Still from series “Motion Picture Films From the ‘Police’ Program Series, ca. 1971 - ca. 1971”, 381-P-1
Robert Pierce/Office of Economic Opportunity. Office of Public Affairs, courtesy National Archives Still from series “Motion Picture Films From the ‘Police’ Program Series, ca. 1971 - ca. 1971”, 381-P-1

Charles Cassell, FAIA, a trailblazing architect and advocate for Black architects, has died at the age of 96 in Washington, D.C. The son of Albert Cassell, a pioneering university architect for Howard University who realized D.C.’s Mayfair Mansions, Charles Cassell was instrumental to shaping the University of D.C. campus, overseeing the design and construction of nine buildings between 1976 and 1986. Alongside his professional practice, Cassell remained a strong community advocate. He was a leading voice in the movement for D.C. statehood, served as vice president of the D.C. Historic Preservation League, joined the D.C. school board, and founded the D.C. Council of Black Architects.

"[We] put pressure on the government ... and we were successful," Cassell said in a 2014 interview with Cornell University's Ezra magazine. "And things got better and better. One thing those of us involved in civil rights are proud of is the fact that we eliminated a lot of the discrimination in that city."

Born on Aug. 5, 1924, Cassell attended Cornell University, like his father, the institution's second Black architecture graduate; and sisters, Martha and Alberta, the first two Black women to receive B.Arch. degrees from the institution. However World War II interrupted his education. Upon earning his B.Arch. from Cornell in 1944, Cassell earned a B.Arch. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., in 1951. He went on to design a number of projects for the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks, as well hospitals for the Navy and Veterans Administration (now known as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs). His sisters were also successful: Martha served as the chief restoration architect for the Washington National Cathedral, and Alberta became a naval architect with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and the Naval Sea Systems Command.

Members of the D.C. and design communities have mourned the loss on social media.

This post has been updated since publication to reflect the Veterans Administration is now known as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.