“I earnestly ask the Directors to consider whether it was wise to admit women at all unless they have achieved some signal distinction in the profession,” Boston architect C. H. Blackall wrote to the secretary of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1907. “Signal distinction” was not a requirement for AIA membership as detailed by the organization’s bylaws. Blackall was recommending a higher standard for membership for female architects.

Today, the gatekeepers in architecture are still overwhelmingly male and women perceive gender bias at far greater rates than men do. This creates a recurring condition: More men become firm leaders more quickly than women because of gender bias; overwhelmingly male firm leaders, when unaware of gender bias, don’t implement measures to reduce bias in hiring and promotion; gender bias persists. Women leave the profession. Men continue to dominate it. And so on.

Louise Blanchard Bethune (1856 – 1913) was among the first women to practice architecture in the United States. Based in Buffalo, her firm designed a number of institutional, commercial, industrial, and residential projects in western New York. Bethune was aware of the special position she held owing to her gender. She achieved a number of professional “firsts” while also advocating for equal fees for equal service.

One of Bethune’s best-known works was the Hotel Lafayette completed in 1904 and pictured here. The hotel is located on Lafayette Square in the center of downtown Buffalo and is still operating today.

Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter worked as an artist, decorator, and architect for the Fred Harvey hospitality company from 1902 until her retirement in 1948. On January 9, 1958, the day after Colter died, newspapers from Connecticut to California carried her obituary. The Los Angeles Times described her as a “nationally known architect, designer and decorator.” The Santa Fe New Mexican called Colter an “internationally known architect, designer and decorator.”

So how is Colter is so little-known now compared to how well-known she was in 1958? Colter is not entirely unknown today; she is best-known in the Southwest where her work had the greatest influence, and two books have been written about her work (Grattan, 1992 and Berke, 2002). But I know very few architects or architectural historians who learned about Colter in school or are familiar with her work.

Mother Joseph (born Esther Pariseau) participated in designing and building two orphanages, eleven hospitals, seven academies, and five Indian schools in the Pacific Northwest between 1856 and 1902. One example of her work is Providence Hospital in Seattle, pictured above around 1891.

Esther Pariseau was born in Quebec in 1823 where her parents taught her carpentry, academic subjects and the domestic arts. She joined the Sisters of Charity of Providence in Montreal in 1843 and took the name Joseph after her father. The diocese sent her with four other missionaries to the Pacific Northwest Territories in 1856.

As design and construction for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago got underway in 1891, a competition was launched to find a woman to design the Women’s Building. The winner would be compensated $1,000 as compared to the $10,000 awarded to the men appointed to design other Exposition buildings. In addition to earning a fraction of the pay, the female architect was expected to provide more services than her better-paid male colleagues.

While many things have improved for female architects since 1891, pay is still inequitable. Full-time female employees were paid on average just 77.6% of what their male architectural colleagues earned in 2019. The best way to change this inequity in compensation? Pay transparency.

Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter (1869-1958) worked as an architect and decorator for the Fred Harvey hospitality company that in turn worked for the Santa Fe Railway. Colter is not widely known yet her work influenced decades of Fred Harvey and National Park Service architecture. She designed the viewing tower in Grand Canyon National Park shown above.

I created The Architectress newsletter to explore the history of women practicing architecture and allied professions in the US. In addition to an Accolade and an Outrage, each issue will feature Mary Colter, for she is the architect and decorator who brought me to this project.