J. Max Bond Jr. (1935 – February 18, 2009) was an American architect. He developed an interest in architecture based on experiences ranging from viewing a staircase at a dormitory at the

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was f ...

to views of

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

n construction styles on a visit to

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. He became one of a small number of nationally prominent

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. ...

architects An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. He married writer Jean Carey Bond in 1961 and they had two children.

Education

Bond was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

to black parents. In 1951 he began his education at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

while still 16 year old, where he was awarded a bachelor's degree in 1955 and earned a master's degree three years later. During his time at Harvard, he was one of a group of eleven black students targeted by a cross-burning incident in front of their dormitory,

Stoughton Hall This is a list of dormitories at Harvard College. Only freshmen live in these dormitories, which are located in and around Harvard Yard. Sophomores, juniors and seniors live in the House system. Apley Court South of Harvard Yard on Holyoke Stre ...

. He ignored advice from a Harvard faculty member to give up the professional pursuit of architecture due to his race, overcoming barriers in what was at the time a white profession.

Career

Bond started his professional career in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

working for architect

André Wogenscky André Wogenscky (3 June 1916 – 5 August 2004) was a French Modern architecture, Modernist architect and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He was the designer of the Holiday Inn Beirut, which was damaged during the Lebanese Civil Wa ...

. He returned to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he worked at the firm Gruzen & Partners and then at Pedersen & Tilney. In 1964, he moved to

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

where he designed several government buildings, including the

Bolgatanga Bolgatanga (Frafra language, Frafra: ''Bɔlegataŋa''), colloquially known as ''Bolga'', is a town and also the capital of the Bolgatanga Municipal District, Bolgatanga Municipal and the Upper East Region of Ghana. It shares a Burkina Faso–Gh ...

Regional Library in an area near the border with

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

, which consisted of four buildings shaded by a common roof that was designed to provide natural ventilation and make air conditioning unnecessary. He returned to America in 1967. Back in the United States, he served as head of the Architects' Renewal Committee in Harlem (ARCH) in 1967 and 1968. After that, in 1969, together with Donald P. Ryder, he founded the architectural firm of Bond Ryder & Associates, which was responsible for the design of the

Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, commonly known as The King Center, is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization based in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. History The King Center was founded in 1968 by Coretta ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, and the

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is a comprehensive museum and educational center in Birmingham, Alabama that depicts the events and actions of the 1963 Birmingham campaign, its Children's Crusade, and others of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1 ...

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, as well as

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a research library of the New York Public Library (NYPL) and an archive repository for information on people of African descent worldwide. Located at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard (Lenox Avenue) be ...

. The firm merged with Davis, Brody & Associates after Ryder's retirement in 1990. Bond became a partner at the newly combined firm of

Davis Brody Bond Davis Brody Bond is an American architectural firm headquartered in New York City, New York, with additional offices in Washington, DC and São Paulo, Brazil. The firm is named for Lewis Davis, Samuel Brody, and J. Max Bond Jr. and is l ...

, bringing over nine architects to join the nearly 100 at Davis, Brody, which had been best known for its work at Manhattan residential developments at Riverbend Houses,

Waterside Plaza Waterside Plaza is a residential and business complex located between the FDR Drive and the East River from 25th to 30th streets in the Kips Bay section of Manhattan, New York City. It was formerly a Mitchell-Lama Housing Program-funded rent ...

and

Zeckendorf Towers The Zeckendorf Towers, sometimes also called One Irving Place and One Union Square East, is a , 29-story, four-towered condominium complex on the eastern side of Union Square in Manhattan, New York City. Completed in 1987, the building is locat ...

.Dunlap, David W
"Minority Firm Joins Davis, Brody Architects"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', October 21, 1990. Accessed February 23, 2009. Bond was responsible for the museum component at the

National September 11 Memorial & Museum The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum that are part of the World Trade Center complex, in New York City, created for remembering the September 11 attacks in 2001 which k ...

at the

World Trade Center site The World Trade Center site, often referred to as " Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north ...

at the time of his death. Bond served as chairman of the architecture division at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture and Planning from 1980 to 1984. He was dean from 1985 to 1992 at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

School of Architecture and Environmental Studies. He served as a member of the

New York City Planning Commission The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, ...

from 1980 to 1986.

Death and family

A resident of New York's

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, Bond died of cancer at age 73 on February 18, 2009. He was survived by his wife, writer Jean Carey Bond, two children, three grandchildren, a sister and a brother. His father was J. Max Bond Sr., President of the

University of Liberia The University of Liberia (UL or LU in older versions of abbreviation) is a publicly funded institution of higher learning located in Monrovia, Liberia. Authorized by the national government in 1851, the university opened in 1862 as Liberia Coll ...

. His mother was

Ruth Clement Bond Ruth Clement Bond (May 22, 1904 – October 24, 2005) was an African-American educator, civic leader and artist. As an educator, Bond taught at universities in Haiti, Liberia and Malawi. She headed the African-American Women's Association and in ...

, his sister was the historian Jane Clement Bond and his brother was Prof. George C. Bond (Columbia University/Teachers College). His uncle was

Horace Mann Bond Horace Mann Bond (November 8, 1904 – December 21, 1972) was an American historian, college administrator, social science researcher and the father of civil-rights leader Julian Bond. He earned graduate and doctoral degrees from Universit ...

, and his cousin was

Julian Bond Horace Julian Bond (January 14, 1940 – August 15, 2015) was an American social activist, leader of the civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While he was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the ea ...

References

External links

J. Max Bond Jr. papers, 1955–2009
* ttps://archive.org/details/sim_ame-church-review_january-march-2009_125_413/page/88/mode/2up Remembrance in the A. M. E. journal {{DEFAULTSORT:Bond, J. Max Jr. 1935 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American architects African-American architects Deaths from cancer in New York (state) City College of New York faculty Columbia University faculty Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni 20th-century African-American artists 21st-century African-American people Architects from Louisville, Kentucky