Laura Hayes Fuller Designed Woman’s Buildings

Laura Hayes (1867 – 1956) came in third in the competition for designing the Woman’s Building for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1891. A newspaper article described the difficult decision for the Exposition’s Board of Lady Managers between winner Sophia Hayden and second-place finisher Lois L. Howe and made note of their architectural training. The reporter did not mention any of Hayes’s qualifications, although she had completed two years of college. It did report that, at the time of the competition, Hayes was the private secretary of the President of the Board of Lady Managers, Mrs. Potter Palmer. Hayes’s entry was a surprise to Mrs. Palmer. The third place prize award was $250, or roughly $8,650 today.

Hayes was also listed as the designer of the Columbian seal later exhibited in the Woman’s Building. She received the most acclaim for writing the book Three Girls in a Flat which was published in 1892. Hayes co-authored the book with friends Enid Yandell (a sculptor) and Jean Loughborough. It was the semi-autobiographical story of three young women making preparations for the Exposition, with a focus on the work of the Board of Lady Managers. A reviewer described it as “a charming booklet, and it remains extremely doubtful whether the Columbian Exposition gets any more potent or persuasive advertising than is contained between its covers.”

Hayes, who held the copyright to Three Girls in a Flat, adapted it into a new book titled The Story of the Women’s Building. Hayes was awarded a concession to sell copies of this book at the Exposition.

Hayes’s entrepreneurial bent might have been driven by necessity. Her father Samuel S. Hayes was described as “a man of sound learning and many accomplishments,” but one who experienced, “toward the end, indifferent success.” In 1880 when Laura Hayes was just thirteen, her father died after a long illness. That year’s US Census shows Laura living with her 25-year-old brother and two (of four) other siblings. The three household servants who had been listed in the 1870 US Census were no longer in residence.

Woman’s Building on Illinois State Fairgrounds, c. 1899. (Courtesy of the Lincoln Library)

In 1894, Hayes married successful businessman Frank R. Fuller. A year later they had a son. Hayes Fuller soon resumed her creative pursuits, designing the Woman’s Building for the Illinois State Fair in Springfield in 1899. Her design was chosen over one other. The building, described as a “severely plain” three story building of about 60 by 80 feet, was dedicated just a few months later.

In 1901, just two years after it opened, this Woman’s Building was destroyed by fire. While it is not known if Fuller continued to design buildings, she did write about them and had several articles published in House Beautiful between 1905 and 1910. Her writing focused on country homes, including mistakes to avoid when designing them. It is not stated if her expertise came from design experience or observation.

Fuller had a daughter in 1908. Seven years later, Fuller’s husband, the vice president of a wholesale drugs company, died. Her son, a World War I aviator, was killed in combat in 1918. Fuller continued to live in the Chicago area, with occasional trips abroad. She was an active member of the local chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution.

An occupation is not associated with Fuller’s name in the available Census documents. While she was mentioned in a 1900 article about female architects, it is possible that the designs for the two Woman’s Buildings were the extent of her architectural work. It is also possible that, as a lady listed on the Social Register, she kept her career pursuits quiet.

Fuller died in 1956 at age 88.

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Sources:

“Miss Hayden Secures the Prize,” Chicago Tribune, Mar 26, 1891: 3.

“Official catalogue of the Illinois Woman's Exposition Board.” Chicago : W.B. Conkey Co., 1893.

“Many Concessions Granted,” Chicago Tribune, Feb. 2, 1893: 8.

“Hayes Heirs Offer to Quitclaim their Possible Title to Land on the West Side Known as Union Park,” The Chicago Chronicle, Oct 10, 1897: 28.

Ancestry.com.

“Woman’s Building,” Waterloo Republican (Illinois), July 6, 1899: 6.

“Fire Caused a Panic,” Rock Island Argus (Illinois), February 14, 1901: 4.

“Bulletin of Yale University: Obituary Record of Yale Graduates.” New Haven, 1919.

Laura Hayes Fuller, “The Vital Things in the Home.” House Beautiful, June 1905: 7-8.

Laura Hayes Fuller, “A Remodeled Country House.” House Beautiful, Nov. 1906: 19-20.

Laura Hayes Fuller, “Mistakes in Building.” House Beautiful, July 1910: 46, 57.

Joseph Dana Miller, “Women as Architects.” Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly, June 1900: 199 – 204.

“Mrs. Laura Hayes Fuller,” Chicago Tribune, Feb 5, 1956: 54.