Paul Revere Williams (Los Angeles, California, February 18, 1894–January 23, 1980) was an American architect whose extensive career played a significant role in shaping the architecture and urban landscape of Los Angeles throughout much of the twentieth century. The first Black architect licensed to practice west of the Mississippi River, he developed a career spanning almost six decades in a context marked by racial segregation and severe restrictions imposed on African Americans.
Orphaned at the age of four, Williams studied architecture at Los Angeles Polytechnic High School, graduating in 1912. He continued his education at the University of Southern California (USC), the Los Angeles School of Art and Design, and the Los Angeles Atelier of the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design. At the same time, he gained professional experience working with architects and landscape designers including Wilbur D. Cook Jr., Reginald D. Johnson, Arthur F. Kelly, and John C. Austin. In 1921, he obtained his architecture license in California and soon afterwards established his own practice.
In 1923, Williams became the first African American architect admitted to the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and in 1957 the first Black architect elected to its College of Fellows. His practice encompassed more than 3,000 projects, ranging from private houses and residential developments to religious, cultural, commercial, institutional, and civic buildings.
Although widely known for houses designed for figures such as Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, and Desi Arnaz, Williams was equally engaged with Los Angeles’s Black community. Among his significant works are the Second Baptist Church (1924), the 28th Street YMCA (1926), the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Building (1949), several additions and alterations to the Beverly Hills Hotel, and numerous housing projects. He also participated, alongside other architects, in the development of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
Williams retired in 1973. In 2017, he was posthumously awarded the AIA Gold Medal, the institute’s highest individual honor. His archive, jointly acquired in 2020 by the Getty Research Institute and the USC School of Architecture, has enabled a renewed assessment of a body of work that crossed the racial, social, and economic boundaries of twentieth-century American architecture.
