Celebrating Black History Month
Posted by Marta Dabrowski on Feb. 9, 2022 / SMPS CT / Subscribe 0
February begins Black History Month. This month-long celebration is intended to recognize the accomplishments and achievements of those with African or Caribbean heritage. It’s an opportunity for people to educate themselves about the effects of racism and ways to challenge negative stereotypes. Join SMPS Connecticut throughout the month as we celebrate by highlighting just a few of the countless African Americans and the historic achievements that helped propel our community and industry forward. We believe this continued engagement with history is vital in giving context to the present.
To celebrate Black History Month, SMPS Connecticut is spotlighting a few of the many influential African Americans whose contributions have bettered our communities, the A/E/C industry, as well as our country as a whole.
Norma Merrick Sklarek, FAIA
Norma has been called the “Rosa Parks of Architecture” for her groundbreaking accomplishments and leadership. She was the first African American woman to pass her license exam to become an architect in New York and California. She is the daughter of immigrants from Trinidad, grew up in Harlem and Brooklyn and graduated from the School of Architecture at Columbia University in 1950. She was rejected from 19 firms after graduating before finally being hired by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Like many female architects in corporate firms, Norma served as a project manager rather than a design architect for most of her career although she had the technical skills and knowledge to do so. She persevered and went on to become the first Black woman to co-own an architectural firm, Siegel Sklarek Diamond, and the first Black woman to be elected as a Fellow of the AIA. She is most noted for designing the United States Embassy in Tokyo, Japan in 1976 and the Terminal One Station at the los Angeles International Airport in 1984.
William Hunter Dammond
William was a civil engineer, an inventor of an electrical train signaling system, and the first Black graduate of the University of Pittsburg. Finding it difficult to secure work as an engineer, he began his career as a math professor for the Paul Quinn College and then Wilberforce University. He later became employed as an assistant bridge engineer for the Michigan Central Railroad. In 1903, he received a patent for an electrical track signaling system - more popularly known as the Dammond Circuit - that improved safety and was an improvement over manually operated block signals. He also received a second patent for a "Safety System for Operating Railroads" which signaled the condition of the track ahead. William signaling systems was used by railroads along the East Coast corridor but he suffered from infringement of his patents. Later in his life he worked as a draftsman for the New York City Board of Transportation.
Hattie Scott Peterson
Hattie was the first African-American woman to hold an engineering degree. She graduated from Howard University with a degree in civil engineering in 1946. She worked as a survey and cartographic engineer for the U.S. Geological Survey in California. She also joined the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1954, and was the first woman engineer to do so. She was passionate about encouraging engineering as a profession for women.
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