Résumé

Service, US Army, Japan, 1952-1955.

Draftsman, architectural office, Seattle, WA, 1956.

Intern, Allyn E. Morris, Architect, CA, Los Angeles, CA, Summer 1957. The History Makers.com said of his tenure with Morris: "During the summer of 1957, he worked as an intern for California architect Alan Morris and supervised the construction of a house." (See The History Makers.com, "Leon Bridges," accessed 03/20/2024.)

Draftsman, architectural office, Seattle, WA, 1959-1961. "From 1959 through 1961, he worked for a small architecture firm designing houses. His first design was for a home that was just 1350 square feet." (See The History Makers.com, "Leon Bridges," accessed 03/20/2024.)

Draftsman, Gotteland and Koczarski, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1961-1963. "From 1961 through 1963, Bridges worked for the architecture firm Gotteland and Kocarski as a draftsman and designed Catholic churches and buildings in Seattle." (See The History Makers.com, "Leon Bridges," accessed 03/20/2024.)

Principal, Leon Bridges, Architect, Seattle, WA, 1963-1966. His first office was shared with the architect Benjamin Woo (c.1924-2008). Bridges's first commission was designing a neighborhood Seattle YMCA.

Partner, Bridges-[Edward] Burke Architects, Seattle, WA, 1966-1972. Architect Alvin C. Williams was made a Partner of Bridge-Burke, Architects, in 1969. The firm opened a branch office in Baltimore, MD, in 1970.

Principal, Leon Bridges, Architect, Baltimore, MD, 1972- .

Partner, The Obsidian Group, Baltimore, MD. The Obsidian Group had an address of 11 East Chase Street, Room #2E, Baltimore, MD, c. 2018. It also had an address in Cary, NC.

Teaching

Lecturer, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD.

Professional Activities

Member, American Institute of Architects (AIA).

Co-Founder, AIA/Ford Minority Scholarship Fund, 1976.

Bridges became a Registered Architect in the State of WA in 1961, the second African-American man to do this, after Benjamin F. McAdoo, Jr., (1920-1981). When Bridges moved his practice to Baltimore, MD, in 1972, he became the first African-American man to become a Registered Architect in the State of MD.

Member, National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA). Bridges held every executive capacity in NOMA during his career, including as its President.

Mentor, NAACP’s Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) Program.

Professional Awards

Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA), 1984.

His biography on The History Makers.com website stated: "Bridges is he recipient of more than twenty national, regional and local awards for design excellence including the restoration of Baltimore’s Penn Station and Baltimore City College High School." (See The History Makers.com, "Leon Bridges," accessed 03/20/2024.)

College

Attended Adams Junior High School, Los Angeles, CA.

Graduate, Susan Miller Dorsey Senior High School, Los Angeles, CA. 1950. He ran track at Dorsey High School.

Coursework, East Los Angeles Junior College, Los Angeles, CA.

Coursework, Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles, CA

Coursework, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Westwood, Los Angeles.

B.Arch., University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Seattle, WA, 1960. Bridges was listed as being a member of Grade IV in the University of Washington, College of Architecture Yearbook, 1958-1959, n.p.

M.B.A., Loyola College Maryland, The Rev. Joseph A. Sellinger, Jr., School of Business and Management, Baltimore, MD. 1986. (The school renamed itself "Loyola University Maryland" in 2009.

Relocation

Leon Bridges was born in the East Los Angeles neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA, and attended Adams Junior High School in the University Park area south of Downtown. As a teen, Bridges was fortunate to meet the pioneering African-American architect Paul Revere Williams (1894-1980), who inspired him to become an architect, as well. He later graduated from Dorsey High School in 1950, and was promptly drafted into the US Army during the Korean War. He served in Japan during the conflict.

When he returned from the war, Bridges resettled in Seattle, WA, and made arrangements to attend architectural school at the University of Washington.

Biographical Notes

The website The History Makers.com, noted of Bridges's life during the early 1950s: "While a student at UCLA, Bridges was drafted into the military in 1952, and was stationed in Japan. While a soldier, he continued to study architecture. He also began to pursue an acting career and appeared as an extra in several movies and toured with the Griffith Park Greek Theatre Light Opera Company from 1950 through 1952." (See The History Makers.com, "Leon Bridges," accessed 03/20/2024.)

• East Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA (Architect's Birth)
  East Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

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