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Primary
Business Address ALLEN R.
DUROUGH 1940 4th
Avenue S. W. Bessemer,
Alabama 35022 |
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BY ALLEN R. DUROUGH
AUTHOR: THE RAYFIELD ARCHITECTURAL
LEGACY
OWNER-CURATOR: “THE RAYFIELD COLLECTION” |
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To
contact us: |
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COPYRIGHTED 1994 BY ALLEN R. DUROUGH |
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ALL MATERIAL IN THIS WEB SIT E IS
COPYRIGHTED AND MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT WRITTEN
PERMISSION FROM ALLEN R. DUROUGH OR THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS |
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ALABAMA’S FIRST & AMERICA’S SECOND FORMALLY EDUCATED AND PRACTICING AFRICAN-AMERICAN ARCHITECT |
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Rayfield was
America’s second & Alabama’s first formally educated and practicing
African-American Architect. He was
born in Macon, Georgia around May 10th, 1872.
He attended Howard, Pratt, and Columbia Institutes graduating in 1899
with a B. S. degree in
Architecture. He was recruited
immediately by Booker T. Washington to become the Director of the
Architectural and Mechanical Drawing Department at Tuskegee Institute,
Tuskegee, Alabama. He taught there
until 1908. In 1907 Rayfield opened his first
architectural office in the Town Square at Tuskegee with branch offices in Birmingham, Montgomery,
Mobile, and Talladega, Alabama; and Atlanta, Savannah, Macon, and Augusta,
Georgia. He advertised plans by
correspondence. In 1908 Rayfield moved his practice to
Birmingham, Alabama where he was immediately elected Superintending Architect
for the Freedmen’s Aid Society and Connectional Architect of the A. M. E.
Zion Churches of America. In conjunction with them and almost every other
religious denomination, he expanded his practice across the U. S and parts of
Africa. He designed buildings of all
kinds, for both whites and blacks: residences, churches, schools, commercial
buildings, fraternal buildings, and even barns. However, his specialty was churches. His most recognized church is the Sixteenth
Street Baptist Church of Birmingham, Alabama which was bombed during the
Civil Rights Movement of the sixties.
Even though Rayfield was as educated and
as talented as virtually any of his white colleagues, he did not receive the
recognition granted to them. Perhaps
for this and other reasons, no one put forth any special effort to preserve
his artifacts. As a result, the proof
of Mr. Rayfield’s great skill and accomplishments became lost in antiquity.
He became known by many as a myth rather than a reality. This changed in October, 1993, when Allen
R. Durough of Bessemer, Alabama discovered in an old barn on his property ten
metal boxes containing 411 antique printing plates previously belonging to
Rayfield. The printing plates consisted of
Rayfield’s Building elevation drawings, his floor plans, his business
advertisements, portraits of himself and his family, and other graphic art
designed by him. Durough pursued cleaning
and printing the plates which revealed astonishing information about .
Rayfield’s life and works. In
addition, Mr. Durough formed a research team to pursue additional information
about Rayfield. The research team
consisted of Durough’s brother and sister-in-law, James H. Durough Jr. (Jim)
and Evelyn Durough; a close friend and his wife, Steven G. Lightsey Sr. and
Delora Lightsey; the former Architectural Librarian of Auburn University, the
now late Vinson McKenzie.Over the past ten years, this team has amassed an
enormous amount of data on Rayfield’s
life and works. Utilizing this research, Durough is in
the process of completing the book “The Rayfield Architectural Legacy” which
will be published by The University of Alabama Press. Durough has also complied an extensive
PowerPoint slide presentation which is open to bookings. The slides are from the 411 printing
plates, numerous pictures which the team has made across the U. S., and a
reproduction of the only known copy of Rayfield’s “Industrial Drawing Book”. If you would like more information about
Rayfield or would like to have information about the possibilities of hosting
the presentation at your institution, please contact Allen R. Durough by
email at
allenrdurough@aol.com or phone
205-424-8616 or 205-533-4773. Having researched Wallace A. Rayfield
for over 14 years, Allen Durough and his associates have become the
recognized Rayfield authority. |
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MADAM CLISBY BIRMINGHAM, AL. |
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TRINITY BUILDING SOUTH AFRICA |
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MT. ZION BAPTIST PENSACOLA, FL. |
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SIXTEENTH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH BIRMINGHAM, AL. |
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MORNING STAR BAPTIST CHURCH DEMOPOLIS, AL. |
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MARLINTON PRESBYTERIAN MARLINTON, W. VA. |
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Allwn R.
Durough |
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A. M. E. ZION CHURCH |
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MT. PILGRIM BAPTIST CHURCH MILTON, FLORIDA |
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MARLINTON METHODIST CHURCH MARLINTON, W. VA. |
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Durough’s
Barn |
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LINKS
htpp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wallace
rayfield
www.123exp_biographies.com/t/00314071601 RELATED
SUBJECTS Black
Architects, Black History, Architecture, Architecture, early 20th century
architects, Alabama’s early architects, Birmingham Alabama, African American
Architects, Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Tuskegee, “ Macon Georgia,
Howard, Columbia, Pratt, Church Archictecture, School Architecture, Farternal
buildings, Barns,Allen, Durough, Discoveries, Printing plates, Antiques, “The
Rayfield Collection”, The Rayfield
Architectural Legacy |