We set out to prepare the first directory of African American Architects in late 1989. Our goal was to substantiate with statistics what we and others had concluded on the basis of anecdote: that African American architects considered themselves underrepresented in a largely "white gentleman's profession." Some estimates of the number of African American architects ranged as high as 2,000; as noted above, the third quarter report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1990 estimated that 2000 of this country's 130,000 architects were African American. No one had surveyed African American architects to verify these numbers.
In October 1990 the American Institute of Architects (AIA) statistics reported that 344 AIA members out of 43,493 regular (licensed) members or 0.7 percent of the AIA membership were African American. In contrast 1.5 percent were Hispanic Americans; 3.1 percent were Asian Americans; and 6.5 percent were women. Minorities represented approximately 12 percent of all regular AIA members. The AIA and NAAB estimated that 85,000 architects practice in the United States. The 867 African American architects we documented in our first directory represent about one percent of this professional population.
Today the AIA and the NCARB estimate that the number of licensed architects has grown to nearly 100,000. Since each state licenses architects within their own jurisdiction and since many architects hold licenses in more than one state, it is difficult to provide an exact number of architects currently licensed to practice. This second edition of our directory lists 1158 African American architects, an increase of 291, or 33 percent more than the 1991 edition. Although this increase is due in part to architects overlooked in our first directory, the majority of new entries represent African American architects who have been licensed since then.
This increase is also noted in recent AIA membership statistics. The May 1995 AIA statistics show 43,219 regular members, of whom 429 or one percent are African American. This data suggests that, while AIA membership remained stable from 1991 to 1995, African American membership increased nearly 25 percent. In fact, 91 of the 166 African American AIA members who were not AIA members in 1991 were also not listed in our first directory. This figure suggests a 25 percent increase in newly licensed African American AIA members. AIA statistics continue to show a gradual increase in minority membership (including women) since 1991, up from 12 percent in 1991 to 16 percent in 1995 including the 25 percent increase in African American membership.
All indications point to a gradual but steady increase in licensed African American architects from 1991 to 1995. The authors, with the support of the Center for the Study of Practice at the University of Cincinnati, will continue to monitor African American architects into the next century.
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Since the publication of the first Directory of African American Architects in 1991, we have continued to update our original data. We maintain a broad network of contacts with African American architects nationwide and with the organizations that represent them.
The Directories of Diverse Architects and Designers is the child of the Directory of African-American Architects, and is a project of NOMA, the National Organization of Minority Architects. The DDAD's goal is to catalog, educate and enlighten.
