Charles A. Cofield is an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

architect and advocate for the

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physica ...

in his work in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Education and career

Cofield completed his

undergraduate degree An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher ed ...

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

where he injured himself as a result of an accident, resulting in

paralysis Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of Motor skill, motor function in one or more Skeletal muscle, muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory d ...

in his arms and legs. He was the first

quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of Motor control, motor and/or Sense, sensory function in the Cervical vertebrae, cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weak ...

graduate from the MIT School of Architecture where he received his Bachelor of Science in

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

in 1972, Master of Architecture in 1973 and Master in City Planning in 1974. During his studies, Cofield was employed by the Urban Massachusetts Transit Authority and the Department of Housing Urban Development. He also received the MIT Graham-Rotch Foundation Fellowship in 1971, the MIT

Lawrence B. Anderson Lawrence Bernhart Anderson (May 7, 1906 – April 6, 1994) was an American architect and educator and an early proponent of the International Style in the US. He was born in Geneva, Minnesota, earned a bachelor's degree in liberal arts in 1927 and ...

Fellowship in 1972, and traveled to Europe to study disabled housing communities. After MIT, he obtained his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

's Urban Planning Program as the first quadriplegic attendee. During Cofield's time at MIT and UCLA, he was able to help introduce disabled access in the schools. Cofield was the first licensed quadriplegic architect in the

State of California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and the first quadriplegic director of the Los Angeles Housing Authority, which he oversaw for 24 years.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American architects 21st-century American architects African-American architects Howard University alumni MIT School of Architecture and Planning alumni 20th-century African-American artists 21st-century African-American artists {{US-architect-stub