Paul Revere Williams
Through Time
The Timeline illustrates how material history, society and the work of one person, Paul R. Williams, integrate and interact. Small changes in society, architecture or life may seem inconsequential, but when connected a powerful picture emerges. The Timeline illustrates how many forces shape our modern life. Williams’ life did not form in isolation but was a product of complex energies in society, his profession and within himself.
Timeline
Choose a Time Period
1870
A Decade at a Glance
The U.S. population was 39,818,449.
The nation celebrated the centennial in 1876 by opening an International Exhibition in Philadelphia with exhibits of the latest American technology. (image)
Thomas Edison invented the phonograph and the light bulb. Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone. Barbed wire is invented. This wire was the first economical way to fence-in cattle in the western U.S. Charles Elmer Hires introduces the first commercial root beer.
The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution—guaranteeing the right to vote regardless “of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”—is adopted. California votes against ratification.
The Great Chicago Fire claimed 250 lives, destroyed 17,500 buildings, and caused an economic panic that moved across the country.
Charley Brewster Ross, 4 years old, is the country’s first kidnapping for ransom. He is never found.
1875
Edison Invents the Light Bulb
In 1875, Thomas A. Edison established an experimental laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. He envisioned the laboratory as a facility dedicated to pure invention. Menlo Park was one of the first modern industrial research labs. An early interest was the incandescent light bulb.
Edison envisioned economical/practical electrical lighting to improve the everyday lives of Americans. He believed the key is an efficient incandescent lamp. Incandescent lamps make light by heating a filament (thin strip of material) until it glows. From 1878 to 1880, Edison and his team conducted 3000 experiments to learn how to make this lamp. In 1879, Edison succeeded by inventing his first high-resistance, incandescent electric light. Made of a thin platinum filament, mounted in a glass vacuum, the bulb produces light, but only for a short time. Edison continued to experiment with thousands of different substances until he found a suitable, durable material to use for the filament. Patent number 223,898 is given to his successful electric lamp.
By the 1930s, the U.S. government purchases an average of 4,000,000 light bulbs a year for use in government buildings. In this photograph, the National Bureau of Standards does a variety of quality tests to determine the amount of light lamps provide and how long they last.
1880
Decade at a Glance
The 1880 Census counted 50,155,783 people living in the country.
More Americans left their farm and work in factories. Over 300,000 workers demonstrated for an 8-hour work day. The American Federation of Labor, an organization of skilled workers, was founded.
The first building with a steel skeleton was constructed in Chicago and the Age of the Skyscraper began.
Booker T. Washington opened the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
Railroads in the United States and Canada adopted a standard time.
The Johnstown Flood in Pennsylvania killed 2,295 people.
Edison power plant opens
On September 4, 1882, Thomas Edison’s (L) power plant in New York City generated and distributed electric power to 59 customers. It is viewed as a high tech wonder. The power plant and its transmission lines were financed by banker John Pierpont Morgan. (Morgan’s New York residence was the first private home in America to be illuminated by electricity.) By funding Edison’s power plant, this financier was instrumental in opening a new technological era in America.
Paul R. Williams wrote about important developments in electric lighting in his 1945 book, The Small Home of Tomorrow. “New methods of indirect lighting built into the design of the room with tiny concealed adjustable spot lights for reading areas will be one of the post war developments.”
1882
1884
In the 1880s, popular author Helen Hunt Jackson wrote a historical novel to draw attention to the mistreatment of Native Americans by Anglo society. The novel was set in an exotic Southern California locale virtually unknown to the rest of the country. The real setting for Jackson’s best selling book Ramona was La Casa Del Rancho Camulos near Piru. (The actual rancho was owned by the socially prominent Del Valle family.) Her detailed descriptions of Rancho Camulos popularizes the California style of architecture and created a romantic vision of the state’s Spanish past. From the 1880s through the 1920s, the Spanish-revival and Mission style of architecture was one of the most popular in the United States for homes, businesses and public buildings. Paul R. Williams designed scores of buildings in this style.
Tourists came by train and automobile from across the country to visit the real Ramona house, wedding chapel and rancho. Eventually the Del Valle family sold their rancho due to the crush of thousands of uninvited visitors who disrupted their working ranch and citrus business. By the 1920s, many Southern California towns and businesses seeked to cash-in on the Ramona craze by naming parks, streets, gardens, and even hotels after Hunt’s heroine. (Annals of the Association of American Geographers. December, 2003) The novel Ramona, was reissued over 300 times and is in print today. In 1910, D.W. Griffith directed the first film based on the novel and shot on location at Rancho Camulos. Two other motion pictures and an opera were also based on the novel.
These photographs, courtesy of the Historic American Building Survey (HABS), document La Casa Del Rancho Camulos and were held in the Library of Congress.
1890
1892
1891
Decade at a Glance
The U.S. population expanded to 62,947,714.
The financial panic of 1893 caused the worst economic depression in American history at that time. Jacob Coxey led his army of 6000 unemployed men on a march on Washington, D.C. Williams Jennings Bryan electrified the Democratic Presidential Convention with his “Cross of Gold” speech and won the nomination.
The boll weevil arrived in the Texas cotton fields.
The battleship Main blew up and sank in Cuba triggering the Spanish-American War.
Biddy Mason Dies
At the time of her death, Biddy Mason, a former slave born in 1818, was one of the largest real estate holders in Los Angeles. She helped found the First AME Church in the city and contributed to many charitable causes.
In 1964, Williams, a member of the First AME Church, contributed plans for the new building pictured.
Ida B Wells
Ida B. Wells, editor of the Memphis African American newspaper Free Speech and Headlight, used journalism as a weapon against lynching and racial bigotry. In her 1892, pamphlet Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases she wrote, “Nothing is more definitely settled than he must act for himself … The gods help those who help themselves.”
1900s
Decade at a Glance
Only 76,000,000 Americans live in 46 states. The average life expectancy for white men and women was 47. African Americans lived an average of 33 years.
The horse and buggy was slowly replaced by the automobile. Nationally there were 8000 automobiles traveling on 10 miles of paved roads. Ninety-six people died in car-related accidents. Fifteen states imposed speed limits of 20 miles per hour.
In 1904, there were only three automobiles in Hollywood, California and most residents still travel via real horse power. With an improved paved infrastructure and a new rail system, horses were replaced in Hollywood by cars and a Trackless Trolley. (Dangcil. Hollywood 1900-1950, 2000)
American workers made $12.98 per week for 59-hours work
1905
At the turn of the 20th century the automobile was used primarily for recreation by wealthy Americans. The fuel or gasoline was sold to car owners at drugstores. In 1905, the first business (or filling station) dedicated to dispensing gas or oil directly to the motorist opened at 412 S. Theresa Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri.
Automobile ownership increased after Henry Ford mass produced an affordable vehicle for the American middle class. With middle class ownership, the demand for filling stations increased and more Americans could “motor” anywhere there are roads.
Access to gas stations allowed the average person to build his home anywhere the car can take him. In The Small Home of Tomorrow (1945), Paul R. Williams wrote about the importance of the car to Americans … including designated space for the car in their homes. “In a house of more extreme modern lines the carporte, or automobile shelter, has been made a feature of the exterior design.”
1908
Automobiles brought to the masses
The Ford Model T (Tin Lizzie) rolled off the assembly line in 1908. This affordable automobile opened travel to middle-class America.
1910
1911
Decade at a Glance
The 1910 census counted 92,407,000 Americans. One in 1000 marriages ended in divorce. The average worker earned $75 per year while a Ziegfield showgirl on Broadway earned $75 per week. Corrine Griffith, a future Paul R. Williams client, is pictured here as an early Ziegfield showgirl.
As industry expanded, 2.1 million American workers joined unions and participated in 1,204 labor strikes across the country. There was much social and labor unrest.
Movies become popular. Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Pearl White were America’s favorite movie stars.
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
The fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was considered the largest workplace disaster in New York City history until September 11, 2001. Over 140 garment workers died. The Fire Marshal concluded that the cause of the fire was a burning match or cigarette tossed into a scrap bin. The fire department was not able to reach the top floors with ladders to rescue the workers who were locked in the factory. Most of the factory workers died when they jump from the 9th and 10th floors.
After the fire, legislation was passed to improve safety standards in factories and tall buildings.
1920
1929
Carl Van Vechten records the faces of American art
Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964) is known today as “an artist of varied accomplishment” (Wall Street Journal, March 3-4, 2012) — music and modern dance critic for the New York Times, author of a controversial social novel and photographic portraitist. During his career as a photographer, Van Vechten captured the face of “every black author, performer
and socialite of note.” Fascinated by the Harlem Renaissance (African American cultural movement of the 1920s and 1930s), he promoted their work with his unique portraits.
Typically posing his subject in front of a distinctive exotic-print background, Carl Van Vechten produced thousands of images. His work was a who’s who of important 20th century African Americans. To be photographed by Van Vechten was to have arrived. His iconic images were used in popular books and textbooks.
Paul Revere Williams was photographed by Carl Van Vechten in the 1930s.
Decade at a Glance
The population of America was 106,521,537 with an increased average life expectancy of 54 years.
The Volstead Act became law in 1919, making the sale of an intoxicating “beverage” with more than 0.5% of alcohol illegal. The inability of government to enforce the Constitutional amendment and creating Prohibition encouraged open violation of the national law by large segments of the population.
Women voted for the first time in a national election.
The national unemployment rate was 5.2% with a worker’s pay averaging $1236 per year. Teachers’ salaries were approximately $970 nationally. The illiteracy rate was low—6% of the total population.
The improved standard of living meant that Americans could buy more—often on credit or by installment payments.
Traveling across the country was faster on 387,000 miles of paved roads. It took 13 days to reach California from New York by automobile. Travel by airplane began. Travelers could take regularly scheduled coast-to-coast flights.
The New York Stock Exchange crashed in October 1929.
Central Avenue, Los Angeles
During the late 1800s and early 20th century, African Americans began migrating to Los Angeles. In 1880, only 102 African Americans lived in the city, but by 1900 (U.S. Census) the city ranked fourteenth in its African American population. These early settlers congregated along Central Avenue and the area became a flourishing religious, social and economic hub for the community. Many of Paul R. Williams’ earliest projects were located in this area of Los Angeles.
The leading African American businesses included mortuaries, ice cream shops, cafes, and newspapers all located on or near Central Avenue. In 1928, the famous Dunbar Hotel, originally called the Hotel Sommerville, openedat 4225 S. Central. Over 5,000 people attended the grand opening. As the only hotel in Los Angeles catering to African Americans, it was a fashionable place to stay. This hotel was the site of the first NAACP national convention held in the west.
For many years Central Avenue remained an integral part of African American life in Los Angeles. It was said “you could stand on the corner of Vernon and Central and see everybody you knew… if you stood there long enough.” (Los Angeles Sentinel, April 14, 1983)
US Stock Market Crashes: the Great Depression Begins
On October 29, 1929, the Stock Market crashed and signaled the beginning of the Great Depression. Depositors, fearful that the banks would not honor their accounts, rushed to withdraw their money. In this photograph a crowd gathers in the rain outside the Bank of United States. Consumers began to curb all spending and large building projects were put on hold.
The Great Depression lasted through the next decade. At the height of this economic down-turn almost half of the African American population of Los Angeles was unemployed. (Encyclopedia of African American History: 1896 to the Present)
1930
Decade at a Glance
There were 48 states in the union with a total population of 123,188,000. Life expectancy improved, with white men living an average of 58 years and white women 61 years.
During the Great Depression unemployment reached 25% with some homeless living in shanty towns known as Hoovervilles. Many people moved to California from Texas, Oklahoma and the South to escape dust, drought and poverty.
The employed were paid an average of $1,368 per year. Milk cost 14¢ a quart and round steak 42¢ a pound. Zippers take the place of buttons and hooks in women’s clothing.
During the decade 2,787,400 cars were sold to Americans. In New York City the design of the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings were inspired by the visualization of speed.
Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. Jesse Owens, an African American athlete, won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany.
Congress designated the Star Spangled Banner as the national anthem.
1934
Federal Housing Admininstration Created
The U.S. Congress created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) in 1934 to revive the housing industry. During the Great Depression two million construction workers were unemployed and mortgages (loans) for home buyers were difficult to obtain. Only 4 in 10 households owned their homes.
The role of the newly created FHA was to “insure” loans and protect the lender from losses by defaulting homeowners. FHA programs helped returning veterans and their families to buy homes in the 1940s. The loans were important to the growth of American suburbs.
Between 1934 and today, the FHA insured over 34 million home mortgages. Many homes in Paul R. Williams’ developments, including SeaView (1960) and Carver Manor (1940), were purchased using Veterans’ Administration and FHA guaranteed loans.
For many years the FHA built large scale models of conceptual subdivisions. The Modeltowns allowed Americans to visualize life in a subdivision and promoted the housing industry. These photos show a 1935 FHA Modeltown Exhibit in San Diego that over 1 million people have visited.
Fallingwater, Bear Run, Pennsylvania
Built in 1934, Lilliane and Edgar Kaufmann’s summer home, Fallingwater, was often called “the most famous modern house in the world” by architectural historians. The Frank Lloyd Wright designed residence was secured to a rock and cantilevered over a waterfall with wings reaching out into the air. Wright described the relationship of the house to its surroundings as that of a tree house—a made thing that was natural with “no limitations as to form.”
Three-stories high, Fallingwater has few rooms but living spaces were extended with balconies, terraces and canopy-covered slabs that project from the house. Wright designed the walnut veneer furniture and interior lighting to harmonize with the design of the house. Native sandstone, slabs of reinforced concrete and flagstone were used in the interior and exterior.
Fallingwater exemplified Wright’s philosophy, “Architecture is the triumph of human imagination over materials, methods, and men.” The building revitalized Wright’s career.
Travel Guide for African Americans: The Green Book
Mass production made the automobile affordable for middleclass Americans and improved highways increased the opportunity for pleasure-travel. Printed road maps and guides made travel easier and were distributed free to tourists by auto-related clubs. The Official Automobile Blue Book, endorsed by the American Automobile Association, was published in 1906. This guide with road maps covered the eastern U.S. and included touring information, rules of the road, legal advise and lists of hotels and resorts. (The Scientific Monthly. May, 1946) The Automobile Green Book (1926) published by the Automobile Legal Association was another popular guide.
The opportunity for pleasure-travel by African Americans increased after World War I. Both the aristocrats of color (professionals, writers, clergymen, politicians, doctors) and an expanding middleclass (civil service workers, teachers, porters) took to the roads with their automobiles. The Jim Crow system of segregation affected their access to public and private travel facilities. A number of popular African American magazines regularly featured articles to help travelers make comfortable choices. Los Angeles was often rated as a “good town for Negroes.” (Negro Digest, October 1947)
To make cross-country travel more enjoyable a national directory of “hotels, campsites, eateries and other services” available to African Americans was published in 1936. The Negro Motorist Green Book promised to “give the Negro traveler information that will keep him from running into difficulties, embarrassments, and to make his trip more enjoyable.” (Journal of Negro History. Spring 1999)
Through the wide distribution of The Green Book, race-specific tourist venues and resorts flourished across America. Lake Elsinore (1920s-1960s) in Southern California was an example of a popular resort listed in The Green Book. Catering to patrons with considerable disposable income the resort insulated these African Americans from “rude treatment and repeated affronts to their dignity” that they might have experienced at other resorts.
In the 1920s, Paul R. Williams was hired by the Board of Directors to design a master plan for the Lake Shore Beach at this resort, but his development proposal wwas not implemented. The Williams family owned a private home (16908 Grand Avenue) and vacationed at the resort. (Alison Rose Jefferson. Lake Elsinore. December 2007)
1936
1937
Distinguished Negroes and Their Work: Paul Williams, Architect
Across America, Williams’ essay I Am A Negro generated discussion in both mainstream and the African American press. Valdemar Hill’s editorial in the Virgin Islands Daily News on December 1937 was an example of this debate. Hill defended Williams as a “sane, practical Negro who has no illusions regarding the present racial situation … Although he can easily pass for white, Paul Williams has chosen to be distinctively Negro. He fully understands that as Paul Williams, the individual, he can go anywhere, do anything without reproach; his limitations are due to the fact that he is a Negro.”
The debate about the real meaning of Williams’ essay for modern American society c ontinued. His ideas were embraced by both conservative and liberal pundits.
1940
1941
Decade at a Glance
The U.S. population increased to 132,122,000 with over 8 million people unemployed. Life expectancy was 68 for women and 60 for men.
The average annual wage was $1,299 and a minimum wage wasset at 43¢ per hour. Teachers earned $1,441 per school year.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that African Americans have the right to vote.
There were 34,500 people killed in auto-related accidents.
More than half of all U.S. homes have indoor plumbing improving public health. The first eye bank opened in New York. Penicillin was developed. This antibiotic improved the survival rate of American soldiers wounded during WW II.
The war effort encouraged the development of many new technologies and the employment of women.
The end of the war changed the balance of world power; the U.S. and the USSR emerged as super powers. A new war began—the Cold War.
Plans for home bomb shelters were popular.
Elizabeth Gordon is editor of House Beautiful
Gracious living magazines were important influences on the 20th century American middle-class consumer. These publications helped readers define and live a good life. They were consulted by those who had arrived and sould afford an architect and decorator as well as those who only aspired to that life. Powerful editors determined the tone for each magazine and set aesthetic agendas.
Though the circulation for House Beautiful (1896) was not the highest, editor Elizabeth Gordon was one of the most important advocates for an American life-style. Serving as editor from 1941-1964, Gordon’s philosophy on anything and everything pertaining to the home was an important influence on consumer choice. Gordon guided her readers in evaluating, selecting and tastefully displaying the material elements of style according to percepts in monthly editorials. She encouraged readers to embrace order and beauty to ensure the ideal family environment. Gordon believed living the ideal life meant “not making mistakes in taste, not serving tasteless food, not blundering socially … being open to new possibilities of choice.” (Albert Roland. The Antioch Review Autumn, 1961)
Elizabeth Gordon used photographic essays to illustrate her aesthetic philosophy. She selected American photographers, interior designers and architects to promote her vision to build “a compelling visual bridge between the forgotten past and the imagined future.” (Jennifer A. Watts. Maynard L. Parker, 2012) In this image Gordon features a 1941 desk detail by the magazine’s in-house decorator Dorothy Lambertson. In House Beautiful Gordon frequently featured Paul Revere Willliams’ homes designed for movie stars and wealthy clients as her trend setters.
The Wilfandel Club of Los Angeles Established
The Wilfandel Club of Los Angeles was established November 21, 1945 by a group of socially prominent African American women. Della Williams, Paul Williams’ wife, was a founding member. The goal of this African American club, the oldest in the city, was to promote civic improvement, cultural and philanthropic endeavors. By the 1950s, the Wilfandel club house was recognized as an integrated public meeting place—one of the few in the city.
1945
1950s
Decade at a Glance
The population grew to 151,684,000 people. Over 3-million people were still unemployed. With improved nutrition, medical discoveries and better-managed public health, life expectancy increased for all segments of the population.
The average American annual wage was $2,992 and men out-number women in the labor force 5/2.
Over 6 million cars were sold.
National television began in 1951 when a speech by President Harry Truman was broadcast. Soviet Nikita Khrushchev and Vice President Nixon debatedon television in this photo.
The Supreme Court rules segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The Civil Rights Movement began .
Jonas Salk discovered a vaccine for polio and immunization programs save children and adults from diseases once considered common.
Domestic passenger jet service began and the first U.S. satellite orbited the earth.
Alaska and Hawaii became states in the Union.
1952
Why “Passing” Is Passing Out
In November 1951 Jet, a pocketsize weekly magazine for African Americans, reached newsstands. Unlike other mass-market publications this magazine focused on the interests of Black Americans— politics, education, entertainment, sports and religion. Jet also covered controversial topics rarely discussed in other publications.
In one of Jet’s earliest issues (July 17, 1952) the subject of racial passing was discussed—crossing the color line into the white race often for “economic security.” The article described the emotional anguish often felt by many who pass. One woman described her frustration, “I’m through with passing…through with all the hiding, all the dodging, and all the miserable lies that turned my life into a confused, frustrated existence.”
Though many choose to pass, Paul Williams was cited as an example of a racial champion who might have “passed” but “remained a Negro and pursued a profession which supposedly held no future for a Negro.”
At the conclusion of the article, Jet predicted that as African Americans progress and succeed on their own terms in American society, “Most economically-sound Negroes who could ‘pass’ prefer being high-class Negroes to low-class whites.”
The classic 1934 movie “Imitation of Life” (image) was the story of a young woman who rejected her African American mother and sought a new life by passing for white. This movie, based on a 1933 novel by Fannie Hurst, has been remade a number of times. In 2005 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
1953
1954
State sponsored segregation unconstitutional
On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court ruled on Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Any state laws that establish separate public schools for black and white students were now unconstitutional. With this decision racial segregation was now considered a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Following this Federal ruling, the NAACP began to register African American students in historically segregated public schools across the South. In this 1957 photograph, nine students are escorted into the all-white Central High School in Little Rock High School. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce integration and protect the students.
Our New Domestic Architecture
On October 19, 1953, Williams was a presenter at the influential New York Herald Tribune Annual Forum. He addressed“what the architect is doing to make the home a better and more comfortable place for man’s head and heart.” Williams believed that the public’s desire for “extreme and exotic design” was changing, replaced by a “sane American Modern.”
As an architect who designed both large and small houses, Williams described new building methods that reduced construction time including “factory-assembled kitchens and storage walls … We are arriving at ‘less house and more convenience.’”
Williams saw the spread of California’s casual lifestyle to all Americans, predicting the California ranch house — one-story, spread-out plan with more glass and sunlight — would replace the “dark and gloomy” houses of the past.
“All of our habits are undergoing some kind of change: for instance, you seldom see a dinner for ten or twelve set up around the dining-room table, but you see a buffet style of gathering where the food is left in large pots with the announcement to ‘come and get it.’”
In summary he said: “The basic concept is to make the home friendly and easy to live in … It will not be the International Style. It will be a true expression of our standard of living. It will be the American style.”
From New Patterns for Mid-Century Living: Report of the 22nd Annual Forum of the New York Herald Tribune, 1953.
Rosa Parks refuses to give up seat on bus
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white male passenger on a Montogomery, Alabama bus and was arrested for this act of civil disobedience. After her arrest, a boycott of the city bus line started and lasted for 381 days. Martin Luther King, Jr. was appointed spokesperson for the boycott. Protests spread across the South demanding racial equality. Because of this defiant act, Parks was recognized as “mother of the modern civil rights movement” in America.
1955 photograph of Rosa Parks with Martin Luther King in the background. National Archives and Records Administration Records of the U.S. Information Agency Record Group 306.
Elvis an international sensation
On September 9, 1956, entertainer Elvis Presley appeared for the first time on Ed Sullivan’s television show. Early in his career Elvis became an international sensation. His unique music combined a variety of styles: white country and gospel, black R&B and gospel, and white pop. Elvis’ fans came from every social class and age group. His music changed the face of American popular culture for decades and influenced many famous musicians.
Elvis Presley got his break into the music business at Sun Studio (Memphis Recording Services in 1954) owned by Sam Phillips. Reputedly the first rock-and-roll single, Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats’ Rocket 88, was recorded here in 1951.
1955
1956
1957
1958
Seagram Building, New York
In a 1958 review, the magazine Architectural Forum called the newly opened Park Avenue headquarters for the Seagram Liquor Company “a half-million square foot laboratory in which new and special office designs are tested in actual use.” The building embodied architect Mies van der Rohe’s philosophy that “structure is spiritual” and “less is more.” The Seagram became a 20th century symbol of corporate power and a model for other company headquarters.
Mies van der Rohe wored with designer Philip Johnson to create the 38-story, stainless-steel and glass building. With bronze-clad pillars and floor-to-ceiling tinted glass, the building appeared as a curtain wall to passers-by. The Seagram Building revolutionized the architectural design of skyscrapers. With smooth glass lines, the building was a total break from the “wedding cake” style of the Empire State or Chrysler Buildings. Mies van der Rohe included a public plaza with fountains as an integral part of his design. This concept changed New York City building codes and the definition of successful public spaces.
Washington Dulles International Airport, Fairfax, Virginia
To meet the growing demand for more airport capacity in the Washington, D.C. area, the U.S. Congress passed the Washington Airport Act of 1950. A 10,000-acre site in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties was selected and planning began for the new Dulles International Airport. The engineering firm Ammann and Whitney coordinated planning and construction. Finnish born and trained at Yale University, Eero Saarinen was chosen to design the iconic passenger terminal. Construction began in 1958 and took six years to complete.
Saarinen’s design was the first facility designed with modern jet travel in mind. His philosophy of “the Style for the job” allowed the nature of a project to dictate the architectural style. Hoping to convey “the soul of the airport,” the architect’s elliptical Modernist form appeared to lift-off, dramatically conveying the building’s function as an international travel gateway. Saarinen believed his design was “the best thing I have ever done.” In 1966, the terminal building was awarded AIA’s First Honor Award.
1960s
Decade at a Glance
The U.S. population reached 177,830,000. The average life expectancy for men and women was 66+ years. More than 850,000 war babies entered college. State universities, including the California system, began huge expansion programs to accommodate the incoming war babies.
The average wage was $4,743 and a teacher’s yearly salary was $5,174. The minimum wage increased to $1 per hour.
Car-related deaths increased to 21.3 per 100,000. Ralph Nader’s book Unsafe at Any Speed changed the public’s perception of auto safety.
Social philosopher Marshall McLuhan promoted the idea of mass communication as the driving force of a new “global village.”
Men’s hair was longer and women’s dresses were shorter. Polyester Nehru jackets, wide ties, miniskirts, go-go boots, beads and colorful t-shirts were the fashion.
The Black Panthers, the United Farm Workers Association, the hippie movement, Viet Nam War protestors and the National Organization for Women were all important catalysts for social change in the U.S.
The publication of Rachael Carson’s book Silent Spring marked the beginning of the environmental movement.
America’s Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon.
1964
1965
Civil Rights Act Signed
President John F. Kennedy urged the country to provide equal treatment to all Americans regardless of race in 1963. Kennedy was assassinated five months later and President Johnson fufilled Kennedy’s promise of a law to end segregation in America. The Civil Rights Act was passed and signed in 1964.
Martin Luther King Jr is TIME’s “Man of the Year”
1964 was the first year an African American is named “Man of the Year” by this influential magazine.
“No longer does performance in sport or music circumscribe Negro accomplishments … The criterion for choosing TIME’S Man of the Year is the man or woman who dominated the news of that year and left an indelible mark —for good or ill—on history.” (January 3, 1964)
1968
Riots in Watts
On August 11 riots broke out in Watts, a predominately African American neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles in reaction to a police officer pulling over a black motorist. The riot lasted 6 days and resulted in 34 deaths, over 1000 injured and $50 to $100 million in property damage. Nickerson Gardens, a 1954 housing project designed by Paul Williams, was an ignition point of the conflict. Though the riots started as a minor traffic stop, the riot was seen as a symptom of deeper racial problems on the local and national level.
This photograph shows the widespread destruction in Watts.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
President Lyndon B. Johnson (pictured here) signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law prohibiting the denial or abridgement of voting rights because of race or color. This act was passed to enforce the 15th Amendment to the Constitution and had an immediate impact. By December 1965, a quarter of a million new black voters were registered.
Assassination of Civil Rights Leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
On April 4, 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., charismatic American civil rights leader and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. King was in Memphis to lead a march of sanitation workers protesting low wages and poor working conditions.
Dr. King’s crusade for equal rights for African Americans began with his participation in the Alabama bus boycott in the 1950s. Years later he delievered his historic speech—”I Have a Dream” during the March on Washington, D.C. An advocate of Mahatma Gandhi’s methods, King favored sit-ins and marches instead of physical force to affect change. He was often jailed for his efforts and survived attempts on his life including the bombing of his home.
In Memphis, King was shot and killed by James Earl Ray, a small-time repeat offender looking for notoriety. Ray fled the country and was captured in London, England after a two-month manhunt. He was eventually extradited to Tennessee. Ray confessed to King’s murder but retracted his story and spent the rest of his life weaving intricate tales of conspiracy and intrigue to willing listeners.
Martin Luther King’s assassination lead to rioting in more than 100 U.S. cities.
The Lorraine Motel and the balcony, seen in this photograph, are an important part of the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee.
First Commercial Microprocessor Is Announced
In November, 1971 the Intel Corporation announces the development of a single chip microprocessor—the Intel 4004 (U.S. Patent #3,821,715). The company’s engineers revolutionize computer design by placing all the parts that make a computer think on one small chip—the size of a cornflake. This chip is as powerful as the first computers that filled an entire room. Intelligence can now be programmed into inanimate objects. The Intel 4004 is an important first step in the development of the personal computer and software that shape and transform modern society.
1971
Oil Crisis
The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) initiated an Oil Embargo against the United States in response to America’s support of Israel during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. As U.S. petroleum production fell, the country grew dependent on imported foreign oil. The crisis had decades long affects on American society:
- Stagflation, stagnet growth combined with inflation, gripped the country and Americans became less optimistic about the future;
- The romance of owning a large automobile waned;
- The government mandated fuel efficiences and the age of energy conservation began—conserving gasoline became a national obsession;
- Americans considered other forms of transit to commute from home to work;
- Suburban homeownership looks less inviting as the cost of gasoline rises.
In 1959 Paul R. Williams predicted that “people will start coming back to the city to live and will want a home designed around business and social activities.” He could not foretell the energy issues of the 1970s when he made this prediction, but his understanding of consumer behavior and psychology informed his vision of the future.
1973
The Difference between Shelter and Sanctuary
A. Quincy Jones had a thriving practice that changed the face of suburban Southern California and reflects the values of an emerging American middle class homebuyer. He also taught and became the Dean of the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture (1951-1967). His philosophy of valuing “meaningful living” over “mundane existence” influenced hundreds of new architects. He advised his students to design not only a living space but also “a sense of community.”
During the last decade of his life, Jones was interviewed extensively about his belief that residential design is about people. He encouraged young architects to view their practices as “Designing for the Homes of Tomorrow.” He advised them to “have the strength” to turn down developers who proposed projects they do not believe in because one can “make more money by providing the best possible living experience for the people who buy his houses” instead of creating sterile, one-size-fits-all subdivisions.
Many of his ideas echoed those Paul R. Williams proposed decades earlier in his books—The Small House of Tomorrow (1945) and New Homes For Today (1946). Both Williams and Jones were considered “champions” and advocates for small, affordable California housing.