plato graduated from mount meigs colored institute near his home in alabama and spent an additional year studying at winston-salem, north carolina, before enrolling in 1898 at tate university normal school (present-day simmons college of kentucky) in louisville, kentucky. he began working at construction sites during summer breaks while still in college and graduated in 1902. he also completed a mail-order program in architecture from the international correspondence schools of scranton, pennsylvania.