Paul Williams

February 4, 2009

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the fourth day of Black History Month. Paul Williams was orphaned at the age of 4 and no one paid much attention to the child’s artistic talent. But he earned his engineering degree, and against all advice, opened his own architecture practice. His talent made him one of the nation’s premier architects, designing the Los Angeles International Airport, the General Hospital in Los Angeles and the Beverly Hills Hotel. Williams also designed more than 2,000 homes in Southern California, including some of the most beautiful in Hollywood. His clients included Cary Grant, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Frank Sinatra and Desi Arnaz. There are 240,000 architects in the U.S. today, just over 4 percent of them African-American. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 596
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html