Allan Rohan Crite watercolor drawings of the moving of Dana-Palmer House on Quincy Street, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

African-American artist Allan Rohan Crite (1910-2007) was best known for his artwork depicting the daily lives of African-American people in the city of Boston, as well as religious themes in contemporary settings. Crite began his career with the Federal Art Project, a New Deal program to fund the visual arts under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration, and later worked as a draftsman and technical illustrator at the Boston Naval Shipyard for thirty years. Crite's work is exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Boston Athenaeum.

Born on March 20, 1910 in Plainfield, New Jersey to Oscar William Crite and Annamae Palmer Crite, Crite's family relocated to Boston shortly after his birth. After demonstrating artistic talent as a young child, Crite's mother enrolled him at the United South End Settlements' Children's Art Centre at the recommendation of his schoolteachers. Crite flourished in the program, the first public fine arts program designed exclusively for children, which allowed for art education, creation and display of artwork, and outings to local art institutions. Crite later attended Boston English High School, graduating in 1929. Though accepted at Yale University, Crite chose to attend the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, completing his studies in 1936.

During the 1930s, Crite was one of only a few Black artists employed by the Federal Art Project, a New Deal program established by President Franklin Roosevelt to fund the visual arts and provide relief to out of work artists. Crite, along with thousands of other artists, created murals, easel paintings, sculptures, and arts and crafts for nonfederal municipal buildings and public spaces. It was during this time that Crite began his "Neighborhood series" of paintings which were inspired by the daily activities of African-Americans in the Roxbury and South End communities of Boston and created from the early 1930s through the mid-1940s. Some of his most noted works, many paintings from this series are exhibited in museums across the United States.

Beginning in 1941, Crite became a draftsman and technical illustrator at the Boston Naval Shipyard where he would work for thirty years. In addition to mechanical drawings, Crite also completed three-dimensional perspective drawings which gave him artistic freedom in his work. Crite also created cartoons for shipyard campaigns and events. While working at the shipyard, Crite attended the Harvard Extension School, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1968. That year the Annamae and Allan R. Crite Prize was established by the Extension School to honor degree recipients who demonstrate “singular dedication to learning and the arts.” Crite later worked part-time from 1974 to 1989 at the Extension School’s Grossman Library.

Widely respected as the "dean of African-American aArtists in New England," Crite received several honorary doctorates, including from Suffolk University, Emmanuel College, Massachusetts College of Art, and the Virginia Theological Seminary. In 1986, Crite received the 350th Annual Harvard University medal.

Crite married Jackie Cox in 1993; together, they established the Crite House Museum at their home in Boston's South End. Cox died on September 6, 2007.

Built in 1822, the Dana-Palmer House is located on Quincy Street in Cambridge, Mass. The Federal style structure with a Greek revival porch was built on land belonging to the Dana family before being acquired by Harvard University in 1835. The building served as Harvard's first astronomical observatory from 1839 to 1843 before being converted into a residence for Harvard faculty members. Occupants included Professor of Greek Cornelius Felton, Professor William James, and George Herbert Palmer, Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity, who lived in the house which now bears his name for 40 years. During World War II, Harvard president James Bryant Conant resided in Dana-Palmer house as the Harvard presidential residence was converted into the headquarters for Naval Training at Harvard. In 1947, Dana-Palmer House was relocated across Quincy Street to its present location at 16 Quincy Street to make room for construction of Harvard's Lamont Library. Situated between the Barker Center and the Harvard Faculty Club, the Dana-Palmer House currently houses Harvard's Department of Comparative Literature.