Macon-Bibb honors Georgia’s first registered Black architect, Lewis Persley, with commemorative day
Lewis Persley, a Pleasant Hill Community native, was personally selected by Booker T. Washington to help design the campus of Tuskegee University. He also designed several churches and school libraries.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Macon-Bibb County officials are honoring a native of the Pleasant Hill Community for his outstanding achievements and historical legacy as part of Macon’s Bicentennial Celebration.
Macon-Bibb Mayor Lester Miller presented a proclamation at the Booker T. Washington Community Center on Thursday declaring July 13 Lewis Leo Hudson Persley Day.
Born in 1888, Lewis Persley was the first State Board registered Black architect in Georgia during the Jim Crow era. He was hand-selected by Booker T. Washington to help design the Tuskegee University campus in Alabama. During his life, he designed several African Methodist Episcopal Churches as well as libraries and dorms for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
His great niece, Nicole Persley, says the proclamation coincides with the date of Lewis’ passing and should be recognized as a celebration of his life.
“I’m so happy that people want to hear what I have to say and want to hear Lewis’ story and make him relevant and significant,” she said. “He lived a short life, but he achieved a lot in that lifetime.”
Persley was also a co-founder of Taylor and Persley; the first black architecture firm in the United States. Persley is buried in Pleasant Hill’s Historic Linwood Cemetery.
