COGNAC
and
CIGARS
Still, his time at WRU had its upside
in that he made some friends. Retired
Cleveland architect Philmore Hart
was a fellow student. Hart had grown
up in the Jewish section of Glenville
and understood the impact of bigotry.
Madison tells this story:
In the summer of 1947, Madison
went to a party for graduating seniors
in architecture at the Lakeshore
Country Club (now the Shoreby Club)
in Bratenahl. He was soon confronted
by the president of the class of ’47 and
a few other students. Bacon and the
club manager were also in the posse.
The group told Madison the club did
not serve “coloreds” in the dining room,
but he could eat in the kitchen with the
help, or take the meal home with him, or
be given his money back – $25.
“I listened incredulously,”
Madison says. Enter Phil Hart, who
had overheard the discussion. Hart
announced, “If Bob doesn’t eat here, I
don’t eat here. And if I don’t eat here,
nobody eats here.”
Hart, now 96, lives at an assisted
living facility in Beachwood. He clearly
remembers the incident.
“That’s exactly what I said, and I
could say it because I had money. They
let Bob sit down and eat with the rest
of us, but they asked him to leave when
he was finished, which he did. There
were many similar incidents at school
involving Bob. That dean was a jerk, a
real jerk.” (Ironically, Hart eventually
became chairman of the Department of
Architecture at CWRU. And more irony:
Years later, after Madison started his
practice, Bacon invited him and his wife
Leatrice to his Shaker home for dinner
to congratulate him on his success.)
Hart and Madison are the last of their contemporaries. “Though after Bob
came back from Harvard we spoke different languages, architecturally speaking,”
Hart says. “He studied under Gropius. I studied under Mies van der Rohe at the
Illinois Institute of Technology. But that’s the way architects are. We disagree.”
Another friend was Robert Andrews Little, who taught design at Western
Reserve’s architectural school and had started Little & Associates. Little was
a true blueblood, born in Boston, a direct descendant of Paul Revere. He was
married to Ann Halle of the Cleveland department store family and eventually
became one of Cleveland’s preeminent architects. He was a proponent of the
Bauhaus School, having studied at Harvard under Gropius.
Little was to be a huge influence on Madison’s own career. After he was
graduated from WRU in 1948, Madison went looking for work at Cleveland’s
major firms only to be told the same old “no coloreds” story. Finally, he went to
see Little, volunteering to work free for two weeks so that Little could see what
he was capable of. Little hired him, a major turning point in Madison’s career.
When Madison joined Little & Associates, the company had not yet attained
its status as one of Cleveland’s go-to architecture firms. That was a year or two
away, and Little himself was still a relative newcomer to Cleveland. Nor had
Madison yet taken the state exams for registration as an architect. But the job
offered him a working education, a practicum for all intents and purposes, while
he studied for the state exams.
He still had to contend with the racist norms of the era. He wasn’t welcome
at the restaurants the rest of the staff frequented at lunch, so he brown-bagged
it. But, just like at WRU, that path led to another life-long friendship. Another
Little employee, a designer named Mort Epstein, saw what Madison was
going through and also started bringing his lunch to the office. The two would
play chess during lunch break and they became close. Epstein would go on to
found Epstein Szilagyi Designers, now Epstein Design Partners, and become a
passionate supporter of the Ohio American Civil Liberties Union.
Epstein died in November 2013. Christine Link, the executive director of the
Ohio ACLU at the time, addressed the crowd at Epstein’s memorial service.
“At a recent birthday party…I listened to Mort and Bob Madison talk
about their early days as friends together in Cleveland. Bob faced a great deal of
struggle breaking into his chosen field. A simple office lunch or dinner downtown
with Bob could become a tense experience when ignorance produced insults or
rudeness. Mort was often there to stand with Bob, supporting him and being
proud to be with him.”
Madison in the meantime had married Leatrice Branch, a teacher, and sat
for the state exams in Columbus with Phil Hart. The exams lasted five days. He
passed on his first try, a rarity. Only two others in his group managed to do it.
Robert P. Madison was the first registered African-American architect in Ohio.
Robert Little treated the office to cognac and cigars.
WWW.SHAKER.LIFE | SPRING 2019 39
/WWW.SHAKER.LIFE