Pioneering women's architecture society at the U of M

By Tim Brady

In November 1920, the women of the University of Minnesota School of Architecture sent an announcement to the Minnesota Daily telling the campus and any other interested parties that they had formed a sorority, Delta Phi, "composed of architects and interior decorators." Just after the New Year 1921, this group held a Japanese pledging tea at the home of a faculty member. After a brief induction ceremony, the women, wearing kimonos and sitting on cushions on the floor, "listened to weird Oriental music," cooled themselves with Japanese fans handed out as party favors, and talked about their future careers as architects and designers, according to a sorority memory book written several years after the event.

A little more than a year later, a group of women architects at Washington University in St. Louis, who had formed the Alpha Alpha Gamma sorority in 1914, contacted Delta Phi. As far as anyone knew, the St. Louis group was the first women's architectural sorority in the nation. Would the University of Minnesota sisters, apparently the second, be interested in joining forces?

Delta Phi not only agreed to become the Beta Chapter of Alpha Alpha Gamma, but also, over the next 30 years this Minnesota contingent of architectural and design students, along with their alumni, often was the largest, and arguably the most influential, chapter of the sorority in the country.

It was quite a distance from the days when the School of Architecture was established at the University of Minnesota in 1913. Women students were nonexistent in the school at the time. It was only when the United States entered World War I in 1917 that at least one woman, Bernice Duxbury, joined the study of architecture. By the time Delta Phi was created in early 1920, there were several more, including founding members Gladys Brouillard, Marian Petri, Gertrude Quinn, Edna Croft, Alice Little, Isabelle Knutson, and Eunice Nielsen.

From its beginning, the architecture sorority was intent on advancing both the professional opportunities of its members and their standing within the School of Architecture, which was then part of the University's Department of Engineering. In 1923, Alpha Alpha Gamma held its first annual exhibition of student work on the fourth floor of the engineering building.

Also in 1923, the chapter hosted the sorority's second national convention at the St. Paul Athletic Club. (Local members would host again in 1927, 1934, and 1939.) The following year, Alpha Alpha Gamma petitioned the engineering department to create a restroom for women in the engineering building. They also voted to extend a $300 loan to a new design business begun by Gladys Brouillard and Marian Petri. (This was a first and last entry into the world of finance for Alpha Alpha Gamma--repayment of the loan would drag on and on.)

In 1923, Alpha Alpha Gamma member Dorothy Brink (class of 1923) became the first woman at the University of Minnesota to be elected to Tau Sigma Delta, the national honor fraternity for architecture students. The next year, member Mary Slocumb (class of 1924) was the first woman named as a cowinner of the student prize from the Minnesota Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

In 1934 senior Edith Reed "tossed a bombshell in the architectural world," according to an account in the local papers, when her design for a bridge over the Missouri River in Omaha was chosen for the $2.2 million project. Reed, president of Alpha Alpha Gamma, was recovering from an auto accident when she found out her drawings had been picked as the winning design by the Minneapolis firm that was going to build the bridge. (In the end, it appears that financing for the bridge fell through, and the structure was ultimately built by another firm with a different designer.)

Edith Reed, president of Alpha Alpha Gamma, "tossed a bombshell into the architectural world" when her design for a bridge in Omaha was chosen for the $2.2 million project in 1934.

Other notable Alpha Alpha Gamma alumni included Jane West (class of 1928) who, after graduation, moved to Europe, where she won a job in the office of Le Corbusier--a fact that was loudly and proudly announced in The Keystone, the sorority's national newsletter. West also conducted summer seminars on modern European architecture, guiding some of her visiting Alpha Alpha Gamma sisters on weeks-long tours of Bremen, Amsterdam, Paris, and Zurich. West became Jane West Claus, and taught at a design school in Philadelphia.

Scrapbook detail. All images on this page are from this scrapbook, located in the Northwest Architectural Archives, Manuscripts Division, Andersen Library.

Helen Thian (class of 1929) went on to a long career as an interior designer for the University of Minnesota. Ruth Carter (class of 1929) studied in Europe and became an instructor in design at the University. She married Minneapolis jazz musician Carl Warmington in the late 1930s, giving up her post to Elizabeth Scheu. Scheu would soon marry architect Winston Close and, as Lisl Scheu Close, would become perhaps the best known female architect in Minnesota. Ruth Carter Warmington wound up raising a family in Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin, and teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Founding members of U of M's Delta Phi for architects and interior decorators, later renamed the Beta Chapter of Alpha Alpha Gamma, 1920-21.

Marriage and the gender prejudice of the times appear to have subsumed or thwarted the careers of many Alpha Alpha Gamma members. The sorority itself fell on hard times during World War II, when no national conventions were held and student members drifted away. The group was reorganized in the late 1940s, with its alumni and professional chapters playing a more dominant role in the organization.

As the years passed and more women began to enroll in architectural programs across the country, they were less-often excluded from other student architectural groups. In the mid-1960s, the national organization of Alpha Alpha Gamma disbanded as potential members joined the student chapters of the American Institute of Architects.

Detail of scrapbook cover, 1920-22, containing clippings and memorabilia of events and activities of Delta Phi sorority (predecessor of Beta Chapter) and Beta Chapter, Alpha Alpha Gamma.

The professional component of the group was reorganized in the mid-1970s and named the Association for Women in Architecture. AWA is currently based in Los Angeles, and among other assistance to women architects, it provides scholarships to students across the country.

Tim Brady is the author of Gopher Gold: Legendary Figures, Brilliant Blunders, and Amazing Feats at the University of Minnesota (MHS Press).

Women in architecture today

By Lori-Anne Williams

Nearly 90 years after the first women's architecture society was founded at the University of Minnesota, women are still forging bonds because of their love of architecture and the common issues that arise in the workplace. In April 2007, several College of Design women started Young Women in Architecture, an informal group, to provide networking and learning opportunities for young and future professionals. They have since dropped the word young from their title and are designing programs to attract alumni, graduate students, and undergraduates of both genders.

In talking with fellow students and colleagues, cofounder Meredith Hayes Gordon (MArch '07), discovered they needed to discuss issues ranging from leadership in the field to finding a work-life balance that fits for both one's firm and one's family.

"I think that having a place for the discussion is very important," Gordon said. "This is about people willing to talk about how the profession can change to accommodate all kinds of lifestyles."

In keeping with its primary goals of education and discussion, the group hosted its first event September 12, a panel discussion with four women at different career stages. Panel participants included Jennifer Books, architect at Vujovich; Nina Ebbighausen of Architectural Alliance and winner of a 2004 Young Architects Award from the AIA; Linda McCracken Hunt, principal of Studio Five and former architect for the University of Minnesota, and Jennifer Yoos, professor-in-practice for the School of Architecture and partner at VJAA (Vincent James Associates Architects). Questions from the audience of 50 included how to position oneself for leadership within a firm, learn the culture of the workplace, and find family-life balance while still moving forward with a career.

An informal social event was held in October at the Loring Pasta Bar. The group made an extra effort to reach out to undergraduates, men, and others who might want to talk not only about architecture, but also about all that goes into forging a career. In November, the group held another panel that showcased young professionals' work and discussed setting up a practice.

In addition to Gordon (now employed at Perkins + Will), other cofounders of this all-volunteer group are current architecture graduate students Katie Hammond, Malea Jochim, Michelle Ney, Amanda Olson, Sara Paul, and Catherine Sandlund. Women in Architecture has received guidance from Renee Cheng, School of Architecture head.

Women in Architecture hopes to hold approximately three events each semester. Those interested in becoming part of Women in Architecture may contact youngwomeninarchitecture@gmail.com.

Lori-Anne Williams is a freelance writer living in St. Paul.