“Women’s history is an essential and indispensable part of the national narrative. By understanding the achievements, struggles, and contributions of women throughout history, we gain a fuller, more accurate, and more inclusive understanding of our collective past.”
-Molly Murphy MacGregor, Co-Founder & Former Executive Director, National Women’s History Alliance
Women’s History Month is about the celebration and consideration of those blazed trails before us. Their stories are the seeds of the historical throughlines that reverberate. today in modern society: Voting, civil rights, reproductive freedom, equal pay- Without their struggle, contribution and will, women’s worlds would lack privilege, equity and freedoms. In our field of architecture, Chicago has a wealth of legacy and investment from women architects who were the “firsts” in their fields.
Women’s History Month is about the celebration and consideration of those blazed trails before us. Their stories are the seeds of the historical throughlines that reverberate. today in modern society: Voting, civil rights, reproductive freedom, equal pay- Without their struggle, contribution and will, women’s worlds would lack privilege, equity and freedoms. In our field of architecture, Chicago has a wealth of legacy and investment from women architects who were the “firsts” in their fields.
“The only thing I take any interest in doing is the work and I keep at it long after I have a curl in my backbone”
-Marion Mahony Griffin
The second woman to graduate from MIT in 1894, Marion Mahony Griffin had the technical skill, creativity and backbone to withstand Frank Lloyd Wright for a decade. A vital visionary of the Prairie School, an architect and revolutionary designer, she established the American design vernacular for outstanding renders. “When she invented that style, she put [the buildings] in a whole new way that hadn’t existed before. Everybody copied it—it became the way of presenting architecture in America.”
Active on multiple continents as a collaborative team with her husband, her creative stamp can be seen as far as Australia and India. Her local footprint is robust: Her archive of drawings and blueprints can be found at Evanston’s Block Museum, her namesake beach in Chicago’s Rogers Park, a mural at George Armstrong Elementary, as well as landmarked homes. She is buried at Graceland Cemetery.
“Only girl architect lonely. Wanted – to meet all the women architects in Chicago to form a club.”
-Elisabeth Martini
In 1921, Elisabeth Martini wrote the analog version of a Facebook post- She placed a want ad in the newspaper. Being the only licensed female architect in private practice in Chicago, she was looking for her community. Her search for like-minded women and directness paid off, the answers were surplus enough to form the Chicago Women’s Drafting Club. Her club was a precursor that would encourage the evolution of Chicago Women in Architecture in the 1970’s. No stranger to adversity she withstood ninety firm rejection letters at the beginning of her career; despite being trained in architecture and an accomplished draftsperson- She had grit. Martini’s prescience of changing social mores may be a century old but it still stands today as an enduring process that relies on generational effort.
“Breaking barriers is not just about making history, it’s about opening doors for future generations”
- Beverly Lorraine Greene
Beverly Lorraine Greene specialized in exceeding expectation: She was an advocate for women’s professional development, an activist and civic dynamo. In 1932 she was admitted to UIC to study architecture, she then went on to become the lone woman and lone black woman member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. An expert in large housing and planning projects with Chicago’s CHA, she left the Midwest for better opportunities in New York City. She finished her master’s degree at Columbia. Given her experience and the post-war building boom, her architectural talents and drafting expertise were put to good use in collaboration and creating community. Her legacy in Harlem remains at The Unity Funeral Home and the Christian Reformed Church as well as Marcel Breuer’s UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
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