Cornelius L. Henderson: Builder of Bridges
A Family Album
Bridges and tunnels are meant to connect not just two points but also the people that live there. Cornelius L. Henderson made a life and living by connecting these places and people as one of the architects for the Ambassador Bridge and Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. But what about the connections in his life? Who were the people or what were the things that were important to him? And how did they influence his life and work? This family album will help make the answers to these questions a little more obvious.
Cornelius Langston Henderson was born in the December of 1888 in Detroit, Michigan. He was one of six children born to Rev. James M. Henderson and Cornelia Langston Henderson. In 1894 Cornelius’ father became an administrator at Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia and later in 1897 he became its president. After the brief period in Atlanta at Morris Brown College James M. Henderson was offered the prestigious position as the president at Payne University in Selma, Alabama around 1906. Cornelius was also a student here at Payne University in a pre college program. While attending school at the University of Michigan, Cornelius met his future wife Gertrude Ewing. In 1911 Cornelius Henderson completed his studies in the Bachelor of Science program in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan. He was only the second African American man to graduate from the University of Michigan in this program. After graduation, Cornelius had difficulty finding a position because of ongoing racial tensions but eventually found work at the Canadian Bridge Company in Walkerville, Ontario, Canada. Henderson would remain there throughout his 47 year career, working on such projects as the Ambassador Bridge, the Detroit Windsor Tunnel and other notable structures mostly found in Canada.
Please enter the Cornelius L. Henderson Family Album Gallery.
Sources:
Brennan, C. (n.d.). Cornelius Langston Henderson: Biography from Answers.com. Retrieved from http://www.answers.com/topic/cornelius-langston-henderson.
Calloway, G., Bridge Builder Man of Many Accomplishments. Michigan Chronicle, 27 September 1975, p. A4.
Daniel Payne College. (n.d.). On Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Payne_College.
Duncan, S. J. (n.d.). Progressive Missions in the South and Addresses with Illustrations and Sketches of Missionary Workers and Ministers and Bishops’ Wives. Retrieved from http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/duncan/ill266.html.
File: Ambassador bridge 2.JPG. (2006). On Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ambassador_bridge_2.JPG.
Henderson, C., Dear Archons and Archusae: Address to Iota Boule Chapter, Detroit, Michigan. Biography Reading Room File, Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library.
Wilson, D. S. (Ed.). (2004). African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary 1865-1945. New York, NY: Routledge.
Wright, R. R. (n.d.). Centennial Encyclopaedia of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Retrieved from http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/wright/ill263b.html.