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Architect John Saunders Chase, Jr. was born on January 23, 1925 in Annapolis, Maryland. When his parents, Viola Hall Chase, a teacher and cook and John S. Chase, Sr., a school principal and postal worker separated, Chase was raised primarily by his mother. Every year at the United States Naval Academy graduation, Chase could earn $25 for each tossed hat he retrieved. At Bates High School, Mr. Marchand introduced him to architecture. He went on to earn a B.S. at Hampton University and in 1948 and became the first African American to enroll and graduate of the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture in 1952.

His professional career began that same year when he was appointed assistant professor of architectural drafting at Texas Southern University and founded John S. Chase, AIA Architect. His early design was for churches, schools, homes and small public buildings.

Chase was the first African American licensed to practice architecture in the state of Texas and later was the first African American admitted to the Texas Society of Architects and the Houston Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He also co founded the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) along with 12 other black architects at the AIA convention in Detroit in 1971. When President Jimmy Carter appointed him in 1980, Chase became the first African American to serve on the United States Commission on Fine Arts. Projects designed by Chase's firm include: the George R. Brown Convention Center, the Washington Technical Institute, Links, Inc. National Headquarters, Delta Sigma Theta National Headquarters, the Harris County Astrodome Renovation, the Thurgood Marshall School of Law and Martin Luther King, Jr. School of Humanities at Texas Southern University. Most recently, Chase was awarded a commission to design the United States Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, a fifty million dollar complex.

Chase was elected to the AIA College of Fellows, was awarded the AIA Whitney M. Young Citation, and was the recipient of the NOMA Design for Excellence Award for four consecutive years. He received the commendation for Meritorious Service by the Houston Independent School District and the Honor Award for Architectural Excellence in School Design by the Texas Association of School Boards for the design of the Booker T. Washington High School. Chase and his wife, Drucie, have three grown children: John, Anthony and Saundria.

Chase was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on November 1, 2004.