Norma Merrick Sklarek
| Norma Merrick Sklarek | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Norma Merrick April 15, 1928 Cumberland, Maryland, United States |
| Died | February 6, 2012 (aged 85) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
Barnard College Columbia University School of Architecture |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Awards | Fellow, American Institute of Architects |
| Practice | Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Gruen and Associates; Welton Becket; Siegel-Sklarek-Diamond |
Norma Merrick Sklarek (April 15, 1926 – February 6, 2012) was an African-American architect who accomplished many firsts for black women in architecture.
Biography
Norma Merrick was born in Harlem, New York, to Trinidadian parents; her father was a doctor and her mother a seamstress.[1] She attended Hunter College High School, went on to Barnard College, and then received her architecture degree in 1950 from Columbia University School of Architecture, one of only two women in her graduating class.[1] Merrick was one of the first black women to be licensed as an architect in the United States, and the first to be licensed in the states of New York (1954) and California (1962).[1][2]
After receiving her degree, Merrick was unable at first to find work at an architecture firm, so she took a job at the New York Department of Public Works. Starting in 1955, she worked for five years at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. In 1960, she moved to California and went on to work for Gruen and Associates in Los Angeles, where she remained for two decades and in 1966 became the firm's first African-American director of architecture.[1]
In 1967, Merrick married Ralf Sklarek, a Gruen architect, thereafter using Norma Merrick Sklarek as her professional name. She had had a prior marriage to a man named Ransom; and after Sklarek's death she would marry a third time, to Cornelius Welch, a doctor. She had two sons.[1]
In 1980, Sklarek moved over to Welton Becket Associates, where she worked on Terminal One at the Los Angeles International Airport. She also worked with the Jon Jerde Partnership.[1]
Sklarek became the first black woman to be elected a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), in 1980.[1] In 1985, she became the first African-American female architect to form her own architectural firm: Siegel-Sklarek-Diamond, which was the largest woman-owned and mostly woman-staffed architectural firm in the United States.
Following her retirement, she was appointed by the governor to serve on the California Architects Board. She also served for several years as chair of the AIA's National Ethics Council.[3] She died Feb. 6, 2012, in Pacific Palisades, California. A former president of the AIA said of her: "She was capable of doing anything. She was the complete architect."[1]
Selected works
- Embassy of the United States in Tokyo, Japan
- Fox Plaza in San Francisco
- San Bernardino City Hall in San Bernardino, California
Honors
In her honor, Howard University offers the Norma Merrick Sklarek Architectural Scholarship Award.
Sklarek is an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
Other honors include: the Association of Black Women Entrepreneurs’ Outstanding Business Role Model Award (1987) and a resolution from the California State Legislature honoring her (2007).
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Woo, Elaine. "Pioneering African American architect". Los Angeles Times, Feb. 10, 2012.
- ↑ "Norma Merrick Sklarek - First Black Woman to Become a US Architect". Architecture.about.com. 1928-04-15. Retrieved 2012-02-11.
- 1 2 Griffith, Susan J. "Normal Merrick Sklarek". Blackpast.org (website). Accessed Oc.t 27, 2015.
Further reading
- Summers, Barbara, ed. I Dream A World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America. Photos and Interviews by Brian Lanker. Workman Publishing, 1989.
External links
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