Howard Hamilton Mackey Sr., FAIA (1901–1987), was an American architect, painter, educator, and academic administrator.[1][2] For 50 years he worked at Howard University, from 1924 until 1973; including serving as the department head, and associate dean.[3]
Howard Hamilton Mackey Sr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 25, 1901 |
| Died | August 20, 1987 (aged 85) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Education | University of Pennsylvania |
| Occupation(s) | Architect, painter, printmaker, educator, academic administrator |
| Years active | 1924–1973 |
| Known for | Tropical housing architecture |
| Movement | Tropical Modernism |
| Spouse | Matilda Eleanor Kendricks |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards | Whitney Young Award (1983) |
Early life and education
editHoward Hamilton Mackey was born on November 25, 1901, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Black parents Anna Willis and Henry Bardon Mackey.[1][2] His father was a butler for a White family and his mother was a domestic worker.[1] From 1916 to 1920, Mackey attended South Philadelphia High School.[1] The summer after high school graduation, he worked as a junior draftsman for architect William Augustus Hazel.[1]
Mackey received a bachelor of architecture in 1924 from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Architecture.[1][4] In 1936, he took a teaching sabbatical to work on a master's degree at the University of Pennsylvania.[2]
Career
editHe worked at Howard University for 50 years, from 1924 until 1973; as a faculty member (1924–); department head (1929–); and later an associate dean of the School of Architecture and Engineering (1937–).[3] When Mackey joined Howard University in 1924, there were only two other full time instructors in the architecture department at the time, Hilyard Robert Robinson and Albert Irvin Cassell.[1] Under Mackey's leadership, Howard University became the first HBCU to have an accredited architecture program.[1]
From 1954 to 1957, Mackey took a sabbatical from Howard University in order to teach at the University of Maryland's Civil Engineering Department.[1] During his time at the University of Maryland, he received a contract from the U.S. Department of State to develop housing plans in Suriname and British Guiana (now known as Guyana) for the Foreign Operations Administration.[1][5][4][6] He also was a U.S. delegate to a Pan-American housing conference in Bogotá, Colombia.[3] Because of these experiences abroad, Mackey became known for his tropical housing architectural designs.[3]
He was a member of the College of Fellows of the AIA starting in 1962, and was awarded the Whitney Young Award in 1983.[7][3] He was the second African-American to be elected to the College of Fellows of the AIA, after Paul R. Williams.[8] Mackey was a chairman of the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustments, a member of the D.C. Board of Architectural Examiners, and he served on the National Capital Planning Commission's committee on Landmarks of the Nation's Capital.[3] Additionally, Mackey was a painter and exhibited his artwork at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Howard University Gallery of Art, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art.[2]
In 1925, he married Matilda Eleanor Kendricks, and together they had one son.[1] His son, Howard Jr. also worked as an architect.[1] Mackey died on August 20, 1987, in the hospital in Washington, D.C., from pneumonia, a complication of Parkinson's disease.[1]
Mackey's profile was included in the biographical dictionary African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865–1945 (2004).
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wilson, Dreck Spurlock (2003-12-12). African-American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945. Taylor & Francis. pp. 367–381. ISBN 978-0-203-49312-0.
- ^ a b c d "Obituaries: Howard Mackey, 85, Dies; Former Dean at Howard U." The Washington Post. August 21, 1987.
- ^ a b c d e f "Howard. H Mackey, Sr". Beyond the Built. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
- ^ a b "Assign Mackey To British Guiana Post". The New York Age. 1954-08-14. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
- ^ "American Architect In British Guiana". The New York Age. 1955-03-26. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
- ^ "Howards H. Mackey, Sr". The Detroit Tribune. 1954-08-28. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
- ^ "Dallas, Tex". The Call. 1962-05-11. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "1983 Mackey, W. Young Award". AIA and Whitney Young. Retrieved 2023-07-27.