No Limits for women

Alma Fairfax Murray Carlisle was born on July 9th, 1927, in Alexandria Virginia. Her sister Madeline was 10 years older. Clarence Murry, Alma’s father worked at the Post office and Alma Pin Murray worked as an elementary school teacher and at one time ran a nursery school in Alexandria. Alma attended Dunbar Senior High School in Washington DC and graduated in 1944.

It was in High School that she began to dream about studying Architecture or Architecture History. She took an aptitude test which indicated she was strong in the required areas, and she received plenty of encouragement from family and friends. In addition to this many were in the real estate business or had built their own homes. Alma Murray graduated Cum Laude from Howard University in 1950. While at Howard she worked for many professors and worked for a commercial arts studio designing brochures.

Murray met David Carlisle at a party in Washington D.C. They had a short courtship and they married and had three children. Therefore, between the 50’s and the 60’s Alma Murray stayed at home and cared for her children. Alma was able to return shortly to work in the 60’s when her old high school, Dunbar High School, as well as some other old district schools needed renovation. She specialized in Historic preservation.

Alma and her husband moved to Los Angeles in 1975 and she began a successful career as an Architectural associate with the city of Los Angeles from 1975- 1996.

Alma Carlisle’s husband, David, died on January 15th, 2000.

In 2001 Alma joined the firm of Myra L Frank and Associates in Los Angeles as a Senior architectural historian and is still with them. Alma is a living testament to women that we can think outside of the box. She left this important message with her two daughters and her son who witnessed her using her skills in the world around her as only a woman could. They never saw any limits for women. Perhaps because she never set them on herself. Alma Murray is 96.

Wilson, Dreck Spurlock (ed). African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945. Routledge, 2004.

Alma Murray Carlisle was a cum laude Architecture graduate of Howard University. No images of her are found on the internet.