Hollywood's Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story

I used to teach history in middle and high school and one thing I noticed was that the kids knew almost nothing about Black American history. Sure, they knew who Martin Luther King was as well as Rosa Parks...but that's about as much as any of them knew. I sure wish I'd had this documentary available to me when I was teaching because I tried very hard to expose kids to many, many other Black Americans.

I saw this film on PBS when I was visiting Los Angeles and Hollywood...and so I have no idea if it was just shown around here or is available elsewhere. It's about Paul Revere Williams...an incredibly talented black architect who designed many of the great homes and structures...not just in LA and Hollywood but all around the country. You learn his rags to riches story (an orphan at age 4) and the many struggles he overcame in order to become a top architect when black men were lucky to have ANY white collar job! Very inspiring, very well made and a nice tribute to the man.

This documentary of the life and the architectural production by one of the finest architects the US has ever known is truly wondrous. From his orphaning at 4 years old to his patient and steady acquisition of the tools he needed to accomplish his desire--to become an architect--is a trajectory not to be missed. While his early teachers told him no Black person could become an architect ['your Black clients would be too poor; and white rich people wouldn't hire you'] he vaulted to true architectural stardom. His gorgeous, unique designs found love from Sinatra to Cary Grant. He contributed to both his family and the Black community in unbelievably generous and thoughtful ways.