"John A. Lankford"(1874-1946)

Was an American architect.He was the first professionally licensed African-American architect in Virgina in 1922 and in the District of Columbia in 1924.He has been regarded as the "dean of black architecture.He was born on a farm near Potosi ,Missouri on December 4.He attended Lincoln University  and Tuskegee University.John studied architectural and mechanical drawing from the international Correspondence School.He earned a bachelor of science from Shaw University in 1898.He earned master science degrees from Morris Brown College and Wilberforce University.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.John organized the National Negro Business League chapter in Washington D.C. in 1905. He died on July 2,1946 in Washington,D.C. and buried at Lincoln Memorial cemetery in Suitland,Maryland.Buildings that he designed include: Arnett Hall,Wilberforce University.Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church,Atlanta,Georgia Bethel African Methodist Church,Columbia South Carolina  Chapelle Administration Building at Allen University,which is a National Historic Landmark Haven Methodist Episcopal Church,Washington,D.C.  ST.John African Methodist Episcopal Church,Norfolk,Virgina.