Architect Elise Mercur Climbed Ladders

Elise Mercur (1868 – 1947) had been practicing architecture for about four years before she rose to national attention in 1894. That was the year her design was selected in a competition for the Women’s Building for the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. Thirteen women competed for the “substantial prize” offered for the best design.

The Women’s Building, from the official exposition catalog (via Wikimedia), 1895.

The board of Lady Managers unanimously voted for Mercur’s design. A newspaper reported, “The [male] architect who conferred with the committee in regard to their choice of plans said he had no idea that women could do such artistic and practical designing and drawing.” The same man is quoted as marveling, “‘These buildings are bold enough to be drawn by men.’”

Since just 22 of the more than 8,000 architects counted in the 1890 US Census were women (about 0.2 percent),  Mercur’s career was often reported on as a curiosity. Mercur described one “trifling obstacle” as being “uppermost in the minds of many”: Can a woman climb a ladder to properly superintend the work? Mercur’s response to this question was, “‘According to Darwin, both male and female members of the profession are equally descended from a race of climbers, and I assure my dear sisters that, if properly clad in bloomers and a bicycle skirt, going up or down a ladder and watching for loose boards when walking joists soon becomes a mere matter of habit.’”

She also said that once workmen understood that a woman had entered the profession through her merit alone, they would adjust to the novelty of working with her. While acknowledging that architecture was a challenging profession, Mercur saw no reason a women could not to become an architect, as long as “she is possessed of executive and constructive ability, quick perceptions and a thorough knowledge of the principles and the history and the progress of those arts which are closely allied to architecture.” Mercur also included the ability to write clear specifications on her list of qualifications.

In 1896, Mercur opened her own office in Pittsburgh. She said, “For doing men’s work I always insist upon getting men’s prices. I never accept an assignment for less than 5 percent. I never have any trouble. Contractors who have worked under me know that I won’t stand for any ‘monkeying,’ and do not try to fool me with poor material, careless work, etc.’” In 1898 Mercur’s work included a $60,000 addition to the Washington (Pennsylvania) Female Seminary, the planning of two Episcopal churches, and a children’s building for Pittsburgh’s “poor farm.” The contractor for the Washington Female Seminary addition was also a woman: Miss Clara Meade of Chicago.

Mercur was born in Towanda, Pennsylvania to a prominent family. She was educated abroad and at the Philadelphia School for Fine Arts. Mercur later said that when her father lost a fortune and then died, she decided to pursue a career so as not to become a burden on her brothers. She chose architecture because she liked drawing and was good at math. After working for Pittsburgh architect Thomas Boyd as a draftswoman for a year, he promoted her to foreman.  Mercur made a habit of securing lodging near the construction site she was overseeing. She would spend as much time on the jobsite as the workers did, gaining significant practical knowledge. Mercur would later also credit her six years working for Boyd for her practical and business skills.

Mercur considered herself a specialist in the relatively new building systems of heating, plumbing, and ventilation. She gave lectures at different women’s clubs in Pittsburgh in an attempt to make women understand the importance of ventilation. She said she counted on the women in her audience to teach the men about the science of ventilation.

Although Mercur is known for designing large buildings, she thought the greatest opportunities for women were in domestic architecture. A newspaper reported, “She thinks that the noble army of household martyrs who are now slaving away their lives in ill designed houses are ready to rise up and call blessed the woman architect who shall design ‘the labor saving, perfect home of the future.’”

Mercur married Karl Rudolph Wagner, a man three years her junior, in 1898. A year later, the architect closed her practice and the couple moved to Wagner’s hometown of Economy, Pennsylvania. They had one son. When Elise Mercur Wagner died of heart disease in 1947 at age 78, her death certificate listed her occupation as “housewife.” But her death notice in the newspaper said she had designed two school buildings in nearby Ambridge, Pennsylvania.

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Sources

“A Fair Pittsburg Architect,” Bridgeton Pioneer (New Jersey), Feb. 7, 1895.

“In Woman’s World,” The Jersey City News, Feb. 18, 1899.

Mrs. George C. Ball, “Architecture a Remunerative Business for Women,” The [Birmingham] Age-Herald, Jan. 19, 1898.

“A Successful Woman Architect,” The Bossier Banner (Benton, Louisiana), Aug. 27, 1896.

“The Woman Architect,” Norfolk Virginian, May 5, 1895.

Ancestry.com

“Mrs. Elsie Wagner,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegram, March 28, 1947.