Herbert A. DeCosta, Jr. papers

Herbert A. DeCosta, Jr. (1923-2008) was a renowned African American architect and contractor based in Charleston, South Carolina.

Herbert Alexander DeCosta, Jr. was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1923 to Herbert A. DeCosta, Sr. (1894-1960) and Julia Craft DeCosta (1898-1990). He graduated from Avery Institute in Charleston in 1940, and received a B.S. in Architectural Engineering from Iowa State College in 1944. From 1944-1947, he worked as an architectural engineer for National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (now NASA) in Langley, Virginia. He married Emily Spenser in 1946, and moved back to Charleston in 1947, when he started working as vice-president of the H.A. DeCosta Company.

The H.A. DeCosta Company General Contractors had been founded in 1919 by Herbert A. DeCosta, Sr. Upon the death of his father in 1960, Herbert A. DeCosta, Jr. became president of the company. In 1961, William Clement joined the company as an architect. In 1979, Black Enterprise Magazine included the company in its top 100 Black Businesses in the nation. In 1989, DeCosta retired as president and sold the company to two associates, but continued to act as construction consultant for the company. The DeCosta Company worked on the construction and renovations of numerous residences, apartment complexes, schools, and churches. His work included some of the most architecturally significant houses in Charleston, such as the Miles Brewton House and the Joseph Manigault House. The DeCosta Company also did much of the renovation and preservation work for the Historic Charleston Foundation in the Ansonborough neighborhood of Charleston and elsewhere, did similar work for the Preservation Society of Charleston, and carried out much of the renovation and preservation projects on a number of College of Charleston properties, as the campus expanded. He designed, built and renovated homes for elite and middle class white and black Charlestonians, and his work has been featured in many national publications.

DeCosta's work extended beyond Charlestonian projects, most notably including the restoration of the Herndon Mansion in Atlanta, Georgia. The H.A. DeCosta Company was named one of the top 100 black businesses in the nation by Black Enterprise magazine in 1979. Upon his retirement in 1989, DeCosta continued to be active in the field of preservation as a restoration consultant and project manager.

DeCosta was involved in other business endeavors, including HADCO Realty Company, a real estate firm and housing rental company; Midway Company, Inc., a grocery store; and a general insurance company.

Throughout his life, DeCosta has maintained a high level of civic involvement, serving on the boards of many institutions, including the Historic Charleston Foundation, the Spoleto Festival, the Penn Community Center, the South Carolina Archives and History Foundation, Benedict College, the Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture, Voorhees College, and the National Association of Minority Contractors. He served as the first African-American board member of the Charleston Trident Chamber of Commerce and of the SC State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education. He has also lectured and taught extensively on the restoration of historic buildings and served on many committees and organizations dedicated to community justice and improvement, such as the Community Relations Committee.

DeCosta received several honors and recognitions, such being selected for South Carolina Hall of Fame by the Committee of 100 Black Men in Columbia, South Carolina in 1991 and profiled in the 1993 South Carolina African American History Calendar. In 1998, he received the South Carolina Governor's Award for Historic Preservation, and in 2002, the Historic Charleston Foundation awarded him the Frances R. Edmunds Award, its highest honor. He has served on the Vestry of St. Marks Episcopal Church and has been a Senior Warden.

Herbert DeCosta and his wife Emily had two daughters.

Herbert A. DeCosta, Jr. died on December 18, 2008.