The Architectress is a newsletter and blog about the history of women in architecture and allied professions in the United States. The word “architectress” suggests that architects are by default male and it signals a diminishment of female architects. “Architectress,” then, reflects the history of how female architects have been viewed by some. It also expresses what many women have dealt with and overcome professionally. How we can keep breaking down barriers and the women who did so before us are the subjects of this newsletter. Each issue contains an “Accolade” about the work of a female designer or constructor from the past, as well as an “Outrage” about a challenge women still face today and what we can do about it.

Another subject is Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter (1869-1958) who worked as an artist, architect, and decorator for the Fred Harvey hospitality company that in turn worked for the Santa Fe Railway. She is pictured above in an ancestral Puebloan ruin that she visited as part of her research for the Desert View Watchtower in Grand Canyon.

Colter’s life and career overlap significant cultural, historical, and architectural moments in our history including the Arts & Crafts Movement, the resilience of First Nation peoples, the transition from a railroad to highway transportation system, and the formation and growing popularity of Grand Canyon National Park where five of Colter’s buildings remain. Colter’s design work contributed to the style of architecture known as National Park Rustic that influenced the design of park structures for decades.

Colter’s career is a fascinating subject and yet she is not widely known.

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