Nathan Johnson (architect)

Nathan Johnson was born on April 9, 1926 in Herington, Kansas, as the youngest child of Ida & Brooks Johnson. His father, Brooks, was a railroad worker. Johnson attended Kansas State University, where he graduated top ten in his class in 1950 with a degree in architecture. Johnson was in the United States Navy for 3.5 years. In 1952, he married Ruth Gardenhire; together they had three children. == Career ==

Johnson came to Detroit in 1950 to work as a draftsman for the Black-owned architectural firm, White & Griffin (led by architects Donald Frank White and Francis Eugene Griffin). He left White & Griffin around 1953, during the firm's Liberian design projects. Johnson later worked for Austrian-born architect, Victor Gruen, who specialized in designing shopping malls. One of his most notable designs was Stanley Mannia Café (1969–1971), a Googie style Chinese restaurant in Detroit. The later years of Johnson’s career, were spent serving in many official capacities including the Director for the Detroit General Hospital, Commissioner for the Detroit Historic District Commission, & Commissioner for the Wayne County Planning Commission. Johnson joined the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in Detroit in 1953. At the height of his career, he was a registered architect in 13 states. In 1965, he was the first African American architect to be appointed to the Detroit Board of Education. He won the AIA Detroit Gold medal in 2018. Johnson was a member of the BAG (Black Architects Group) and the Michigan Society of Architects. == Late life and death ==

The firm of Nathan Johnson & Associates, Inc. ended work sometime around 2000. ==List of architecture work==

Churches Other buildings == See also ==