Amaza Lee Meredith
An African-American artist and educator who designed a modernist home as a bold declaration of her identity, love, and creativity.
1895–1984 (age 89)·American architect·Birthday: August 14·The Lost Generation
Biography
Amaza Lee Meredith imagined a different world, and then she built a piece of it. Trained as a teacher, her passion was for art and design, paths largely barred to her as a Black woman in early 20th-century America. Undeterred, she channeled her vision into education, founding the art department at Virginia State University and teaching for decades. Her most enduring work is not on a canvas but in bricks and mortar: Azurest South, the stunning, International Style home she designed in the 1930s for herself and her lifelong partner, educator Edna Meade Colson. With its clean lines, flat roof, and vibrant colors, the house was a radical statement in segregated Petersburg, Virginia—a modernist sanctuary that defied both architectural and social conventions. Meredith lived there openly with Colson, creating a space that celebrated Black creativity, queer love, and aesthetic innovation, leaving a legacy that challenges the very definition of who an architect can be.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Amaza was born in 1895, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Amaza Was Born
The biggest hits of 1895
Amaza's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1895Born
First public film screening by the Lumiere brothers
President: Grover Cleveland
1900Started school
Boxer Rebellion in China
President: William McKinley
1908Became a teenager
Ford Model T goes into production
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1911Could drive
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 in New York
President: William Howard Taft
1913Could vote
The Federal Reserve is established
President: Woodrow Wilson
1916Turned 21
The Battle of the Somme claims over a million casualties
President: Woodrow Wilson
1925Turned 30
The Scopes Trial debates evolution in schools
Home: $4,366President: Calvin Coolidge"Sweet Georgia Brown" — Ben Bernie
1935Turned 40
Social Security Act signed into law
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,450President: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Cheek to Cheek" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: Mutiny on the Bounty
1945Turned 50
WWII ends; atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $4,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Sentimental Journey" — Les Brown & Doris DayBest Picture: The Lost Weekend
1955Turned 60
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1965Turned 70
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1975Turned 80
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1984Died at 89
Apple Macintosh introduced
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $59,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"When Doves Cry" — PrinceBest Picture: Amadeus
Key Achievements
- Designed and built Azurest South, a pioneering International Style residence in Petersburg, Virginia, in the late 1930s.
- Founded and chaired the art department at Virginia State University, shaping arts education for generations of Black students.
- Created a prolific body of graphic art, watercolors, and architectural drawings, though much remains in private collections.
- Her life and work with Dr. Edna Meade Colson provides a vital documented example of early 20th-century Black queer domesticity.
Did You Know?
Azurest South is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.
She was a talented athlete in her youth and played semi-professional baseball.
She never received formal architectural training; her design knowledge was largely self-taught.
Her sister, Maude, was married to the famous Harlem Renaissance bibliophile Arthur Alfonso Schomburg.
“Azurest South is my argument for modernism, built in brick and light.”
