John A. Lankford

Infobox Person
name = John Anderson Lankford


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birth_date = December 4 1874
birth_place = Potosi, Missouri
death_date = July 2 1946
death_place = Washington, D.C.
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resting_place = Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, Suitland, Maryland
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residence = Washington, D.C.
nationality = African American
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alma_mater = Shaw University
Morris Brown College
Wilberforce University
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occupation = Architect
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John A. Lankford (1874-1946) was an American architect. He was the first professionally licensed African-American architect in Virginia in 1922 and in the District of Columbia in 1924. He has been regarded as the "dean of black architecture".cite web|url=http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/richland/S10817740031/index.htm
title=Chapelle Administration Building, Richland County (Allen University, 1530 Harden St., Columbia) |accessdate=2008-03-05|work=National Register Properties in South Carolina listing|publisher=South Carolina Department of Archives and History]

John Landsford was born on a farm near Potosi, Missouri on December 4 1874. He attended Lincoln Institute and Tuskegee Institute. He studied architectural and mechanical drawing from the International Correspondence School. He earned a bachelor of science from Shaw University in 1898. He earned master of science degrees from Morris Brown College and Wilberforce University.

He married Charlotte Josephine Upshaw in 1901. She was the granddaughter of Henry McNeal Turner, a bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal church.

In 1902, he moved to Washington, D.C. to finish the design of the True Reformer Building. He was appointed supervising architect for the African Methodist Episcopal denomination. He organized the National Negro Business League chapter in Washington, D.C. in 1905.

He lived and worked at 1448 Q Street, NW, in Washington.

He died on July 2 1946 in Washington, D.C. and is buried at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Suitland, Maryland. [D. S. Wilson, "African American Architects Biographical Dictionary: 1865 - 1945", Routledge, Taylor and Francis, New York, 2004, pp. 253-257, ISBN 0-415-92959-8.]

Buildings he designed include:
*Arnett Hall, Wilberforce University
*Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia
*Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Columbia, South Carolina
*Chapelle Administration Building at Allen University, which is a National Historic Landmark
*Haven African Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, D.C.
*St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church, Norfolk, Virginia
*True Reformer Hall in Washington, D.C.

References

External links

* [http://www.culturaltourismdc.org/info-url3948/info-url_show.htm?doc_id=213176&attrib_id=7973 John A. Lankford Residence and Office]
* [http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/1998/05/11/focus8.html Past is present D.C. buildings with a history]

Atlanta, Georgia
Chappelle Administration Building

Washington, D.C.