Harry G. Robinson III (born January 18, 1942) is an American architect, and professor of architecture and Dean Emeritus of the School of Architecture and Design at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He was a member of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts from 1994 to 2003, and served as its chairman from 2002 to 2003.Thomas E. Luebke, ed., Civic Art: A Centennial History of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, 2013): Appendix B, p. 553. He is also the first African American to be elected president of the National Architectural Accrediting Board, and the first African American elected president of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.
Early life and career Robinson was born at Freedman's HospitalRouse, Deborah. "Building History." Washington City Paper. March 21, 1997. Accessed 2012-10-17. on January 18, 1942, in Washington, D.C., to Harry G. Robinson, Jr. and Gwendolyn Herriford Robinson.Geracimos, Ann. "Harry G. Robinson III." Washington Times. October 3, 1989."Obituaries." Washington Post. August 6, 1984."Robinson, III, Harry G." Who's Who Among African Americans. New York: Gale Research, 2009, p. 1020. He had an older sister, Joan. His family was intricately connected with Howard University, which was near the college's campus. His great-grandfather, James Henry Hill, joined the faculty at Howard University in 1879.Trescott, Jacqueline. "The Education of Howard." Washington Post. October 3, 1996. His grandmother, Mamie Hill Robinson, graduated from Howard's teachers college in 1887.Robinson III, Harry G. "Growing Up at–and With–Howard University." Washington Post. February 20, 1986. His father was born in 1908 in a home where Howard University's William H. Greene Stadium now stands. His father often boasted of being "born on Howard's 50 yard line".Stevens, Joann. "New Howard Deans Aim to Help Restore Campus Glory." Washington Post. September 27, 1979. His grandmother later sold the property to the university for $10.
Robinson's father graduated from Howard in 1934, and played varsity basketball there. His mother worked at the Howard University school of dentistry, his aunt taught social work there, and Colonel James Hill Robinson (his uncle and a graduate of the United States Military Academy) was an associate dean of architecture there when Robinson was an undergraduate. Another 24 family members also attended Howard.Forgey, Benjamin. "Howard's Path to the Future." Washington Post. March 15, 1997. Robinson was nicknamed "Butch" while growing up. Robinson's early years were spent living in an apartment at 2715 Georgia Avenue NW near Howard University (across the street from his grandparents' home). Robinson often played on the campus, riding a wagon down and sledding on its hills, and learning to swim in its pool. When he entered James Monroe Elementary School, the family moved north to Farragut Street NW. He attended Benjamin Banneker Junior High School (now Benjamin Banneker Academic High School), a racially segregated, all-black school, in 1953. But after the Supreme Court's 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, he attended racially integrated MacFarland Junior High School.Robinson III, Harry G. "The Other Story of Washington." Washington Post. August 4, 1999.
Robinson graduated from Howard University in 1966 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree (with design honors). Robinson joined the United States Army after graduation, became an officer, and served a tour of duty as a 2nd Lieutenant engineer in Vietnam in 1967 during the Vietnam War.McCombs, Phil. "The Memorial's Moment of Truce." Washington Post. February 9, 1983. He received the Bronze Star Medal and a Purple Heart, and promoted to first lieutenant. He received his Master of City Planning (MCP) from Howard in 1970."Harry G. Robinson." The History Makers. November 19, 2003. Accessed 2012-10-17. He then enrolled at Harvard University, where he obtained an MCP in urban design in 1972 from the Graduate School of Design.
Robinson began his career working as an urban planner for the D.C. Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA) from 1968 to 1972.
Teaching career Robinson's teaching career began when he taught architecture at the University of the District of Columbia from 1969 to 1970 and again from 1971 to 1974.
He then taught architecture at Morgan State College in Baltimore, Maryland, from 1972 to 1979. At the time of his departure, he was associate dean of urban planning. While at Morgan State, Robinson received several federal grants to study urban planning, and developed graduate programs in architecture and urban planning. Morgan State became the first historically black college or university to be recognized by the American Institute of Planners. He founded and was director of the Center for Built Environment Studies, an interdisciplinary program in architecture, city planning, landscape architecture, and urban design.
Robinson came to teach at Howard University after delivering a lecture there in February 1979. Impressed with his knowledge and force of personality, students formed a committee to investigate his background, then met with faculty to discuss their findings. The joint student-faculty group then petitioned Howard University President James E. Cheek to hire Robinson as the next dean of the School of Architecture and Planning. Robinson joined Howard in September 1979. During his tenure as dean, he expanded the curriculum, organized the African American Architect Initiative, and established a program to encourage D.C. schoolchildren to choose a career in urban design and planning.Wilgoren, Debbi. "Howard University Dean Cited." Washington Post. May 17, 1990. Robinson has long advocated equal access for African-American architects, but argues that black architects should seek work where they can get it. "I don't want to ask for anything. It's embarrassing to me," he told Newsday in 1991. "I have a new sense of being a radical. I really had to, with the barrage of negative press and complaints of what we don't have. I'm tired of it. ... We simply aren't going to get large corporate work. That's a different network. But we have our own network. We have the black church, we have the black sororities and fraternities. Of course we want equal access, but no profession is without its barriers."Lawrence, Beverly Hall. "With Their Entire Industry on the Edge, Black Architects Seek the Visibility They've Never Had." Newsday. June 13, 1991.
Robinson was named Howard University's Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs"Appointments." Washington Post. September 4, 1995. and Vice President for University Administration in 1995."Harry G. Robinson III." News Room. Howard University. No date. Accessed 2012-10-17. During this time, he sponsored a process to craft a campus master plan. The plan, called "UniverCity 20/20," neared completion in 1997. When Howard Hall was renovated in 1996, he saved bricks and wood from the historica building to sell as fund-raisers for the university capital campaign. Robinson planned an extensive campaign to educate university alumni about Howard University's history as a means of engaging them in his fund-raising drive. Many alumni and students, he said, did not have a clear understanding of how unique Howard is. "I tell the students every fall, 'If you just want an education, go home and go to a fine state school.'" Robinson stepped down as Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs in 1997."President Names Appointees to the Commission on Fine Arts." Press release. Office of the President. The White House. April 14, 1999. He continued at Howard as the James E. Silcott Professor of Architecture.
Government service Robinson is a long-time member of the board of directors of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which helped to build and now maintains the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. In 1981, when the memorial's Memorial Wall design was approved by the memorial jury, controversy erupted over the Minimalist design. In January 1982, a new element—a realistic bronze sculpture by Frederick Hart known as The Three Soldiers—was added to the memorial. In October 1982, the Commission of Fine Arts approved the erection of a flagpole to be grouped with The Three Soldiers. Controversy continued over both how close The Three Soldiers should be to the Memorial Wall, and whether the flagpole should be erected. Robinson opposed putting the statues near the wall, saying this "would impose its imagery upon the visitor's experience and weaken the impact..." He criticized the flagpole as "an intrusion into the tranquil horizontal space of the meadow and the awe-inspiring quality of the wall."
Robinson was appointed a member of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in 1994 and served until 2003."Members of the Commission." U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. October 3, 2012. Accessed 2012-10-15. He was the commission's vice chairman from 2000 to 2002,Robinson III, Harry G. "Right Place, Right Memorial." Washington Post. July 23, 2000. and its chairman from 2002 to 2003. Robinson was a member of the CFA during the contentious decision over the siting of the National World War II Memorial in the 1990s. Robinson strongly endorsed a proposal to put the memorial in a traffic circle on Columbia Island at the foot of Arlington Memorial Bridge.Forgey, Benjamin. "No Accord on WWII Memorial." Washington Post. July 28, 1995. He also voiced strong views about the Washington Metro's decision to place glass-and-steel canopies over all Metro station entrances. When Metro brought its design before the CFA, Robinson said, "Not only is it dull, it's offensive."Forgey, Benjamin. "Metro's Chance to Make A Grand Entrance." Washington Post. July 29, 2000. Robinson led the commission in strongly criticizing the canopies. "Metro cannot build what they have shown us," he said in July 2000. "It isn't going to happen." Robinson was similarly dismissive of a 2002 plan by the National Park Service to build a underground visitors center and long tunnel beneath the grounds of the Washington Monument. Robinson and the CFA had unanimously endorsed the plan in December 2001, but voiced strong doubts about it in May 2002. "Maybe the best tourist experience of the Washington Monument is not by walking through a tunnel into it," Robinson said, concluding that little security was achieved by forcing people to walk through a tunnel beneath the monument.Hsu, Spencer S. "Arts Panel Drops Backing Of Underground Center." Washington Post. May 17, 2002. The Park Service withdrew the plans. Robinson had high praise for the headquarters of the United States Institute of Peace, however. Moshe Safdie's design for a seven-story structure shaped like a curving capital letter V, enclosing a vast atrium covered by wing-like white canopies, was the architect's first American building. Robinson called the building an "exciting, exuberant statement of the importance of peace.""A National Presence for Peacemaking." United States Institute of Peace's PeaceWatch. February 2003.