Ralph A. Vaughn

Born in Washington, D.C., he was an assistant professor at Howard University before moving to Los Angeles, California, where he designed many buildings, houses and a synagogue.

[2] Vaughn worked as a draftsman for Albert Cassell, another African-American architect who designed buildings on the campus of Howard University.

[1] Meanwhile, he was hired by Paul R. Williams, another African-American architect and fellow member of Omega Psi Phi, as a chief craftsman for the Langston Terrace Dwellings.

During that time, he helped design the Saks Fifth Avenue store and the MCA Inc. headquarters in Beverly Hills.

He also helped design the private residences of actors Bert Lahr, Tyrone Power and Bill Robinson.

He was made redundant four years later, in 1941, as architectural commissions came to a standstill when the United States joined the war effort.

He also helped design the sets of A Guy Named Joe in 1943, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo in 1944, The Last Time I Saw Paris in 1954.

A year later, in 1951, they designed Lincoln Place Apartment Homes in Venice, Los Angeles, a residential complex which includes fifty-two buildings.