Up & Coming Weekly

February 08, 2022

Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.

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10 UCW FEBRUARY 9 - 15, 2022 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM DR. TAMARA HOLMES BROTHERS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Legacy Building: The story of Robert R. Taylor by DR. TAMARA HOLMES BROTHERS LOCAL BLACK HISTORY Owned & Operated by TWO BROTHERS Catering I n t i m on y a t T h e V i n e P riva te • R o m a n tic • A f f o rd ab le C u st o m C a teri n g by T w o B r o t h ers Intimony at THE VINE Event Venue Wedding Packages Meeting & Party Facilities CALL 910-584-9892 to host your event CALL 910-584-9892 eVineNC.com or TwoBrothersCateringNC.com 806 Katie Street Fayetteville NC (Of f Owen Drive behind O-Reilly's) M areena & J a m es How often do you think about your legacy? e fullness of an individual's life, including what one has accomplished and their impact on people and places, can be defined as a person's legacy. So, what about the legacy of Robert R. Taylor? Robert R. Taylor was a native of Wilming- ton, North Carolina, born in 1868. He was the youngest of four children born to Henry and Emily Still Taylor. His parents worked to ensure their children's education. As a boy, Taylor anticipated attending the prestigious Lincoln University near Philadelphia. How- ever, he and his father set their sights on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with possibly the best program for aspiring architects. Founded in 1865, MIT's School of Architecture offered the first formal ar- chitectural curriculum in the United States and the first architecture program in the world, operating within the establishment of a university. Taylor chose MIT, and that education established him as the country's first academically trained African American architect and MIT's first Black graduate. During Taylor's studies at MIT, he cor- responded on more than one occasion with Booker T. Washington, the prominent Black educator, race leader and founder of Tuskegee University. As a Black architect, his contributions and sacrifices led him to serve as Tuskegee Institute's (now Tuske- gee University) campus architect, planner, and construction supervisor. He designed and oversaw the built environment of 45 campus buildings and illustrated blue- prints for other structures. He also formed a pre-architecture preparatory program for students and created technical drafting courses for all the young men enrolled in the Boy's Industries Department. e spirit of Robert R. Taylor's impact remains significant. He was a visionary, involved in projects far beyond Tuskegee. ese ventures included large and small schools, houses, a lodge, an office building and libraries. Booker T. Washington encouraged Andrew Carnegie to support the construc- tion of Carnegie libraries for several black schools, which included three designed by Robert R. Taylor. Among these is the impos- ing, neoclassical Carnegie Library he de- signed for Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina. Washington also included Taylor in the Rosenwald schools — a pro- gram by Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears Roebuck & Co. — to build schools for Black children in the segregated South in the 1920s. Taylor designed Rosenwald schools with sizeable windows to let in masses of light. Many of the old schoolhouses did not originally have electricity. e schools contained cloakrooms, so dirty outer garments could be kept separate from the education spaces. Schools also had room dividers so that the schoolhouses could serve as community centers after hours. e Rosenwald school models exhibit Taylor's sense of community in learning from the past, living in the present, and building for the future. Taylor retired from Tuskegee in 1932 and returned to Wilming- ton, where he was active in civic affairs. He devoted more time to civic work, publishing pieces on social justice issues in various newspapers. In 1935, the governor of North Carolina appointed him to the board of trustees of Fayetteville State Teachers Col- lege (now Fayetteville State University) - the first Black member of the Board of Trustees. e Taylor Science Building was con- structed in 1939 and named in honor of Robert R. Taylor. e Taylor Social Science Annex was built in 1968. e good works that a person does throughout their life can establish a legacy of compassion, charity and social responsibility. From helping others who are less fortunate or underserved populations, building a positive culture helps make life better for others. Robert R. Taylor's work connected people across space, time and differences. From his early years as an architect, Taylor wanted to do just that. His commitment to engaging the community through a dialogue of architecture encour- ages us all to share our talents for the good of others. Robert J. Taylor

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