Building His Destiny

In a sea of white faces, John Saunders Chase waited patiently amid the stares and glares of the swarm of humanity surrounding him. Cameras flashed as reporters hurled questions at him and jotted down his responses.

It was June 7, 1950. Chase, an African American, was smartly dressed in a double-breasted coat and tie, as he stood in line in Gregory Gym at The University of Texas at Austin. Chase, born in Annapolis, Md., was 25 years old at the time. Although nervous, he recalls being befuddled at the fanfare that greeted his arrival.

“I remember, specifically, a photographer who talked non-stop to me about making history and getting the ‘right moment’ on film,” Chase said. “He told me that I wasn’t officially accepted into the university until it became a ‘contract’—in other words, until the university took my money. He was right there next to me at that moment to snap a photo.”

The road to “that moment” began at an early age for Chase. Growing up, he idolized his older sister and was devoted to following in her footsteps. When she enrolled at Hampton University in Virginia he was destined to do the same. And although he knew what he wanted to do in life, he was, originally, at a loss to define it.

Chase earned a bachelor of science degree in architecture from Hampton University in 1948, and he never wavered in his determination to become an architect. Architecture was his life-long passion and he was determined to realize his dream. Only, unknown to him, his dream was colorblind and the world around him wasn’t.

And, on that warm summer day in June, whether he intended to or not, the determined young man from Annapolis made history. He and Horace Lincoln Heath became the first two African Americans to enroll at The University of Texas at Austin.

Chase did succeed, and in doing so, became the first African American to graduate from the university’s School of Architecture, which was then, and is still now, one of the most highly recognized architecture programs in the country.

Upon receiving his master’s degree in architecture, Chase was offered a position as an assistant professor at Texas Southern University (TSU) in Houston. He and his wife moved to Houston with great expectations of seeing his career as an architect blossom into a reality.

Shortly after arriving in Houston, however, Chase’s dream was, yet again, shattered by black and white realities.

In interview after interview at architectural firms, Chase was denied employment. When he showed up, resume in hand, to apply for a job, he was told there were no available openings. Every job he applied for vanished when he walked through the front door.

So Chase started his own business.

“I thought to myself, if no one will hire you, you’re going to take that state examination, pass it and hire yourself,” said Chase. “So that’s what I did. I hired myself.

In a matter of years, Chase achieved a number of impressive “firsts.” Chase became the first African American to practice architecture in Texas. He became the first African American to be accepted into the Texas Society of Architects. And he became the first African American to be accepted into the Houston chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

He died at the age of 87 on March 29, 2012.

Source: University of Texas at Austin Center for American History, article by Amy Maverick