Thread by @berkun

1. This is Amaza Lee Meredith (1895-1984) one of the first African American female architects in the U.S. She was a pioneer, fighting through gender and racial barriers in architecture & the arts.

She played a key role in working against redlining through her creative talents.

2. Born to mixed race parents, they had to move from Virginia to DC in order to get married. He was a master builder, but lost work after the move, likely due to racism. He committed suicide in 1915.

She graduated from high school that same year, top of her class.

3. She earned two art degrees from Columbia University and then returned to Virginia. With no formal architecture training, she designed and built Azurest South, next to the VSU campus. She was soon appointed head of the art dept.

It's a rare work of the International style.

4. After WWII the U.S. govt granted loans to families to buy houses. They excluded non-whites in a practice called redlining.

She worked with her sister to acquire property in the Hamptons (outside of NYC) to build homes for black people in an area called Sag Harbor.

5. Maude Terry (Amaza's sister) played a key role by finding prospective buyers. They started Azurest Syndicate Inc.,
a loan/mortgage service open to black people to help them finance home ownership.

There were 120 lots. At least two homes were designed by Amaza herself.

6. Many of the street names have significance - Sig Harbor was a whaling town and three streets are named for black whalers (Walker, Cuffee and Milton). Some are named for their own family: Terry Drive (home pictured below is on it), Richards Drive, and Meredith Avenue.

7. Amaza lived most of her life in Azurest South with her partner, the perhaps equally impressive Edna Meade Colson (VSU's first director of the department of education).

The home is now listed in the national register of historic places. And is now part of the VSU campus.