@HoodMidCenturyModern, also known as the “Streets’ Preservation Society,” is on a mission to make architecture accessible while helping preserve the legacy of Black modernism. The account’s feed spotlights architectural gems—interiors, exteriors, furniture, and more—from across the globe. But it was in his hometown of Cincinnati that Jerald Cooper, the man behind Hood Century, discovered his passion for architecture. Since launching in late 2019, the Instagram account has amassed 90,000 followers and has been featured in publications like The New York Times, Architectural Digest, and Vogue.
“We’re going to be celebrating four years in December, which is crazy,” Cooper says of the account. At the time of this interview, he was a few weeks out from flying to London and had just returned from a trip to Tennessee. Cooper’s home base, however, is still his West End studio. One of his favorite architectural features in the city also happens to be in the neighborhood: the West End Branch Library, marked by its zigzag overhang.
“Having grown up in that building and seeing the changes in the neighborhood … it’s a mainstay,” says Cooper, adding that he’s also keeping his eye on King Records, the legendary music studio founded in Cincinnati in 1943 that helped launch the careers of Bootsy Collins and James Brown.
With Hood Century’s fourth birthday right around the corner, Cooper is working to create a website that represents the archive. Hood Century is also moving toward getting funding to support a crowdsourced map, which would lean into Cooper’s mission of preserving modernism within Black culture. “Unfortunately, there’s just not a lot of things like [Hood Century],” he says. “I’ve still got my foot on the gas to create the world that I want to see for my friends and family.”
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