Tuesday, February 2 , 2021

 Tuesday, February 2, 2021

  • Norma Merrick Sklarek -Did you know that only about 0.4% of all licensed American architects are Black women? The first Black woman to be recognized by the American Institute of Architects is named Norma Merrick Sklarek. Known as the "Rosa Parks of Architecture," Sklarek was born in 1926 to Trinidadian immigrants in Harlem, NY. In 1950, she became the first African-American woman (and one of only two women) to receive a degree in Architecture at Columbia University. Even after becoming the first licensed Black woman in New York, she was rejected from 19 other firms before finally landing a job at her first firm: Skidmore, Owings and Merril. Throughout her career she's worked across the country (and the globe) on projects such as The United States Embassy in Tokyo, Japan and the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, California. Howard University honors her with the Norma Merrick Sklarek Architectural Scholarship Award. She died in 2012 after a lifetime of leadership in American architecture.

A picture of the Pacific Design Center:

Tomorrow will feature Fred Hampton