Professor Kermit Lee Jr., Syracuse School of Architecture's first black graduate, honored in student organized exhibition

2020-03-03T11:34:00-05:00

Kermit Lee Jr., died in 2018 and was the first Black graduate of Syracuse University’s School of Architecture. In dedication, Syracuse’s National Organization of Minority Architecture Students chapter created an exhibit honoring his legacy and named it “The Living Room Conversation: In Memory of Professor Kermit J. Lee Jr.”

Curated by architecture students Benson Joseph and Parinda Pin Sangkaeo, The Living Room Conversation features Professor Lee's drawings from his time as a student and further chronicles his life and legacy. According to The Daily Orange, the exhibition was split into four parts, each a different season in Lee's life: student, teacher, architect, and person.

Kermit Lee Jr. in Braunschweig, 1960

"Students really captured him and understood a man I don’t think any of them have met," said Karin Lee George, Professor Lee's daughter. "He’d be grinning."

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Professor Kermit Lee Jr., Syracuse School of Architecture's first black graduate, honored in student organized exhibition