Profile: Ethel Bailey Furman, Designing Opportunity, Building Community 

Architect • Trailblazer • Community Builder

One image introduces Ethel Bailey Furman, one of the earliest known African American women architects in Virginia and a pioneer who built a successful architectural career despite barriers based on both race and gender. The other features the educational wing of Fourth Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia, one of her best-known surviving works and a testament to her ability to combine practical design with lasting community impact. Together, these images tell the story of an architect who believed buildings should strengthen the communities they served. From modest family homes to churches in Virginia and Liberia, Furman designed spaces that reflected her clients' needs while expanding opportunities for future generations of women and African Americans in architecture. Her legacy reminds us that some of the most influential architects are those whose work quietly improves everyday lives.

Overview:

Ethel Madison Bailey Carter Furman (1893–1976) was one of Virginia's pioneering African American architects, designing an estimated 200 homes, churches, and community buildings during a career that spanned more than four decades. Born in Richmond, Virginia, she developed an early understanding of construction by accompanying her father, Madison Jefferson Bailey, one of Richmond's first licensed Black contractors, to building sites. Because schools of architecture largely excluded African American women, Furman received private architectural training in New York City before returning to Richmond to establish a successful design practice. Working alongside her father and later independently, she became known for creating attractive, affordable, and functional buildings that served families, churches, and neighborhoods throughout central Virginia. Her work continues to stand as a testament to both architectural excellence and perseverance in the face of discrimination. 

Primary Source Spotlight:

Breaking Barriers, Putting Vision on Paper

These images capture two sides of Ethel Bailey Furman’s architectural journey. At the 1928 Negro Contractors’ Conference at Hampton Institute, Furman stands as the only woman among her professional peers—a striking reminder of the space she claimed in a field dominated by men. Beside it, her architectural drawings show that professional identity translated into practice: ideas carefully developed on paper into plans for homes and other structures. Together, the images present Furman as both a woman breaking into the architectural profession and an architect putting her knowledge and vision to work.

This architectural drawing shows Ethel Bailey Furman’s design for the home of Mr. and Mrs. Junius A. Snead in Glen Allen, Virginia. The Sneads were among several members of the Snead family who commissioned Furman to design their homes. Their residences demonstrate how Furman used her architectural skills to help Black families create substantial, individually designed homes during a period when opportunities for Black homeownership and access to financing remained sharply limited. Furman’s original drawings for six Snead family homes survive in her papers at the Library of Virginia.

Source: Ethel Bailey Furman Papers and Architectural Drawings, 1928–2003, Accession 41145, Personal Papers Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Quick Facts:

• Born July 6, 1893, in Richmond, Virginia

• Daughter of Madison Jefferson Bailey, one of Richmond's first licensed Black contractors

• Received private architectural training in New York City

• The only woman to attend the Negro Contractors’ Conference, Hampton Institute, in 1928.

• Continued architectural studies at Chicago Technical College (1944–1946)

• Designed an estimated 200 homes, churches, and community buildings

• Worked in partnership with her father during the early years of her career

• Designed churches throughout central Virginia and two churches in Liberia

• Designed the educational wing of Fourth Baptist Church in Richmond (1962)

• Often had male contractors submit her architectural plans because officials refused to recognize a Black woman architect

• Active in civic organizations, voter registration efforts, and neighborhood improvement

• Ethel Bailey Furman Memorial Park was dedicated in Richmond in 1985

• Honored by the Library of Virginia as one of its Virginia Women in History honorees (2010)

• Died February 24, 1976 

Fourth Baptist Church Educational Building, 1962

Richmond News Leader, July 7, 1962

The Richmond News Leader reported on the opening of Fourth Baptist Church’s new three-story educational building, describing its modernist design, large glass windows, classrooms, church offices, library, gymnasium, and dining hall. Although the article does not name the architect, the building was designed by Ethel Bailey Furman, whose modernist addition stood beside the congregation’s much older sanctuary. The contemporary newspaper photograph captures Furman’s work as it appeared when the building was new.

Why This Story Matters:

Ethel Bailey Furman proved that determination and talent could overcome barriers that prevented many African American women from entering the architectural profession. Throughout much of her career, building officials often refused to recognize her as the architect because she was both Black and a woman. To ensure her clients' projects moved forward, she sometimes submitted her plans through male contractors while continuing to direct the design herself. Rather than abandoning her profession, Furman continued expanding her knowledge, studying architectural drafting at the Chicago Technical College in her fifties and designing hundreds of buildings throughout Virginia and beyond. Her career opened doors for future women architects while demonstrating that good architecture should be practical, affordable, and responsive to the needs of the communities it serves. 

Legacy:

Ethel Bailey Furman demonstrated that architecture could strengthen both communities and opportunities. Although many of her buildings have been lost over time, her influence remains visible through the churches, homes, and community institutions that continue serving people today. She not only expanded opportunities for African American women in architecture but also designed buildings that reflected the hopes and practical needs of the families and congregations who used them. Her commitment to civic leadership, voter registration, neighborhood improvement, and affordable design showed that architecture extends beyond individual buildings to the well-being of entire communities. Today, Furman is recognized as one of Virginia's pioneering architects and an important figure in the history of American architecture.

Primary Source Spotlight:

Obituary, Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 27, 1976. 

Published three days after Ethel Bailey Furman’s death, the obituary identifies her as a retired architect and records her Richmond-area residence and surviving family. As a contemporary account published at the end of her life, it provides a valuable primary-source record of how Furman was identified professionally in 1976. 

Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 27, 1976. 

Discussion Questions:

1. Ethel Bailey Furman designed homes, churches, and community buildings. Why are these types of buildings important to the daily lives of the people who use them?

2. Furman sometimes had male contractors submit her architectural plans because officials would not recognize a Black woman architect. What does this reveal about the challenges she faced, and how did she continue pursuing her career despite them?

3. Many of Furman's buildings were designed to be practical, affordable, and attractive. Why might these qualities be just as important as creating impressive or elaborate buildings?

Reflection Prompt:

1. Ethel Bailey Furman designed buildings that became part of the communities where people lived, learned, worshipped, and gathered. What makes a building or place important enough to remember and preserve? Choose a building or place in your community that you believe should still matter 50 years from now. What story does it tell, and why should future generations know about it?

Sources & Further Reading:

1. “What Ethel Built.” Richmond Magazine. June 12, 2018. Website. 

2. “Ethel B. Furman.” Docomomo US. Website. 

3. “Ethel Madison Bailey Carter Furman.” Pioneering Women of American Architecture. Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation. Website. 

4. Reggev, Kate. “Hanging Her Shingle: Early Female Architects on Starting Their Own Firms.” Madame Architect. March 29, 2021. Website. 

5. Christenbury, Leila. “Ethel Madison Bailey Carter Furman (1893–1976).” Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Library of Virginia. Published 2022. Website. 

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