The College of Texas (UT) Austin Faculty of Structure renamed the Structure and Planning Library after John Chase, a UT Austin alumnus and the primary Black licensed architect in Texas.
On October 22, the college celebrated the dedication of the John S. Chase Structure and Planning Library and honored Chase’s path blazing profession.
Among the many attendees had been UT president Jim Davis, Faculty of Structure dean Heather Woofter, and Harris County commissioner Rodney Ellis.
“John Chase’s story is a vital a part of the story of our college and our state,” stated UT President Jim Davis in a press release. “He broke limitations all through his exceptional life and profession, and he additionally gave again to this college and created alternatives for individuals who got here after him.”
“Now his identify shall be a part of a spot the place generations of Longhorns will be taught, discover new concepts, and put together for his or her future,” Davis added. “We’re proud to honor his legacy and character on this essential approach.”
Chase enrolled at UT two days after the U.S. Supreme Court docket’s landmark 1950 ruling in Sweatt v. Painter that challenged segregation in larger schooling, incomes his Grasp of Structure in 1952.
From then on he turned the primary Black member of the U.S. Fee of High-quality Arts and first Black architect to affix the Texas Society of Architects in addition to the Houston chapter of the AIA. He cofounded the Nationwide Group of Minority Architects and earned a fellowship within the AIA.
All through his profession he designed vibrant, minimalistic areas that had been neighborhood centered. His legacy is woven all through communities in Texas, together with however not restricted to church buildings, single-family residences, and workplace buildings for Black communities.
Most notably, he designed the headquarters for the Coloured Academics State Affiliation of Texas, in addition to the San Antonio Parking Storage and Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Subject.
Chase additionally designed the nationwide headquarters for each The Hyperlinks and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and contributed to the design of the Washington Technical Institute. Chase died in 2012 on the age of 87.
As famous in a UT information launch, the Chase Library naming was made doable by a $5 million reward from Chase’s son, civic chief Tony Chase and his spouse, Dr. Dina Alsowayel.
The reward included a $1 million pledge which established two new endowments for the UT Austin Faculty of Structure, as beforehand lined by AN.
