Ethel Furman
Ethel B. Furman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Ethel Madison Bailey July 6, 1893 Richmond, Virginia, United States |
| Died | February 24, 1976 (aged 82) |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Spouse(s) | William H. Carter (1912-1918) Joseph D. Furman (1918-) |
Ethel Bailey Furman (née Ethel Madison Bailey; July 6, 1893—February 24, 1976)[1][2] was an American architect who was the earliest known African-American female architect in Virginia.[1][3][4]
Biography
[edit]Ethel Madison Bailey[2] was born in Richmond, Virginia. She was the daughter of Margaret M. Jones Bailey and Madison J. Bailey.[3][5]
She married William H. Carter on October 12, 1912, in New Jersey, and they had two children.[3] Their daughter, Thelma Carter Henderson was born in 1914 in Buffalo, New York and their son, Madison Carter, was born in 1916 in Lakawana, New York.[3] Having divorced Carter by 1918, she married Joseph D. Furman, a Pullman porter for the New York Central Railroad.[3] Together they had a son named J. Livingston Furman.[6]
After training in New York City, she returned to Richmond in 1921 and began designing houses for locals. Furman worked with her father, and also raised three children. During this time she worked other jobs to supplement income to raise her family. As an African-American woman she experienced discrimination in the architecture community, as local bureaucrats refused to accept her as the architect of record on her own projects.[7] Consequently, she would often have to submit her job proposals through male contractors with whom she worked.[7]
Education
[edit]As a child Furman started to gain knowledge on architecture and the building arts by shadowing her father, Madison J. Bailey, who was the second licensed Black building contractor in Richmond.[4] Over time, this informal education allowed Bailey to take on some of the drafting duties for her father's business. Furman briefly attended Armstrong High School in Richmond, Virginia before her family moved to Philadelphia. She graduated from Germantown High School in North Philadelphia in 1910.[6] At one point in her training she moved to New York City where she studied architecture privately by Edward R. Williams, a Black architect.[1] In the late 1920s she was the only woman to attend the Hampton Institute's annual builder's conference.[5][8] She trained in drafting through Chicago Technical College into the 1940s.[1]
Notable works
[edit]Furman designed over 200 churches and residences in Virginia and two churches in Liberia, including the Fourth Baptist Church Educational Wing which still stands in the historic Church Hill district of Richmond, Virginia.[1][2][5]
To recognize her contributions to the field of architecture, a park in Richmond was named after her in 1985.[2][9] In 2010, Furman was honored as one of the Library of Virginia's "Virginia Women in History" for her civic work and accomplishments in the field of architecture.[2]
Later life
[edit]Furman died in 1976. She is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Gaglio, Meredith. McLeod, Mary; Rosner, Victoria (eds.). "Ethel Madison Bailey Carter Furman". Pioneering Women of American Architecture. Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation. Archived from the original on 19 March 2025. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
- ^ a b c d e "Virginia Women in History 2010: Ethel Bailey Furman". Virginia Women in History. Library of Virginia. 2010. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Wilson, Dreck Spurlock, ed. (2004). "Ethel Madison Bailey Furman (1893–1976)". African-American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865–1945. Routledge. pp. 162–163. ISBN 9780203493120. OCLC 60712152. Retrieved 17 September 2025 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b Richardson, Selden (2008). Duke, Maurice (ed.). Built by Blacks: African American Architecture and Neighborhoods in Richmond. Charleston, SC: The History Press. p. 92. ISBN 9781596294592. OCLC 193910727.
- ^ a b c Richards, William (1 April 2021) [10 March 2021]. "Pioneering Architects: Ethel Bailey Furman". American Institute of Architects. Archived from the original on 15 November 2023.
- ^ a b Wilson, Dreck Spurlock (2004-01-01). African American architects: a biographical dictionary, 1865-1945. New York: Routledge. pp. 162. ISBN 0415929598.
- ^ a b Allaback, Sarah (2008). The First American Women Architects. University of Illinois Press. p. 80. ISBN 9780252033216. OCLC 167518574. Retrieved 18 September 2025 – via Google Books.
- ^ "This Day in Virginia History: February 14, 1928". Virginia Memory. Library of Virginia. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022.
- ^ "Ethel Bailey Furman Memorial Park". Foursquare. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
- ^ "Memorial: Ethel Madison Bailey Furman". Find a Grave. Archived from the original on 25 January 2025. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
Further reading
[edit]- Wilson, Dreck Spurlock. African-American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865–1945. New York: Routledge, 2004.
External links
[edit]- Virginia Changemakers. “Ethel Bailey Furman.” https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/changemakers/items/show/167