Early Women Architects of the San Francisco Bay Area

This book presents the lives, careers, and work of fifty largely unknown pioneers. It chronicles the triumphs and challenges these path-breaking women faced in their pursuit of entering and claiming space in the male-dominated field of architecture. Included are photographs of buildings, portraits of the architects, and some architectural drawings. Each biography offers vital data, a description of the career, a list of known buildings and work, and a bibliography. Four appendices list female architecture students at the University of California, Berkeley, women certified by California to practice architecture, members of women’s architectural societies, and female members of the American Institute of Architects.

Inge Schaefer Horton is a retired city planner with a strong background in architecture who now devotes her time to the research of women architects and preservation issues in San Francisco. She is the author of several articles and two previous books on architecture in Berlin and Paris/Brussels and is a contributing author to the 2010 book Design on the Edge, celebrating the centennial of the Architecture Department at the University of California, Berkeley.

Inge Schaefer Horton
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 436
Bibliographic Info: 238 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2010
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4656-8
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Preface      1
Introduction      7

Part I. A Collective Portrait      15
One • Dreams and Inspirations      17
Two • Stepping Out of the Drawing Room      23
Three • Off to School      28
Four • With Patience and Perseverance      49
Five • Women Employees in Architectural Firms      .55
Six • An Office of Her Own      61
Seven • Rising to the Challenge      69
Eight • Related Professions      84
Nine • Supporting Each Other      87
Ten • Having It All?      91
Eleven • Happily Ever After?      102

Part II. The Design Legacy of Pioneer Women Architects      107
Twelve • Residential Work      109
Thirteen • Institutional, Commercial, and Industrial Work      128
Fourteen • The Hidden Legacy      139
Fifteen • Evaluation of Pioneer Women Practicing Architecture by Their Contemporaries      143

Part III. Individual Portraits      145
Austin, Elizabeth M.      147
Aycrigg, Helen E. Findlay      155
Bassett, Helen Rearwin      159
Benbow, Helen G.      162
Born, Esther Frances Baum      168
Boyter, Elizabeth “Bess” Mary      172
Bridgman, Lilian “Lillie” Belle      175
Brown, Phoebe Hearst      183
Castelhun, Ella      189
Chadeayne, Olive Kingsley      193
Clever, Louise Harriet Russell      198
Coblentz, Dorothy Wormser      201
Deakin, Edna Isabel      205
Diment, Shirley Constance      210
Dodge, Ola Mae Putnam      211
Ehrenfels, Camille D’Evelyn
Johnston      212
Eller, Armena Louise Morse      213
Emmons, Audrey Jean Durland
Ksanda      215
Fowler, Matilda Gertrude Newsom      222
French, Helen Louise Douglass      223
Gauen, Eileen Claudia Watkins      231
Hall (Coggins), Leola      232
Hufbauer, Arabelle McKee      239
Jackson, Minnie May      242
Jewett, Grace      246
Jory, Grace Y. Weeks      252
Kartwold, Lois Beryl Goetz      257
Kavin, Eda      261
Knapp, Charlotte “Kid” Hastings      264
Kosmak, Evelyn Meta Hall Gilcrest      265
Langhorst, Lois Wilson Worley      268
Lindheim, Roslyn Ittelson      281
Luis, Rosanna “Rose” Enos      286
McAfee, Lucy Page Brown      290
McCain, Ida F.      291
Mesic, Julian C.      301
Meyers, Mildred Sophie      306
Morgan, Julia      314
Morin (Van Blarcom), Grace
Evelyn      322
Morrow, Gertrude Elizabeth
Comfort      324
Nevins, Kate “Kitty” Lockwood
French Squire      337
Northman, Edith Mortensen      344
Parug, Martha Jane Moorehead      348
Reiss (Friedman), Hilde      353
Sanford, Florence “Sanchia”
Thurston Hincks      356
Stan, Sara Ellen “Sally” Waldner
Bould      359
Steinmesch, Henrietta May      363
Sutherland, Helen Earle      366
Williams, Emily Eolian      368
Witkin (Tarris), Elizabeth “Betty”
Ord Hillier      379

Appendix 1. Women Students in the Architecture Department/School at the University of California, Berkeley      385
Appendix 2. Architectural Licenses Issued to Women Architects by the State of California, 1901–1961      392
Appendix 3. Members of Alpha Alpha Gamma or the Association of Women in Architecture in California      395
Appendix 4. California Women Architects Admitted to the American Institute of Architects      399
Chapter Notes      401
Bibliography      415
Index      421