Samuel [James] Cullers [MCP '52] was possibly the first African American to earn a graduate degree in city planning, receiving his master's from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1952. Cullers was later involved in a discrimination complaint against McKinley Park Homes in Hartford, Connecticut, after his apartment rental application was rejected despite evidence that there were apartments available. He also worked as a planner in Thailand, Canada, and Chicago.

Planning History Timeline, American Planning Association