Grant Jerry Smith, White House Servant, and FLOTUS Julia Grant

Like I said, @JPK Huson 1863 , always love to hear people's thoughts and sharing them leads down so many different trails. The only thing I'm thinking is that the discussion on architecture and craftsmanship is probably deserving of a thread of its own. The literal 'laying of the foundations' as you say, and I know so little about black artisans and their artistry. It's a good month to highlight it.

I also think free blacks go unnoticed here sometimes, and that in a way is a disservice to them and their contributions.
 
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They built the White House, too. It's always struck me as so odd that so much of our foundation, literally and figuratively, was laid by African Americans but there's little discussion on it. You know the uber graceful, marvels of centuries-old architecture on historic homes lists? Gee whiz. They're incredible for the craftsmanship- get a crick in my neck just looking at some of the plaster and wood moldings, thinking someone made that. By hand. We know whose skills and talents were responsible, doesn't always get pointed out.

Somewhere is a thread on our Capitol dome Statue of Freedom- another memorial to black artistry. Crawford's assistant Phillip Reid was a black artisan.

Sorry, @Cavalry Charger , also digressing on your thread! Jerry Smith had a lot of company, only excuse I have!
One celebrated slave engineer was Horace King who built covered bridges a few being across the Chattahoochee River at Columbus, Ga. This was in the 1830s but he lived a free man after the Civil War and kept up his highly respected trade. We have to assume a White engineer taught him the skills.
 
One celebrated slave engineer was Horace King who built covered bridges a few being across the Chattahoochee River at Columbus, Ga. This was in the 1830s but he lived a free man after the Civil War and kept up his highly respected trade. We have to assume a White engineer taught him the skills.
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Horace King
Architect
Horace King was an American architect, engineer, and bridge builder. King is considered the most respected bridge builder of the 19th century Deep South, constructing dozens of bridges in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. Born into slavery in South Carolina in 1807, King became a prominent bridge architect and construction manager in the Chattahoochee River Valley region of Alabama and Georgia before purchasing his freedom in 1846. (Taken from Wiki)
 
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