The Architect
". .
. Earl Green, a student of Grant County history, has been trying
to get [Samuel] Plato on the Celebrity Audio Walking Tour of
Marion for a year or so. He brought the idea to . . . city
officials, who agreed it was time to honor Plato.
""First, I think he's very deserving," Green said. "Second, he breaks a stereotype of what people think [African-American] men do. He represents a success story in the field of architecture. A lot of success stories you hear about [African-Americans] stress sports. That isn't always so."
"Plato was born in 1882 in Waugh, Alabama. He moved to the Marion area in 1902, and stayed here until he moved to Louisville, Kentucky in 1921. He died in 1957 at age 75.
". . . In the 19 years [Plato] lived near Marion, he designed and built a number of buildings--but how many can't be verified . . . Incomplete, missing, or non-existent records complicate separating truth from legend.
""Every community has its--shall I say hero? By hero, I mean the person they look up to, the person who contributes to the advancement of the community. And [Plato] was certainly one of them," said Grant County Historian Leslie Neher."
--Article, "City officials want architect, builder added to its tour of history," by Sheri Conover of the Chronicle-Tribune, c.1988