James H. Garrott, AIA

I was asked by the Santa Monica Conservancy to give a short talk about James Homer Garrott (“Jimmy”), an African-American architect who practiced in Los Angeles from the 1920s to the 70s.

The recording is here: https://youtu.be/-8ZN6imKMTY?si=leW62vW15oVTdgHX
Zip ahead to about 32:30 for my part. It's only about 12 mins.

Some points from the talk:
• Garrott was essentially self-taught as an architect and became licensed by examination—amazing!
• His career is woefully under-documented. It isn’t known what happened to his materials when he closed his office. His Wikipedia page (created and maintained by me) is the best source for basic information.
• I interpret Garrott as a highly-competent mainstream professional architect, but not a “radical.”
• A few new archival photos are shown, including Garrott with Kenny Hahn, the Carson Public Library, and the original Mount Zion Baptist Church (later altered).