James E. Silcott, a trailblazing Los Angeles architect who, because of many presents to his alma mater, Howard College, grew to become probably the most beneficiant benefactor to structure college students at traditionally Black faculties within the U.S., died July 17 in Washington, D.C. He was 95.
Silcott’s memorial service passed off on Saturday at Howard; he might be laid to relaxation in L.A.’s Inglewood Park Cemetery on Sept. 6.
Silcott, who began in Los Angeles working for Gruen Associates alongside colleagues like Frank Gehry, made historical past as the primary Black venture architect for each Los Angeles County and UCLA. His profitable authorized battles with the county — he alleged that he had been unfairly terminated due to his race, and was later a sufferer of retribution for his lawsuit — shined a light-weight on the entrenched obstacles Black professionals confronted in public establishments on the time.
Born Dec. 21, 1929, in Boston, to oldsters from the Caribbean island of Montserrat, Silcott grew up within the metropolis’s Roxbury neighborhood throughout a time of restricted alternatives for younger Black folks. Dwelling in tenements and walk-ups, and making associates of all races and ethnicities, he realized self-reliance, resilience and cultural fluency, as he recounted in a 2007 oral historical past for Northeastern College’s Decrease Roxbury Black Historical past Challenge. After graduating highschool, he labored as a resort prepare dinner alongside his father. “I didn’t know what I wanted,” he mentioned. However a flair take a look at at an area YMCA pointed him towards structure. After being rejected from a number of structure faculties, he acquired a lifeline through Howard College in Washington, D.C.
Silcott entered Howard — its structure program was the primary at a traditionally Black school to obtain accreditation — in 1949. He got here below the mentorship of Howard H. Mackey Sr., some of the outstanding Black architects and educators of the twentieth century, recognized for instilling a way of structure’s civic function. Silcott’s research have been interrupted by three years within the U.S. Military in the course of the Korean Conflict, the place he rose to the rank of sergeant. Returning to Howard, he earned his 5-year bachelor of structure diploma in 1957.
These years have been marked by fixed monetary pressure — usually forcing him, as he put it, to determine “whether to buy books or buy food” — an expertise that will later drive him, as a donor to Howard, to make sure that future college students wouldn’t face that alternative. He would always remember the position Howard performed for him.
“He felt like when nobody else would take him, Howard took him,” mentioned his niece Julie Roberts. “He really credits them for laying the groundwork and setting the path and changing the trajectory of his life.”
Silcott started his profession working for architect Arthur Cohen in Boston earlier than transferring to Los Angeles — he at all times hated the chilly, mentioned his family and friends — in 1958. Becoming a member of Gruen Associates, one of many period’s most influential corporations, he, amongst different efforts, collaborated with Frank Gehry on the design of the Winrock Buying Heart in Albuquerque. He would quickly work at UCLA’s architectural and engineering workplace, changing into the varsity’s first Black venture lead on buildings just like the UCLA Boathouse (1965), with its light-filled, maritime-inspired kind — together with porthole home windows and an higher story deck for viewing races. Additionally at UCLA he collaborated with Welton Becket and Associates on the Jules Stein Eye Institute (1966), with its clean-lined facade of pale stone columns and glass partitions that opened to pure mild whereas sustaining shade and privateness.
He later joined Los Angeles County’s Division of Services Administration, the place he would turn into a senior architect and assist oversee initiatives just like the Inglewood Courts Constructing (1973, one other collaboration with Becket) and Los Angeles County Southeast Basic Hospital (1971), ultimately renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Basic Hospital. As the one Black architect working within the county, Silcott’s good good friend (and fellow Howard structure graduate) Melvin Mitchell mentioned he was not at all times welcome. “None of those men could ever imagine someone of Silcott’s race or color wielding that kind of power, despite the phony smiles and benign language used,” Mitchell mentioned in his eulogy at Howard.
On the finish of the last decade Silcott was demoted and later laid off throughout funds cuts — a transfer he contended was racially motivated. The county’s Civil Service Fee ultimately agreed, ruling in 1984 that he had been improperly terminated to be able to protect the roles of white staff with much less seniority, and ordering that he be reinstated with full again pay. “I had to fight for my job just to make sure the rules were applied fairly,” Silcott informed the Los Angeles Instances.
Chief County Engineer Stephen J. Koonce, left, gestured as he mentioned with James Silcott the small print of the architect’s return to work, on March 15, 1984.
(Steve Fontanini / Los Angeles Instances)
However the reinstatement was short-lived: inside months, Silcott alleged that the county had retaliated by stripping away significant duties, amongst different retributions. “They had him working in a closet at one time,” mentioned Roberts. Later that yr, the Board of Supervisors authorized a roughly $1 million settlement supply to resolve his federal discrimination lawsuit. The Instances famous that his case had “become a rallying point” for these looking for larger fairness in public employment. As Silcott later mirrored, “This was never just about me. It was about making sure the next Black architect who comes along doesn’t have to fight the same battles.”
Silcott would later work as an architectural guide to public businesses and universities whereas serving on a number of public boards, together with the South Los Angeles Space Planning Fee, the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Fee, the Los Angeles Board of Zoning Appeals and the California State Board of Architectural Examiners.
He constructed a classy dwelling in Windsor Hills, the place he would frequently host household, to not point out mayors, council members, and, later, former President Obama, mentioned Mitchell.
“He was always there to help. For advice, support, anything. Without hesitation he’d say, ‘I’ll do it.’ He just had that generous spirit.”
— Gail Kennard
In 1995 — retired as an architect — he took on minority possession and a board seat at Kennard Design Group, one of many largest Black-owned structure corporations within the nation, following the demise of its founder (and Silcott’s good good friend) Robert Kennard. “He didn’t hesitate,” mentioned Gail Kennard, Robert’s daughter, who nonetheless leads the agency, and wished to make sure the corporate’s stability at a tough time. “He was always there to help. For advice, support, anything. Without hesitation he’d say, ‘I’ll do it.’ He just had that generous spirit.”
However Silcott’s best love, famous Kennard, was Howard — significantly its Division of Structure — the place he would go on to turn into a traditionally prolific philanthropist, and assist mentor generations of aspiring architects.
“He would tell me stories about people who were coming up in the profession,” mentioned Kennard. “He’d say, I found this new student and he or she’s my new project.”
Silcott’s potential to assist the varsity financially grew out of skillful actual property investments, which started with just a few buildings in Boston that he inherited from his mom. He managed and expanded quite a few properties each in Boston and Los Angeles.
In 1991 he helped set up the James E. Silcott Fund, now valued at $250,000, providing emergency support to Howard structure college students in monetary misery. In 2002, he established the James E. Silcott Endowed Chair with an preliminary $1 million, bringing architects like Sir David Adjaye, Philip Freelon, Jack Travis and Roberta Washington to show and mentor at Howard. And with a $1 million present he funded the T. George Silcott Gallery, named for his late brother, offering a venue for exhibitions, critiques and public lectures. Silcott additionally made unrestricted contributions of a whole bunch of hundreds extra to Howard’s Division of Structure, supporting scholarships, journey fellowships and capital enhancements. By the tip of his life, his contributions to Howard exceeded $3 million, making him, in line with the varsity, the biggest particular person donor to structure applications at traditionally Black faculties and universities within the nation.
“Howard and its school of architecture was at the very center of his life,” mentioned Mitchell, who famous Silcott’s presents additionally helped maintain the varsity afloat throughout tough intervals.
Silcott acquired the Howard College Alumni Achievement Award, the Centennial Skilled Excellence Award and the Howard H. Mackey Dean’s Medal, named after his mentor. He additionally acquired the Kresge/Coca-Cola Award for philanthropy to HBCUs. In 2020, he was elevated to the AIA Faculty of Fellows.
After a stroke in 2020, Silcott moved to Washington, D.C., to be below household care. He was positioned in hospice in 2022, and placed on a feeding tube, however lived three extra years towards the percentages, famous Roberts, certainly one of seven shut nieces and nephews who known as him “Uncle James.”
“He would not acknowledge that he wasn’t going to live forever,” mentioned Roberts. Silcott remained engaged with Howard till his demise.
