Roland Bedford

Architect Roland “Ron” Bedford was born on February 8, 1938 in St. Louis, Missouri to Mae Olivia Bedford and Frank Bedford. The eldest of six children, Bedford was raised by his mother. In 1954, at the age of sixteen, Bedford joined the U.S. Air Force, where he trained as a combat medic and was stationed in England until 1957. Upon returning to the United States, he became involved with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 1958 and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1964. Bedford then attended the Boston Architectural College from 1965 to 1967. He then enrolled at Yale University’s School of Architecture in 1968 and graduated in 1970, completing both his B.Arch. and M.Arch. degrees in two years.

In 1970, he taught at the University of Pennsylvania as an assistant professor of architecture and served as the director of the Urban Workshop. From 1971 to 1975, Bedford worked as an associate at Don Stull and Associates in Boston, Massachusetts, where he collaborated on the construction of the Harriet Tubman House in 1975. In 1983, he was hired as the chief architect for the California Housing Finance Agency. In 1986, Bedford served as the director of the Bureau of Housing Management in Boston, where he was responsible for the management of the public housing development program for families, the elderly, and the disabled.

In 1987, Bedford worked as a design director at the Boston Housing Authority. He then created and served as the interim director of Jubilee West, Inc., a non-profit community housing agency, from 1993 to 1995. In 1995, Bedford was the executive director of Independent Housing Services, Inc. in San Francisco, California, which sought to increase availability and access to housing for low-income persons with disabilities, seniors, and individuals with HIV/AIDS. Bedford then was hired as an architect for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in 1999, where he worked for over twenty-five years.

Bedford’s awards include the Distinguished Service Award from the Clarence Rogers Education Center in 1973 and a Certificate of Appreciation from Jubilee West in 1993. His architectural designs have also appeared in national and international publications.

Bedford has four children and two grandchildren. He and his wife, Marcia Bedford, reside in San Francisco, California.

Roland Bedford was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on January 8, 2024.