"Beverly-Loraine-Greene"(October 4 1915-August 22 1957)

Believed to be the first African American woman architect in the United States,she was born in

Chicago.Beverly grew up in Chicago and was raised by her daddy,James A.Greene,a lawyer,and   her mama Vera,a homemaker.Beverly had no brothers or sisters.She earned a bachelor of science in architectural engineering from the University of  Illinois in 1936.One year later she earned a Master's of  Science degree in city planning and housing from the same University.On December 28,1942,Beverly was registered in the state of Illinois as an architect.

After completing the second degree,Beverly returned to her hometown and initially worked for the 
Chicago Housing Authority.She was one of  the first  African Americans in the agency.Despite  
her  education and her  official  recognition as an architect,Beverly found   it   to difficult  to obtain jobs  in the profession.She moved  to New York City in 1945 to work  on   the  planned   Stuyvesant  Town,private housing project in lower Manhattan being   built by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.Given her past experiences,and  the company prior announcement that 
African Americans would not be allowed to live in Stuyvesant Town,Beverly she would not be hired.She applied anyway and to her  surprise she was the  first architect employed on the project.
She quit   to accept a scholarship at Columbia University where she would study urban planning.
Beverly received a Master's Degree in Architecture from Columbia on June 5,1945.

She went on to work for  a number  of  notable architectural  firms.Her   employers during that  period   included  the architectural firm headed by Isdore Rosenfield which specialized in health
care and   hospital design.Beverly also worked  with Edward Durell  Stone on the arts complex at 
Sarah Lawrence College and in  1952 on a theater at the University of  Arkansas.During her time with the  architectural firm headed by Marcel Breuer  she worked on the UNESCO United Nations
headquarters in Paris,France which was completed in 1958.Her next projects included buildings at
New York University(NYU) which were completed  between 1956 & 1961.She never  saw most  of  
the  buildings   she  had  helped design.Beverly died in New York City.Ironically  she also designed
the  Unity Funeral  Home, the building in which  her memorial  was held.