Developing a Regional Perspective by Tracing Forgotten Architects and Design Professionals:

Women with T-Squares

Gail McMillanDigital Library and Archives http://scholar.lib.vt.edu

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Virginia Humanities Conference

March 18, 2005

International Archive of

Women in Architecture

7 Women with T-Squares

NC Harriet Morrison Irwin

SC Lolly Tai

FL Henrietta Dozier

VA Amaza Lee Meredith

GA Leila Ross Wilburn

PR Gertie Besosa-Silva

GA Leslie Sharp

1820

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Harriet Abigail Morrison Irwin (1828-1897)

912 W. 5th Street, Charlotte

Hexagonal house, Aug. 24, 1869

First woman to patent an architectural innovation for a dwelling

Economizes space, building materials, and heat; good lighting and ventilation; easier to clean

Henrietta Cuttino Dozier (1872-1947)

MIT BS in Architecture in four years,1899– 1of 3 women admitted– Only woman to graduate among 175 men

3rd woman to join the AIA; 1st woman from the South

Founding member of the Georgia AIA Only woman recognized among 16 prominent

Jacksonville, Florida, architects

Leila Ross Wilburn(1885-1965) 1913 Piedmont Park Apartments, Atlanta, GA

Amaza Lee Meredith(1895-1984)

Azurest South

Amaza Lee Meredith’s Azurest South, Interior

Gertie Besosa-Silva (1923-1983)

Lolly Tai

Ph.D, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh MLA, Harvard University BSLA, Cornell University 1988, new Department of Planning and Landscape

Architecture in the College of Architecture, Arts, and Humanities, Clemson University

2002, Chair, Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture, Temple University

Hilton Head Island Town Hall Xeriscape Interpretive Garden, 1995Honor Award: American Society of Landscape Architecture, SC ChapterHonorable Mention for Land Stewardship

SC Land Resources Conservation Commission

Leslie N. Sharp

MA Middle Tennessee State University 2002– Historic preservation, graduate thesis on public history

Coordinator for the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources– National Register of Historic Places– Georgia Women’s History Initiative

Georgia Tech– PhD in History: links between gender, technology, and architecture– Women shaping shelter technology, consumption, and the

twentieth- century house

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International Archive of Women in Architecture

http://spec.lib.vt.edu/iawa