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Grand Rapids Native, World-Renowned Architect, reflects on working on the MLK Monument

GR Native who helped design MLK Memorial available for interviews
Grand Rapids Public Schools Foundation
GR Native who helped design MLK Memorial available for interviews

“I just couldn’t believe they were paying me to do it,” says Purnell, a graduate of Ottawa Hills High School and point guard for the Bengal’s state championship basketball team in 1968.

Architect Marshall Purnell has been recognized around the globe for his work and is considered one of the most accomplished architects in America today, but the Grand Rapids native says his role in the creation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington D.C. is his most memorable project.

“I just couldn’t believe they were paying me to do it,” says Purnell, a graduate of Ottawa Hills High School and point guard for the Bengal’s state championship basketball team in 1968.

Before his professional career, Purnell attended Ottawa Hill High School. At just 17, he heard breaking news about the assassination of Dr. King. Like many in the world, he was grieving and decided to turn an English project into an emotional tribute.

"I can remember my tears falling onto the paper as I was writing, and I wrote this poem," he said.

Purnell would go on to recite this poem at a Grand Rapids peace walk later that year.

"I thought about the power of his words, and the power of his words was changing America. And as I was reciting my poem and I was looking at the reaction from people, and some people were weeping, I thought about the power of my voice and what power it may have in the future," he said.

After his time at Ottawa Hills, Purnell earned a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Michigan where he later served as the President of the College of Architecture. After graduation, he went on to co-found Devrouax & Purnell Architects Planners, a firm that earned numerous American Institute of Architects design awards. To this day, Purnell credits his time at Ottawa Hills High School for launching him on his path of incredible success in business and life.

Looking back on his earlier years, Purnell calls his work on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington D.C. a "full-circle" moment.

"That’s what’s amazing. It’s the universe at work, because it does feel full circle. I get an opportunity to again take my belief in what he stood for and to have some impact in the world," he shared.

In addition to his work on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, some of Purnell’s other notable projects from his four-decade career include the Washington Convention Center, the Washington National Airport, and Pepco’s headquarters. Purnell is a faculty member at North Carolina State University.

In 2006, Purnell was elected as the first African American architect to serve as the national president on the American Institute of Architects in 150 years; an organization that did not allow membership of African Americans until 1923.

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