Mel Streeter
Mel Streeter (1931 – June 12, 2006) was an American architect and college basketball player. A native of Riverside, California, he was the second African-American basketball player at the University of Oregon for the Ducks in the early 1950s. After serving as an officer in the U.S. Army, he moved to Seattle and founded an architecture firm.
Also recorded as Melvin Streeter
Mel Streeter

Unknown University of Oregon · 1952 University of Oregon Oregana (yearbook) · Public domain
- Name
- Mel Streeter
- Born
- 1931
- Died
- 16 June 2006
- Nationality
- American
- Occupation
- basketball player · architect
- Education
- Riverside Polytechnic High School · University of Oregon
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Mel Streeter (1931 – June 12, 2006) was an American architect and college basketball player. A native of Riverside, California, he was the second African-American basketball player at the University of Oregon for the Ducks in the early 1950s. After serving as an officer in the U.S. Army, he moved to Seattle and founded an architecture firm.
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wikidata · Q29075040 · wikipedia · Mel Streeter
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Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Mel Streeter • Born — 1931 • Died — 16 June 2006 • Height Ft — 6 • Height In — 4 • Number — 11 • Nationality — American • High School — Riverside Poly (Riverside, California) • College — Oregon (1949–1952)
Early life
Early life
Streeter was born in 1931 and grew up in Riverside, California, the son of a porter and a cook.
Education
Education
Streeter attended Riverside Polytechnic High School in California where he played basketball. After high school he was offered a spot on the basketball team at UCLA, but declined because he wanted to study architecture. He attended the University of Oregon on an Army scholarship and was the second African-American on the Ducks basketball team and the only African-American player at the time. He graduated in 1955 with an architecture degree.
Later life
Later life
In 1954, he married Kathleen Burgess, in one of the first legal mixed-race marriages in Oregon. The couple had four sons — Doug, Kurt, Jon, and Ken. Streeter suffered from amyloidoisis the last five years of his life.
Career
Career
After graduation Steeter was stationed in the Army at Fort Lawton and lived in Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood from 1955 to 1957. After leaving the Army in 1957, he stayed in Seattle and began working as an architect. He applied to 22 firms before finding one that would hire an African American. He later opened his own firm in 1967, which eventually grew to 30 architects before the partners split. Streeter served on Seattle's planning commission between 1989 and 2000.
Projects
Projects
• African American Academy, Seattle • Auburn City Hall, Auburn, Washington • Federal Aviation Administration Regional Headquarters at Boeing Field, Seattle • Naval Station Everett, Everett, Washington • John Muir Elementary School, Seattle Seattle Seahawks Centurylink Stadium, Seattle Sept-Oct 1998/>
Legacy
On August 3, 2006, Washington Senator Maria Cantwell addressed the President and Congress in a tribute to Mel Streeter. She said, "Mr. President, earlier this summer, Seattle lost one of its most impressive and inspiring leaders. As an outstanding architect and an extraordinary man, Mel Streeter left his mark on our community and changed the lives of so many.... As one of the first African-American architects to lead a Seattle firm, Mel broke down barriers and created new opportunities for others who followed."
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Mel Streeter”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q29075040: Mel Streeter
General reference · Wikidata
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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