Samuel M. Plato
Courier-Journal, June 29, 2007
A 1902 graduate of State (later Simmons) University, Samuel M. Plato (1882-1957) became a prominent African-American architect and builder who achieved national recognition for his innovative and imaginative designs.
After Plato graduated from State University, he completed a mail-order program in architecture with International Correspondence Schools, and positioned himself to enter the small alliance of pioneering African-American architects who made their mark early in the last century.
Like other black pioneers, Plato struggled against racism and helped pave the way for those who followed in his footsteps.
From the beginning of his career, Plato demonstrated a concern for creating opportunities for other African Americans as doors were opened to him. During his early years in Marion, Indiana, Plato was successful in his fight to open the building trade unions to African-American workers.
The first African American to be awarded a contract to build a post office, Plato would go on to build a total of 39 post offices across the country. He was one of a few African-American contractors to build federal government defense housing projects during World War II. Plato designed William H. Steward Hall, the main building of the Simmons University campus, in 1924.
Plato undoubtedly had a gift for architecture; however, his success is also credited to his persistent efforts and his reputation for quality and integrity. Plato designed numerous public buildings, including churches and government buildings. A number of his designed structures are now listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, including the Broadway Temple A.M.E. Zion Church, located at the corner of 13th Street and Broadway, and Swallow-Robin Hall on the campus of Taylor University in Marion, Indiana.
The Pythian Temple in Columbus, Ohio was built by Plato in 1926. Now the Martin Luther King Performing and Cultural Arts Complex, it is the only historic building in the city designed by an African-American architect.
-- Olivia Cloud
Samuel Plato
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Plato
Samuel M. Plato (1882–1957) was an African-American architect and builder who is noted for contributions to the African-American community in Louisville and imaginative designs elsewhere in the country.
EARLY YEARS:
Plato was born in Waugh, Alabama. He graduated from State University Normal School (now Simmons College of Kentucky) in Louisville in 1902 and then completed a mail-order program in architecture with International Correspondence Schools.
Plato was a pioneer for African Americans. He spent 19 years after graduation in Marion, Indiana ending in the early 1920s. This was at a time that the Ku Klux Klan had reached an all-time record half a million members in Indiana. Despite this, he found support early on by Marion business owners John Schaumleffel and Wood Wilson. In Marion, he was successful in his fight to open up the building trade unions to African-American workers.
He was the first African-American to be awarded a contract to build a post office, and built 38 of them in total by the end of his life. He was one of only a few African-American contractors to build federal government defense housing projects during World War II.
At one point, he was hired in Decatur, Alabama to work on a post office without realizing he was black and skipped the welcome party and got right to work to avoid an unpleasant situation.
Historians state Plato was successful because of his persistent efforts and because his reputation for quality and integrity could not be ignored.
FAMILY:
Plato believed in helping others and devoting himself to his family. In 1939 he devised a plan to move his sister and her family off the old homestead in Waugh, Alabama, and into a new home nearby.
His second wife, Samuel an Elnora Plato (1891–1975), helped put several nieces and nephews though college and graduate school, with Plato employing some of them on jobs in Louisville and Washington, D.C.. Elnora Plato was his constant travel companion and business manager. Having built her own successful dressmaking business before their marriage, she used the funds from this enterprise to help Plato. She funded the cost of Samuel's sister's new house in Waugh and was able to keep Samuel's sister's company from going bankrupt.
LEGACY:
Plato designed and built a wide variety of buildings from New York to Alabama, including Greek Revival and Craftsman-style houses, elegant mansions, post offices, banks, churches, schools, office buildings, theaters, and government housing projects. Eight of his buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Broadway Temple A.M.E. Zion Church in Louisville.
During his career he was in demand as a speaker at The Tuskegee Institute and The Hampton Institute. He was honored posthumously in 1960 by the Howard University School of Engineering and Architecture, where he had been a special lecturer. He was admired and respected by everyone. Elnora Plato said he "was a pioneer for years and he wanted his business to live. Then, too, he wanted to inspire young engineers."
REFERENCES:
· Kielisch, Erik (March 4, 2005), "Plato's Influence Remains on Campus: Works of Swallow Robin's Architect Comes to the Archives", The Echo: The Taylor University's School Newspaper (Upland, IN) 92 (20): 1–2
· The Filson Historical Society