Benjamin McAdoo (1920-1981) was the first Black architect to be licensed and establish a practice in Washington state. Born in Pasadena, McAdoo studied architecture at the University of Southern California before transferring to the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle. Graduating in 1946, he was the first Black person to receive an architecture degree from UW. McAdoo launched his new architecture practice in 1947, with his early projects including renovations, community churches, and private homes. His many residential projects brought McAdoo recognition from both the press and professional organizations during the 1950s.
McAdoo moved to Jamaica in 1961 to work for the US Agency on International Development (USAID), where he promoted a low-cost, easily assembled modular housing design. Afterward, he moved to Washington, D.C. where he did similar work with the State Department, and then with the General Services Administration. McAdoo returned to Seattle in 1964, working for the City of Auburn as well as private clients. His later work included many public, civic, and educational buildings such as the original UW Ethnic Cultural Center building, the Queen Anne Pool, and several branches of Seattle First National Bank.
Benjamin McAdoo was also a civic leader, working against race discrimination, police brutality, and racist housing practices. In 1954, McAdoo ran for a seat in the State Legislature, and he served as president of the Seattle branch of the NAACP in 1956-57. McAdoo also provided regular commentary on social issues for Seattle’s public radio station, KUOW, from 1974-1979. Benjamin McAdoo worked steadily until his death in 1981.
This image shows Benjamin McAdoo in his unfinished living room above his office. McAdoo and his wife were renovating their apartment, which adjoined his architectural office. This photograph accompanied a Seattle Post-Intelligencer article on McAdoo's mixed-use residence and office building on East Olive Way.
Caption information source: McAdoo, Benjamin (1920-1981) by Heather M. McIntosh, HistoryLink.org Essay 1161. Caption information source: Benjamin F. McAdoo Jr. by Jasmin Mahmoud, Crosscut Black Arts Legacies, retrieved at https://blackartslegacies.crosscut.com/articles/benjamin-mcadoo Caption information source: "Black History Month, the Life of Benjamin McAdoo," City of Bothell, retrieved from https://www.bothellwa.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=410 Caption information source: "Home goes to the job," by Jane Hadley, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 17, 1981, page G1.
