1892 Taylor R portrait Photo courtesy of MIT musuem How often do you think about your legacy? The fullness of an individual's life, including what one has accomplished and their impact on people and places, can be defined as a person's legacy.

So, what about the legacy of Robert R. Taylor?

Robert R. Taylor was a native of Wilmington, North Carolina, born in 1868. He was the youngest of four children born to Henry and Emily Still Taylor. His parents worked to ensure their children's education. As a boy, Taylor anticipated attending the prestigious Lincoln University near Philadelphia. However, he and his father set their sights on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with possibly the best program for aspiring architects. Founded in 1865, MIT's School of Architecture offered the first formal architectural curriculum in the United States and the first architecture program in the world, operating within the establishment of a university. Taylor chose MIT, and that education established him as the country's first academically trained African American architect and MIT's first Black graduate.

During Taylor's studies at MIT, he corresponded on more than one occasion with Booker T. Washington, the prominent Black educator, race leader and founder of Tuskegee University. As a Black architect, his contributions and sacrifices led him to serve as Tuskegee Institute's (now Tuskegee University) campus architect, planner, and construction supervisor. He designed and oversaw the built environment of 45 campus buildings and illustrated blueprints for other structures. He also formed a pre-architecture preparatory program for students and created technical drafting courses for all the young men enrolled in the Boy's Industries Department.

The spirit of Robert R. Taylor's impact remains significant. He was a visionary, involved in projects far beyond Tuskegee. These ventures included large and small schools, houses, a lodge, an office building and libraries.

Booker T. Washington encouraged Andrew Carnegie to support the construction of Carnegie libraries for several black schools, which included three designed by Robert R. Taylor. Among these is the imposing, neoclassical Carnegie Library he designed for Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina.

Washington also included Taylor in the Rosenwald schools — a program by Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears Roebuck & Co. — to build schools for Black children in the segregated South in the 1920s. Taylor designed Rosenwald schools with sizeable windows to let in masses of light. Many of the old schoolhouses did not originally have electricity. The schools contained cloakrooms, so dirty outer garments could be kept separate from the education spaces. Schools also had room dividers so that the schoolhouses could serve as community centers after hours.

The Rosenwald school models exhibit Taylor's sense of community in learning from the past, living in the present, and building for the future. Taylor retired from Tuskegee in 1932 and returned to Wilmington, where he was active in civic affairs. He devoted more time to civic work, publishing pieces on social justice issues in various newspapers. In 1935, the governor of North Carolina appointed him to the board of trustees of Fayetteville State Teachers College (now Fayetteville State University) - the first Black member of the Board of Trustees.

The Taylor Science Building was constructed in 1939 and named in honor of Robert R. Taylor. The Taylor Social Science Annex was built in 1968.

The good works that a person does throughout their life can establish a legacy of compassion, charity and social responsibility. From helping others who are less fortunate or underserved populations, building a positive culture helps make life better for others. Robert R. Taylor's work connected people across space, time and differences. From his early years as an architect, Taylor wanted to do just that. His commitment to engaging the community through a dialogue of architecture encourages us all to share our talents for the good of others.

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