Finding Wallace Rayfield

September 18, 2013

wallace_rayfield.jpg

Architect Wallace A. Rayfield

Finding Wallace Rayfield

Produced by:

Cristina Smith

Play

Allen Dorough was cleaning out a barn near Birmingham, Ala., when he found 10 metal boxes full floor plans, advertisements, family portraits and other illustrations. He almost threw them out, but he soon learned they had been left by Wallace A. Rayfield, a black man and architect in the early 1900s who died in obscurity. As Dorough discovered, the plates were some of the few documents left of Rayfield’s work. Dorough talks to host Dick Gordon about Rayfield’s legacy, including the 16th Street Baptist Church of Birmingham.

Tagged with:

History

Urban

and

Race

You might also like…

From Fearing Police To Watching Over Police

As a young black Haitian-American, Constantin Severe had enough run-ins with the police to be wary of them. But when he grew up to become a public defender, he learned to trust officers.

Listen

Love And Race Relations

Alan Kaplan teaches history at a public high school in Los Angeles. He talks a lot about race in America, the history of slavery and civil rights. Ten years ago, that talk got Alan into trouble. A group of black parents claimed he was a racist. They called Erin Aubry, a reporter who wrote about race issues, and she was eager to investigate. When she finally landed an interview with Alan, they talked for over five hours.

Listen

Thinking Big

One young man has begun taking classes at Morehouse College this past school year, and he is quite an unlikely freshman. At the ago of 14, Jeremy Lee was convicted on an armed robbery charge and sentenced to four years in youth detention. However, he made up his mind to finish high school while he was locked up. The year he graduated high school, Jeremy was the only juvenile inmate to get a traditional diploma from the youth facility in Georgia. Jeremy was accepted to Morehouse where he is majoring in biology with hopes of becoming a neurosurgeon. also in this episode: remembering Bop City.

Listen

Mapping The Future

Producer Zak Rosen tells the story of an utopian Detroit with new transit ways and a stronger communities.

Listen

Love Park

99% Invisible explores a Philadelphia park that became a mecca for skaters.

Listen

All The Buildings In New York

When illustrator James Gulliver Hancock moved to New York City in 2009, he started to get familiar with the city by illustrating its buildings. He has compiled his sketches in his new book.

Listen

Remembering A Revolution

People around the world have watched and speculated about the street protests in Iran. The images have been particularly interesting for Wolfgang Kleinwachter. He was a part of the crowd in East Germany in October 1989, when protests helped lead to the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.

Listen

Lost Choices

Over the past century, forced sterilization was practiced in many states. In North Carolina, authorities sterilized poor and disabled people into the 1970’s. Last week, the Foundation for Justice for Sterilization Victims in North Carolina gathered testimony from victims. A task force will soon decide on compensation for an estimated 7,600 people who lost the ability to have children. W.C. Lynch was sterilized by the state, and today he tells his story.

Listen

Keeping A Father's Words

Gary Aitken knew his father died during World War II. Through an unusual coincidence, Gary finally found out about his father’s life and death when he met a soldier who had served with his dad.