“We Built This: Profiles of Black Architects and Builders in North Carolina" exhibit.

DURHAM – The James E. Shepard Memorial Library at North Carolina Central University, in collaboration with Hayti Promise Community Development Corporation and Preservation Durham, is launching Black History Month by elevating the stories of Black architects, builders and craftsmen who helped shape North Carolina’s historic landscape through the traveling exhibit, “We Built This: Profiles of Black Architects and Builders in North Carolina.” 

The free exhibit will be on display Feb. 1 through March 31, in the James E. Shepard Memorial Library at 209 Eagle Campus Drive. An opening ceremony is Feb. 3, 2 p.m., on the library’s first floor. 

Produced by Preservation North Carolina, and appearing in Durham for the first time, “We Built This” highlights African Americans who designed and constructed many of the state’s most treasured historic sites. Spanning more than three centuries, the exhibit features over two-dozen personal profiles and explores pivotal eras and themes, including slavery and Reconstruction; the founding of historically Black colleges and universities and Black churches; Jim Crow and segregation; and the rise of Black civic leaders, politicians and professionals. 

"The NCCU James E. Shepard Memorial Library is proud to host the ‘We Built This’ exhibition, a virtual encyclopedia of African American architects and builders whose work has shaped North Carolina’s towns, churches, businesses, HBCU campuses and neighborhoods for generations," said André Vann, university archivist and public history instructor. “Through the design and construction of both public and private spaces, the exhibit honors their skill, creativity and lasting impact.” 

Among the notable figures featured is W. Edward (Willie) Jenkins, who designed NCCU’s LeRoy T. Walker Physical Education and Recreation Complex, Albert L. Turner Law Building and the contemporary White Rock Baptist Church in 1977. The exhibit also highlights master furniture maker Thomas Day, the grandfather of Annie Day Shepard, wife of Dr. James E. Shepard, as well as architect Phil Freelon, who served as architect of record for the stabilization of the Shepard House, and as lead designer of the Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise Building and the annex to the B.N. Duke Auditorium.   

Group tours are welcome by appointment. Contact Vann at 919-530-6254 or [email protected]. For more information about the exhibit, visit www.presnc.org/experience/we-built-this/.

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