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Jeh V. Johnson
American architect (1931–2021) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jeh Vincent Johnson, FAIA, NOMA (1931–2021) was an American architect and educator.[1] He was an African American co-founder of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA); and taught architectural design at Vassar College for many years. Johnson was a partner at the firms of Gindele & Johnson; and LeGendre, Johnson, McNeil Architects. His father is Charles Spurgeon Johnson, a sociologist and the 6th president of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee; and his son is Jeh Charles Johnson, the former United States Secretary of Homeland Security.
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Early life and education
Jeh Vincent Johnson was July 8, 1931, Nashville, Tennessee, to parents Marie Antoinette Burgette and Charles Spurgeon Johnson.[2][3][4][5] He was named "Jeh" after Chief Twelly Jeh from Liberia, who reportedly saved his father's life while he was on a League of Nations mission to Liberia in 1930.[4]
Johnson attended Columbia College at Columbia University in New York City, where he received a B.A. degree in 1953; and continued his studies at Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation where he received a M.Arch. degree in 1958.[6] He was the president of the student body at Columbia in 1956.[7]
From 1953 until 1954, Johnson served in the United States Army in the Counterintelligence Corps.[3][8]
He met his future wife Norma Edelin during their undergraduate studies.[9] Together they married and had two children, including Jeh Charles Johnson (born 1957) the former United States Secretary of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama.[2][9]
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Career
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While still a student in 1956, Johnson worked under architect Paul R. Williams in New York City.[3] After graduation from graduate school, he was awarded the William Kinne Fellows Fellowship and traveled to Europe.[3] Followed by work from 1958 to 1962 as an architect at Adams & Woodbridge in New York City.[3]
He moved to Poughkeepsie, New York in the Hudson Valley, and Johnson and William Gindele (1925–2020) co-founded in 1962 the architectural firm Gindele & Johnson, where Johnson remained until 1980.[8] Johnson taught architectural design and drafting at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, from 1964 to 2001.[10][2] In his teachings, Johnson instilled the idea of social responsibilities in design.[8]
In 1971, Johnson and eleven colleagues at the AIA national convention in Detroit formed an organization that eventually became the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), in order to advance black architects.[11] In 1977, Johnson was elected to the AIA’s College of Fellows.[5][8]
From 1980 until 1990, Johnson was a partner at LeGendre, Johnson, McNeil Architects.[12][3]
In 1997, Johnson was awarded a special citation from the AIA New York chapter, for his advocacy on equal opportunity and housing issues.[13]
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Death and legacy
Johnson died at age 89 on January 27, 2021, at Vassar Brothers Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York.[14]
The ALANA Center at Vassar College was renamed after his death to be the Jeh Vincent Johnson ALANA Cultural Center, which he had designed.[3][13]
Works
- Susan Stein Shiva Theater (1977), Vassar College, Arlington, New York[13]
- Catharine Street Center and Library (now Catharine St. Community Center), Poughkeepsie, New York[13]
- ALANA Center (now Jeh Vincent Johnson ALANA Cultural Center), Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York[13]
See also
References
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