Draft:DeWitt Sanford Dykes Sr.
DeWitt Sanford Dykes Sr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 16, 1903 Gladsden, Alabama, United States |
| Died | August 4, 1991 Knoxville, Tennessee, United States |
| Education | Boston University (STM), Gammon Theological Seminary (BD), Clark Atlanta University (BA), Morristown Normal and Industrial College |
| Occupation(s) | Architect, minister |
| Years active | –1988 |
| Spouse(s) | Violet Thomasine Anderson (m. 1932–1943), Viola Gertrude Logan (m. 1950–) |
| Children | 2 |
Rev. DeWitt Sanford Dykes Sr. (1903–1991)[1] was an American architect and Methodist minister. He was known for his national Methodist church designs, of which he designed some seventy.
Early life and education
DeWitt Sanford Dykes was born on August 16, 1903, in Gladsden, Alabama, to parents Mary Anna Wade and Henry Sanford Roland Dykes.[2][3][4] His mother was a mother of six children, and his father was a lay minister of Methodism and brick mason.[4] In 1910, the family moved to Newport, Tennessee.[4] By age 14, Dykes was a master brick mason, which peaked his interest in studying architecture.[4] His father was skeptical he could work as an architect because of discrimination and racism, and supported his religious studies.[4]
From 1919 to 1926, Dykes studied in the pre-college division of Morristown Normal and Industrial College (now Morristown College) in Morristown, Tennessee.[3] While he was studying, Dykes earned money as a brick mason.[3] In the summer of 1925, he took a evening drafting class at Cass Technical High School in Detroit.[4]
Dykes received a bachelor's degree in 1930 at Clark University in Atlanta (now Clark Atlanta University);[3] a studied simultaneously at the Gammon Theological Seminary (now Interdenominational Theological Center) in Atlanta, where he received a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1931;[3] followed by study at the school of theology at Boston University, where he received a Master of Sacred Theology in 1932.[3]
He married Violet Thomasine Anderson in 1932, together they had two kids before she died in 1943.[4] His second wife was Viola Gertrude Logan, they married in 1950.[4]
Career
Dykes was the pastor of the churches in the East Tennessee Annual Conferences of the Methodist church from 1932 to 1954. He worked as a brick mason to supplement his income while living in Knoxville, Tennessee, and worked with architect Francis F. Painter.[4] In March 1951 Dykes started teaching vocational work as an instructor of masonry at Austin High School in Knoxville.[4]
From 1956 until 1968, Dykes worked as a staff member at the Division of Missions, Section of Church Extension, at the United Methodist Church.[4] In this role he determined the feasibility of building new Methodist churches by looking at the financials, evaluating sites, reviewing the local permitting and zoning, leading design reviews, supervising the building, and administering payments.[4]
List of works
- 1957, Bethlehem Methodist Church, Bay Springs, Mississippi[4]
- 1958, Hopewell Methodist, 103 Mine Street, Jefferson, South Carolina[4]
- 1959, Mt. Pleasant Methodist, 2010 Lincoln Avenue, Opa-locka, Florida[4]
- 1959, Brooks Temple Methodist Church, Midway, North Carolina[4]
- 1959, Central Valley Methodist Church, California[4]
- 1961, Ashbury Methodist, 4810 Narrow, Lynchburg, South Carolina[4]
- 1961, Bethel Methodist Church, 331 N. Mechanic Street, Pendleton, South Carolina[4]
- 1962, Alexander Chapel, 1 Moon Street, Cartersville, Georgia[4]
- 1962, Centenary Methodist Church, 830 S. 6th Street, Hartsville, South Carolina[4]
- 1962, Cherry Hill Methodist Church, 3225 Round Road, Baltimore, Maryland[4]
- 1962, Green Pond Methodist, 1045 E. Highway 55, Clover, South Carolina[4]
- 1963, Bass Chapel Methodist, 5064 Bass Chapel, Greensboro, North Carolina[4]
- 1963, Burns Methodist Church, 5616 Farrow Road, Columbia, South Carolina[4]
- 1966, Bentley Street Christian, 417 Bentley, Knoxville, Tennessee[4]
- 1967, Canaan Methodist Church, 171 Hwy 61, Ridgeville, South Carolina[4]
- 1977, Clinton Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, 546 College Ave., Knoxville, Tennessee[4]
See also
References
- ^ "Services Friday for Rev. Dykes". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. August 8, 1991. p. 33. Retrieved 2025-01-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Dykes, DeWitt Sanford, Sr". American Architects and Buildings. Athenaeum of Philadelphia. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
- ^ a b c d e f "Pioneering Black Architects In North Carolina". NCModernist. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab Wilson, Dreck Spurlock (2004-03-01). "DeWitt Sanford Dykes Sr. (1903–1991)". African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945. Routledge. pp. 235–250. ISBN 978-1-135-95628-8.