John Louis Wilson Jr.

John Louis Wilson Jr. (January 24, 1898 – October 31, 1989) was an American architect. He was one of the first African American architects to be registered in New York State. He had worked for New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and also maintained a private architecture practice in the New York City.

Early life and education John Louis Wilson Jr. was born on January 24, 1898, in Meridian, Mississippi into an African American family. Wilson's father was a minister and his mother was a music teacher.

Career From 1920 to 1923, he worked as a math teacher and football coach at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. There were seven architects working together on the Harlem River Houses, which was the first federally financed housing project.

In the mid-1950's, Wilson was a founding president of the Council for Advancement of Negroes in Architecture (NACA), which was merged in 1967 with the American Institute of Architects (AIA). His daughter Judith Ann Wilson Rogers (born 1939), is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Work

Harlem River Houses (1937), public housing complex, Harlem, New York City, New York; NRHP-listed Morris Park Apartments (1960), also known as Mount Morris Park Senior Citizen's Housing Project, a federally funded senior housing complex, 17 E. 124th Street, East Harlem, New York City, New York Throg's Neck Library, New York Public Library (1972), 3025 Cross Bronx Expy., The Bronx, New York City, New York Early Childhood Center (1975), New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn, New York City, New York