Career ==
=== Engineering and architecture === After graduating, Alexander worked as a foreman for Marsh Engineering Company before forming his own engineering company at the age of 26.<ref name=":3" /> Alexander's firm, named A. A. Alexander, Inc., initially specialized in bridges.<ref name=":1" /> He partnered with Euro-American contractor George F. Higbee for eight years before Higbee's death.<ref name=":3" /> After Higbee's death, Alexander ran the company alone for four years. His significant projects during this time included the University of Iowa's heating and cooling system.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Sobers-Outlaw|first=Gill|date=April 15, 2014|title=Archie Alphonso Alexander (1888-1958) •|url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/alexander-archie-alphonso-1888-1958/|access-date=June 11, 2020|language=en-US}}</ref>
In 1926, Alexander was honored with a [[William E. Harmon Foundation Award for Distinguished Achievement Among Negroes|Harmon award]] for his distinguished achievement in business and engineering. The same year, he also received the Laurel Wreath Award, Kappa Alpha Psi's highest award for lifetime achievement.<ref name=":3" />
In 1929, he took on his former classmate and football teammate Maurice A. Repass as a junior partner and changed the firm's name to Alexander & Repass.<ref name=":1" /> Their first major project was a multimillion-dollar sewage treatment plant in [[Grand Rapids]], Michigan.<ref name=":3" /> Their work also focused on many roads and bridges across the nation, including construction of the [[Whitehurst Freeway]] and an extension to the [[Baltimore–Washington Parkway]]. The firm was hired to build a bridge and seawall at the [[Tidal Basin]] in Washington DC, where Alexander brought in an integrated construction crew.<ref name=":1" /> Their firm also constructed the Moton Airfield, where the [[Tuskegee Airmen]] trained, as well as an apartment building for the [[National Association for Colored Women]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=Details Page - The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa - The University of Iowa Libraries|url=http://uipress.lib.uiowa.edu/bdi/DetailsPage.aspx?id=7|access-date=June 11, 2020|website=uipress.lib.uiowa.edu}}</ref> Alexander's firm became so successful [[Ebony (magazine)|''Ebony'' magazine]] declared it "the nation's most famous interracial business" in 1949.<ref name=":3" /> Ultimately, Alexander spearheaded over 300 projects throughout his career.<ref>{{Cite web|date=February 12, 2014|title=Celebrating African American History Month with Role Models in Science & Engineering Achievement: Archibald A. Alexander|website=Scienceblogs|url=https://scienceblogs.com/usasciencefestival/2014/02/12/celebrating-african-american-history-month-with-role-models-in-science-engineering-achievement-archibald-a-alexande|access-date=June 11, 2020|language=en}}</ref>
In 1925, the University of Iowa granted him an honorary master's degree in engineering.<ref name=":3" /> Howard University awarded Alexander with an honorary [[Doctor of Engineering]] in 1946. Although some sources claim Alexander was awarded the NAACP's prestigious [[Spingarn Medal]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Henderson|first=Alexa Benson|date=1994|title=African-American Business Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary. ByJohn N. Ingham and Lynne B. Feldman · Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing, 1993. xiv + 806 pp. Appendixes, bibliographic essay, and index. $99.50. ISBN 0-313-27253-0.|journal=Business History Review|volume=68|issue=2|pages=289–292|doi=10.2307/3117448|jstor=3117448|s2cid=154116112 |issn=0007-6805}}</ref> the NAACP does not list him as a recipient.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Spingarn Medal Winners: 1915 to Today|url=https://www.naacp.org/awards/spingarn-medal/winners/|access-date=June 11, 2020|website=NAACP|language=en|archive-date=April 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412223842/https://naacp.org/awards/spingarn-medal/winners/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
=== Politics ===
Alexander began his political career in 1932, when he served as the assistant chairman of the Iowa Republican State Committee, a position that he held again in 1940.<ref name=":3" /> In 1934, Alexander was appointed as part of an investigative team that looked into economic development possibilities for [[Haiti]].<ref name=":3" /> Throughout the 1930s, Alexander was an active member of the Republican Party.<ref name=":1" /> He aggressively campaigned for Dwight D. Eisenhower's White House bid in 1952.<ref name=":3" /> In addition to his work for the Republican Party, Alexander was also active in African-American organizations. Alexander served as a charter member and the 1944 president of the Des Moines chapter of the [[NAACP]].<ref name=":3" /> He was also president of the Negro Community Center Board and a trustee at both Howard University and [[Tuskegee University|the Tuskegee Institute]].<ref name=":3" /> [[File:ARCHIE ALEXANDER - BUILDER OF BRIDGES - NARA - 535621.jpg|thumb|"Archie Alexander - Builder of Bridges" created by [[Charles Alston|Charles Henry Alston]]]]In 1954, Alexander was appointed [[Governor of the United States Virgin Islands]] by [[President of the United States|President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]].<ref name=":3" /> He was the first [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] governor there since the establishment of the civil government. His tenure at the post was short and controversial.<ref name=":3" /> In 1955, he was highly criticized for favoring old business partners in contracts for road building on [[Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands|St. Thomas]]. The [[United States House of Representatives]] launched a probe, and he subsequently resigned on August 18, 1955, ostensibly for health reasons.
== Personal life == Alexander married Audra A. Linzy in [[Denver, Colorado]], in 1913.<ref name=":3" /> They had one child, Archibald Alphonso Jr., who died as a young child.
Alexander died of a heart attack in 1958 in [[Des Moines, Iowa]].<ref name=":3" />
== Legacy == Upon the death of his wife Audra Linzy Alexander in 1973, the University of Iowa, Tuskegee Institute, and Howard University received funds for engineering scholarships as stipulated in Alexander's will.<ref name=":4" /> Each university received a trust with over 100,000 dollars (approximately $1.5 million in 2009 dollars altogether) for endowed engineering scholarships.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Archie A. Alexander Memorial - University of Iowa Scholarships|url=https://uiowa.academicworks.com/opportunities/163472|access-date=June 11, 2020|website=uiowa.academicworks.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Engineering {{!}} Tuskegee University|url=https://www.tuskegee.edu/programs-courses/scholarships/endowed-scholarships/engineering|access-date=June 11, 2020|website=www.tuskegee.edu}}</ref>
The Archie Alphonso Alexander papers are held at the [[University of Iowa]] Special Collections & University Archives.<ref name=":5" />
Alexander is included in the [[Chick-fil-A|Chick-Fil-A]] [[College Football Hall of Fame]] for his three seasons on the University of Iowa varsity football team.<ref>{{Cite web|date=February 14, 2020|first=Jess|last=Washington|title=Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame Celebrates Black History Month|url=https://www.dallasweekly.com/articles/chick-fil-a-college-football-hall-of-fame-celebrates-black-history-month/|access-date=June 11, 2020|website=www.dallasweekly.com|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611022836/https://www.dallasweekly.com/articles/chick-fil-a-college-football-hall-of-fame-celebrates-black-history-month/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070812224726/http://www.nsbe.org/publicrelations/bhmonth3.php The National Society of Black Engineers] * The [http://collguides.lib.uiowa.edu/?MSC0304 Archie Alexander Papers] are housed at the University of Iowa Special Collections & University Archives. *[http://www.cpnas.org/aahp/biographies/alexander-archie.html African American History Program]
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=[[Morris Fidanque de Castro|Morris de Castro]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[List of Governors of the United States Virgin Islands|Governor of the United States Virgin Islands]]|years=1954–1955}} {{s-aft|after=[[Charles Kenneth Claunch|Charles Claunch]]<br>Acting}} {{s-end}}
{{Governors of the U.S. Virgin Islands}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Archie}} [[Category:1888 births]] [[Category:1958 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American politicians]] [[Category:African-American people in United States Virgin Island politics]] [[Category:American civil engineers]] [[Category:Christians from Iowa]] [[Category:Governors of the United States Virgin Islands]] [[Category:Iowa Hawkeyes football players]] [[Category:Iowa Republicans]] [[Category:NAACP activists]] [[Category:People from Ottumwa, Iowa]] [[Category:Players of American football from Iowa]] [[Category:Republican Party of the Virgin Islands politicians]] [[Category:20th-century American Episcopalians]] [[Category:20th-century African-American politicians]] [[Category:Iowa State University alumni]] [[Category:African-American architects]] [[Category:Howard University trustees]]