{{short description|American architect (1874–1941)}} {{Infobox person | name = Wallace Augustus Rayfield | image = File:W. A. Rayfield.png | other_names = W. A. Rayfield,<br /> Wallace A. Rayfield | birth_date = May 10, 1874 | birth_place = Bibb County, Georgia, U.S. | death_date = February 28, 1941 | death_place = U.S. | education = | alma_mater = Howard University (BS),<br /> Pratt Institute,<br /> Columbia University (B. Arch) | occupation = Architect, educator | known_for = Second formally educated practicing African American architect in the U.S. }} '''Wallace Augustus Rayfield''' (1874–1941), also known as '''W.A. Rayfield''', was an American architect and educator.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dozier |first=Richard K. |date=2006 |title=African-Americans in Architecture |url=http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/904/Black_architects_have_a_rich_American_history |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208063633/http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/904/Black_architects_have_a_rich_American_history |archive-date=2009-02-08 |website=African American Registry (AAREG)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1994-12-07 |title=Rayfield's architecture dotted U.S., South Africa |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram-rayfields-arch/170836579/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |pages=29 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> He was the second formally educated practicing African American architect in the United States.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ward |first=Logan |date=January 2011 |title=Rediscovering Mr. Rayfield: The legacy of a pioneering African American architect is being restored by an indefatigable Southern Baptist preacher |url=http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/2011/january-february/rediscovering-mr-rayfield.html |journal=Preservation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120826011013/http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/2011/january-february/rediscovering-mr-rayfield.html |archive-date=2012-08-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Craven |first=Jackie |date=November 10, 2019 |title=Black Architects After the Civil War |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/african-american-architects-builders-of-america-177886 |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Wallace Augustus Rayfield was born around May 10, 1874 in Bibb County near Macon, Georgia.<ref name="Wilson-2004">{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Dreck Spurlock |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0OaSAgAAQBAJ |title=African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945 |date=March 2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-95629-5 |pages=50, 474–477 |language=en}}</ref> Rayfield attended schools in Macon, Georgia before moving to Washington, D.C. to live with his aunt after the death of his mother.<ref name="Wilson-2004" />
He was an apprentice at an architectural firm A. B. Mullett and Co. while attending Howard University in Washington, D.C.<ref name="Wilson-2004" /> Rayfield received a B.S. degree in 1896 in classics from Howard University.<ref name="Wilson-2004" /> He then completed a graduate certificate in 1898 from Pratt Institute, before earning his bachelor of architecture (B. Arch) in architecture from Columbia University in 1899.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 December 2014 |title=Wallace Rayfield - Alabama African American History |url=http://alafricanamerican.com/2012-honorees/wallace-rayfield/}}</ref>
==Career== alt=W. A. Rayfield & Co., Architects advertisement, 1917|thumb|W. A. Rayfield & Co., Architects advertisement, 1917 Upon graduation, he was recruited by Booker T. Washington to the role Directorship of the Architectural and Mechanical Drawing Department at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Tuskegee, Alabama. His students included William Sidney Pittman, and Vertner Woodson Tandy.<ref name="Historic Site">[http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/stagsere/se1/se5/018000/018800/018833/pdf/msa_se5_18833.pdf "W. Sidney and Portia Washington Pittman House, Prince George's County, Historic Site Summary Sheet: Section 8: Significance.]</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Weiss |first=Ellen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGYKEFz8Cd0C |title=Robert R. Taylor and Tuskegee: An African American Architect Designs for Booker T. Washington |date=2012-01-01 |publisher=NewSouth Books |isbn=9781588382481}}</ref>
In 1907, Rayfield opened a professional office in Tuskegee, Alabama from which he sold mail-order plans nationwide. He also advertised "branch offices" in Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile and Talladega, Alabama and Atlanta, Savannah, Macon and Augusta, Georgia. He left Tuskegee Institute and moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 1908 to focus on his young practice.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=G. P. (Green Polonius) |url=https://archive.org/details/beaconlightsofra00lchami/page/450/mode/2up?q=Rayfield |title=Beacon Lights of the Race |date=1911 |publisher=Memphis, E. H. Clarke & brother |others=The Library of Congress |pages=451 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> He was elected as Superintending Architect for the Freedman's Aid Society, and Connectional Architect of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
He died on February 28, 1941.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1941-03-07 |title=A Great Man Passes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-weekly-review-a-great-man-passes/170836805/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |work=The Weekly Review |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
==Notable work== * Birmingham Art Club (1908), Birmingham, Alabama<ref name="Wilson-2004" /> * Dr. Arthur M. Brown Residence (1908), 319-4th Terrace, Birmingham, Alabama; demolished<ref name="Wilson-2004" /> * Sixth Avenue Baptist Church (1909), 1531-6th Avenue, Birmingham, Alabama<ref name="Wilson-2004" /> * 16th Street Baptist Church (1911), Birmingham, Alabama<ref name="Wilson-2004" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sixteenth Street Baptist Church |url=https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/AL-01-073-0050 |website=SAH Archipedia}}</ref> * People's A.M.E. Zion Church (1911), Syracuse, New York * T.C. Windham Construction Company Office Building (1912), Birmingham, Alabama *Alabama Penny Savings Bank/Knights of Pythian Temple Building (1913), Birmingham, Alabama<ref name="Wilson-2004" /> *R. A. Blount Residence (1914), 322-6th Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama<ref name="Wilson-2004" /> * 32nd Street Baptist Church (1924), Birmingham, Alabama<ref>{{Cite web |last=Historic American Buildings Survey |title=Thirty-Second Street Baptist Church, 518 Thirty-second Street, South, Birmingham, Jefferson County, AL |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/al1215/ |access-date=2022-07-10 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> * Antioch Baptist Church (1926), 956 W. 9th Street, Cincinnati, Ohio<ref name="Wilson-2004" /> * Trinity Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama * Harmony Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama * Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church, Birmingham, Alabama * Ebenezer Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois<ref name="Wilson-2004" /> * St Paul's Episcopal Church, Batesville, Arkansas * Trinity Building, South Africa * Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Pensacola, Florida * Morning Star Baptist Church, Demopolis, Alabama * Marlinton Methodist Church, Marlinton, West Virginia * Marlinton Presbyterian Church, Marlinton, West Virginia * Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church, Milton, Florida * Madame Clisby Residence, Birmingham, Alabama * Rocky Springs Presbyterian Church, Laurens, South Carolina * First Missionary Baptist Church, Decatur, Alabama * Pythian Temple Building, Cotton Avenue, Macon, Georgia *St. Luke African Methodist Episcopal Church, Birmingham, Alabama *First Congregational Church (now part of Talladega College), Talladega, Alabama<ref name="Wilson-2004" /> *Dorms at Haven Institute and Conservatory of Music, Meridian, Mississippi<ref name="Wilson-2004" />
==See also== * Robert R. Taylor, the first professionally trained African American architect in the U.S. * African-American architects
==References== {{Reflist}} * Hamilton, G. P. (1911) "W. A. Rayfield, B. S., Birmingham, Ala." in ''[https://archive.org/details/beaconlightsofra00lchami Beacon Lights of the Race]''. Memphis, E. H. Clarke & Brother, pp. 451–7 * Brown, Charles A. (1972) ''W. A. Rayfield: Pioneer Black Architect of Birmingham, Ala.'' Birmingham: Gray Printing Company * McKenzie, Vinson. (Fall 1993) "[http://rl.blacklabmedia.com/site/site/history.html A Pioneering African-American Architect in Alabama: Wallace A. Rayfield, 1874–1941]{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}." ''Journal of the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art & Architecture.'' Vol. 13 * Durough, Allan R. (2010) ''The Architectural Legacy of Wallace A. Rayfield: Pioneer Black Architect of Birmingham, Alabama.'' Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press {{ISBN|978-0-8173-1683-9}}
==External links== {{Commons}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120316153025/http://www.wallacearayfield.com/index.htm Wallace A. Rayfield] site by Allen R. Durough at the Wayback Machine archived (March 16, 2012)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayfield, Wallace}} Category:1874 births Category:1941 deaths Category:20th-century American architects Category:20th-century African-American people Category:African-American architects Category:Artists from Birmingham, Alabama Category:Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni Category:People from Macon, Georgia Category:Pratt Institute alumni