Percy Costa Ifill (June 16, 1913 – May 18, 1973) was an American architect. He was a co-founder of a leading Black architectural firm in New York City, Ifill Johnson Architects (1962 to 1967), later known as Ifill Johnson Hanchard Architects (1967 to c.1973).

Early life and education

Percy Costa Ifill was born on June 16, 1913, in Harlem, New York City. His mother was Louise Costa, from

Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Saint Thomas (, , ) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, and a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. Along with surrounding minor islands, it is one of t ...

; and his father was James Percy Ifill, a lawyer from

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, British West Indies. He graduated from

DeWitt Clinton High School DeWitt Clinton High School is a public high school located since 1929 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Opened in 1897 in Lower Manhattan as an all-boys school, it maintained that status for 86 years before becoming co-ed in 1983. From i ...

, where he discovered a love of art. Ifill attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

for a year in 1934, before transferring to

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

(NYU) to take night classes while he worked as a draftsman at various architecture firms in the daytime. He graduated with a B.S. degree in architecture in 1939 from NYU. While in school in 1939, Ifill won the third place in the

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National Competition.

Career

From 1935 to 1940 while attending NYU, Ifill worked as a draftsmen for the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

(WPA) for a project with the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

for the Department of Hospitals. In 1941, he worked under architect Hilyard Robert Robinson in Washington, D.C., as an architectural engineer for the

99th Pursuit Squadron The 99th Flying Training Squadron (99 FTS) is a training squadron of the United States Air Force, part of the 12th Flying Training Wing (12 FTW) based at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. Operating Raytheon T-1A Jayhawks, the squadron prepares ...

Airfield and Training Base at Cheaha, Alabama. In 1945, Ifill won third prize in the

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

National Dealer Establishment Competition. Ifill also worked with Hilyard Robert Robinson in 1942 on the George Washington Carver dormitory at

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 ...

in Washington, D.C.. He was a designer and renderer in 1945 for Liberian Centennial Victory Exposition to be held in

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

. Between 1946 until 1961, he worked under

Eleanor LeMaire Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It was the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages">Provençal dialect ...

at Eleanor LeMaire Associates, Inc., a noted department store interior design firm in New York City where he worked as the first Black staff designer, and led the design of office spaces and department stores. Ifill became a licensed architect in New York state on June 30, 1950. In 1962, Ifill partnered with Conrad Adolphus Johnson Jr. (1919–1991) to establish in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

, Ifill Johnson Architects. In 1967, George Hanchard joined the firm, the name was changed to Ifill Johnson Hanchard Architects. Ifill Johnson Hanchard Architects designed churches, banks, apartment buildings, airports, and schools. The firms most notable project was the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building (1974) on 163 West 125th Street; which was a 20-story building and when it was built it was the largest office building in New York designed by Black architects.

Death

In 1972, Ifill was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and resigned from his role at the firm. He died at age 59 on May 18, 1973, at Saint Luke's Hospital in New York City. He was survived by his wife, who posthumously wrote the biography, ''Natsu Ifill: Remembrances of Percy C. Ifill, Architect'' (1992). He was also profiled in the book, ''African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865–1945'' (2004).

List of notable buildings

* 99th Pursuit Squadron Airfield and Training Base (1941), Cheaha, Alabama; with Hilyard Robert Robinson * George Washington Carver dormitory (1942), at

, Washington, D.C.; with Hilyard Robert Robinson * Liberian Centennial Victory Exposition (1945), Monrovia, Liberia; with Hilyard Robert Robinson

Ifill Johnson Architects

* Ojike Memorial Medical Center (1962), Lagos, Nigeria * Village East Towers (1964), 170 Avenue A and 411 East 10th Street, New York City * Mount Morris Park Swimming Pool and Bath House (1966), 124th Street at Fifth Street, New York City * St. Martin's Tower (1966), 65 West 90th Street, New York City * Phipps Center Police Athletic League (1967), 225 West 123rd Street, New York City

Ifill Johnson Hanchard Architects

* Varick Community Center (1970), 151 West 136 Street, New York City (closed) * Western Union Message Center (1973), 1290 Powell Jr. Drive, New York City * United Moravian Church (1973), 200 East 127th Street, New York City * United States Port Office (1974), 434 East 14th Street, New York City * Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building (1974), 163 West 125th Street, New York City

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ifill, Percy C. 1913 births 1973 deaths 20th-century African-American artists 20th-century American architects African-American architects American interior designers American people of Barbadian descent American people of United States Virgin Islands descent Architects from New York City Cornell University alumni New York University alumni People from Harlem