THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT
Amaza Lee Meredith
August 14, 1895 – January 2, 1984
Architect, educator, artist. One of the nation’s first female Black architects. Established Virginia State’s School of Fine Arts Department. Department Chair, 1935 – 1958. Designed home on Virginia State campus, “Azurest South,” 1938. Began “Azurest North,” vacation homes for African Americans, Sag Harbor, Long Island, 1947. Azurest South became home of Virginia State University National Alumni Association, 1986. Added to National Register of Historic Places, 1993. Bachelor’s degree with honors, Master’s degree, fine arts, Teacher’s College of Columbia University, New York, 1930 and 1934.
More About Amaza:
- Amaza Lee Meredith biography, Columbia GSAPP
- “Amaza Lee Meredith: Teacher, Artist and Architect,” by Hunter Simms, Lynchburg Museum volunteer
- “America’s First Biracial Lesbian Architect: Amaza Lee Meredith,” by Sierra Earle
- The Visionary Women of Sag Harbor’s Historic Azurest Community, Preservation Long Island
- The Colorful Past and Bright Future of Azurest South, Home of a Pioneering Black Architect, National Trust for Historic Preservation
- A Guide to the Amaza Lee Meredith Papers,1912,1930-1938
- Amaza Lee Meredith and Edna Meade Colson
- Amaza Lee Meredith, Wikipedia