Robert Robinson Taylor is recognized as the first Black student to attend the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with becoming its first Black graduate. Taylor is also regarded as the nation’s first Black architect, and his likeness has appeared on a Black Heritage Forever stamp.
Born June 8, 1868 in Wilmington, N.C., Taylor’s father was a slave later freed by President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. His mother was born to freed slaves before the Civil War took place. In 1888, Taylor entered MIT to study architecture and won a pair of scholarships. During his tenure at at the school, Taylor made contact with Booker T. Washington, who hired the young student to lead architectural development at the Tuskegee Institute.
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