Charles Francis McAfee, FAIA, NOMA (born December 25, 1932),[1] is an American architect, building material manufacturer, and housing activist. He was the founding president of Charles F. McAfee Architects, Engineers, and Planners firm (now McAfee3) which was headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.[2] McAfee has had a distinguished career, and has been considered one of the most important African-American architect in the United States for his social activism in designing affordable housing.[3][4] He was a mentor to many of Black architects, including two of his own daughters.[5]
Charles Francis McAfee was born on December 25, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, to parents Willie Anna (née Brown) and Arthur James McAfee.[1][3] He served with United States Army from 1953 to 1955, during the end of the Korean War and was sent to Germany.[5] McAfee graduated with a B.Arch in 1958 from University of Nebraska–Lincoln.[1] In 1955, he married childhood friend and singer, Gloria Myrth Winston.[5]
In 1963, McAfee began his own firm in Wichita, named Charles F. McAfee Architects, Engineers and Planners; the firm grew and opened satellite offices in Dallas and Atlanta.[6] McAfee was known for his modernist designs.[7] He tackled social inequalities with a focus on designing affordable housing and utilized a modular approach.[8] In order to build the modular building components, Mc Afee opened a manufacturing plant in 1994 that hired and trained people from the community.[8][9] In 1999, the manufacturing plant was shut down after facing debt.[10]
In 2006, the architecture firm transitioned ownership to his daughters. His daughters Cheryl Lynn McAfee Mitchell, and Charyl Frena McAfee-Duncan are also notable architects and serve in leadership positions at McAfee3 Architects in Atlanta.[13][14][5][15][16] In 2020, the Wichita McAdams Park Pool was renamed the McAfee Pool in his honor.[17]
^"Cheryl Lynn McAfee, FAIA, NOMA, LEED AP, BD+C". The AIA College of Fellows Quarterly. AIA College of Fellows. 2022. pp. 36–37. Retrieved 2023-02-16 – via Issuu.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
