Louis Fry, Sr.

Born in Bastrop, Texas, Fry graduated high school at the age of fifteen and earned a B.S. in mechanical arts at Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Prairie View A&M University) in 1922. Five years later he earned a second B.S. in architectural engineering at Kansas State University, followed by an M.S. in architecture in 1930. In between, Fry returned to his former alma mater to teach math and engineering, also designing a women’s dormitory (1928) and a hospital (1929). After completing his master’s degree, Fry was hired by Albert Cassell as a senior designer; among other projects, he assisted with plans for the Howard University campus, including the women’s dormitory, the power plant, Founder’s Library, and the campus master plan. He left the office in 1935 to teach at Tuskegee, heading the newly reorganized department of architecture. In 1940 Fry was hired as the campus architect for Lincoln University, where he laid out the school’s master plan with the campus landscape architect Charles Dickinson and designed the original building for the Inman E. Page Library, now Stamper Hall.

Fry received an M.Arch. at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1945. Briefly working for Marcel Breuer, he returned to Lincoln University before accepting a post at Howard University in 1947. Remaining in the role for 25 years, Fry also maintained a private practice, first as a lone practitioner, then with John Welch as Fry & Welch (1954-1969). Joined by his son, Louis Fry, Jr., in 1960, the office executed designs for sixteen campus buildings across five states, and elementary schools and housing developments in Washington, D.C. In his storied academic career, Fry mentored hundreds of students and helped gain accreditation for the architecture departments at Tuskegee and Howard University. He died at the age of 97 in Washington, D.C.