Jeh V. Johnson, FAIA

Jeh Vincent Johnson (1931-2021), a path breaking Black architect, was named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1977—the profession’s highest honor. He taught architectural design in the Art Department at Vassar for 37 years, from 1964 to 2001. He was a much-admired teacher and mentor, who spurred the architectural careers of dozens of students, many of them women and people of color—who have long been underrepresented in the field. By his own count, of the 286 students who took his senior level studio course, 63 went on to graduate school and went into practice or became professors at schools of architecture; three have become heads of program, or deans; and five are Fellows of the AIA.

In 1971, he co-founded the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), with the aim of using architecture as “a voice to speak against apathy, bigotry, intolerance and ignorance; against abuse of the natural environment; and for the un-empowered, the marginalized and the disenfranchised.” He also co-founded the New York Coalition of Black Architects, now a chapter of NOMA.

Johnson received his BA, BArch, and MArch from Columbia University. He worked briefly as a draughtsman for Paul Revere Williams in Los Angeles, before coming to the Hudson Valley to join his classmate William Gindele; by 1962, they were partners in the firm Gindele & Johnson Architects in Poughkeepsie. Johnson later served as partner at the architectural and design firm of LeGendre, Johnson, McNeil Architects from 1980 to 1990.

A pioneering early voice for equitable housing, Johnson described himself as a “sociologically-trained architect”; and in fact he was the son of a prominent sociologist—Charles Spurgeon Johnson, who developed the Social Science Institute of Fisk University into an important center for the study of race relations, and was also President of Fisk. Jeh Johnson emphasized the people who would inhabit the buildings he designed, and he encouraged his students to do the same. Much of his work focused on group housing for lower-income families, and issues of architecture as a social force. In his own practice, he designed over 4,300 high-quality, low-cost housing units; and also focused on community centers, churches, and schools, including the design or refurbishment of many local landmarks such as the Poughkeepsie Day School, YMCA, Beulah Baptist Church, and Catherine Street Center and Library. At Vassar, he designed the Susan Stein Shiva Theater, as well as the recently-renamed Jeh Vincent Johnson ALANA Cultural Center. He also designed or expanded nine faculty houses at Vassar, giving his colleagues of relatively modest means the opportunity to work with an architect on a custom designed home.

His service on President Lyndon B. Johnson’s National Commission on Urban Problems (the so-called Douglas Commission), from 1967 to 1970, was an early recognition of his expertise, and put him at the forefront of national efforts to combat urban poverty and discrimination. He and the other commission members held hearings in 18 cities, authoring the weighty report Building the American City, which began by asserting: “The anger of the slum is that of a people disinherited from our society”. Their progressive recommendations have been influential in addressing issues of urban poverty, zoning and redlining, and racial segregation, among others.

Johnson additionally served on over 100 professional juries and committees, many concerned with housing, licensing, and opportunities for minority architects; as well as many local planning boards and organizations.

Johnson’s advocacy took many forms, from his teaching, mentoring, and design work, to his founding of NOMA, the hard-hitting conclusions of the Douglas Commission report, and his professional service to the field. In 2010 he received the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Award, which lauded his commitment to social awareness in architectural design and his belief that designers must recognize their social responsibilities and promote fairness and humane values through their work.

This brief sketch comprises most of what is known about Johnson’s work; it remains to write a full story of his achievements as designer, teacher, and advocate. Although the reach of Johnson’s ideas and advocacy are broad, much of his design work was in the Hudson Valley, making Vassar, his academic home for decades, an ideal locus for study of his oeuvre. Through research and exhibition projects as well as stewardship of his buildings, Vassar is spearheading efforts to tell a fuller story of his work, and its important legacy.

Current Projects

Lecture Series: In 2021, the Art Department established a memorial lecture series honoring Johnson’s legacy. The inaugural talk, “I Was Asked to Stand”, was presented by Pascale Sablan, FAIA, NOMA, LEED AP, NOMA National President-Elect 2021-2022, Founder & Executive Director Beyond the Built Environment LLC, and Senior Associate, Adjaye Associates.

ALANA Center: Vassar’s ALANA Cultural Center was created in 1993 as a space for resources and programs to support students of color, and as a comfortable and affirming gathering space for student organizations supporting students of color. (Vassar had created the function in 1976, but it had lacked a dedicated building. It was later given the acronym ALANA for African-American/Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American students.) To create this welcoming space, Johnson adapted the former coal heating plant, one of several service buildings that were later refunctionalized, including the well-known Powerhouse Theater and Susan Stein Shiva theater (the latter also designed by Johnson). In 2021, the Center was renamed The Jeh Vincent Johnson ALANA Cultural Center in his honor. A refurbishment is currently underway, and a renaming ceremony will follow the completion of the project.

Participants: Tobias Armborst, Yvonne Elet, Sam Dorf (VC ’22), Brenna McMannon, Caleb Mitchell (VC’22), Ed Pittman (VC ’82), Sonia Santos (VC ’21), Ian Shelley (VC ’22), Riya Sirdeshmukh (VC ’20), Karen Van Lengen (VC), Ben Volk (VC ’21), Liliane Wong (VC ’81)
Contact: Yvonne Elet
Category: Architecture
Status: Ongoing
Resources: