Marion Parker (architect)

Marion Parker
Born Marion Parker
1873
Died 1935 (aged 62)
California
Occupation Architect

Marion Parker(1873–1935)[note 1] was the first female graduate in the College of Engineering and Architecture of the University of Michigan, worked with Purcell & Elmslie Architects, and established her own practice.

Biography

Marion Parker was the first female graduate in the College of Engineering and Architecture of the University of Michigan in 1895; the university awards two female students annually to honor her (at least in the mid-1970s).[1] After graduating she worked on skyscrapers in New York City.[1] She worked for William Gray Purcell and George Fieck in their Minneapolis office becoming their first draghter in 1908[2] and by 1912 became an important member in the small firm.[3] She produced working drawings for leaded glass panels and other craft items.[4]

Established in 1909,[5] Purcell & Elmslie has been described as one of the most prolific of the Prairie School.[3] After adding George Grant Elmslie as partner in 1909, the firm dissolved in 1921.[3]

However, Parker left in 1919 to start her own office.[3]

In addition to architecture, Parker was a craftswoman. A member of the Minneapolis Arts and Crafts Society, she was also worked in textiles, especially rugs in the early 1900s; was a charter member of the chalk and chisel club; and garnered an exhibit prize in 1914.[4]

In retirement she moved to Luguna Beach and opened an arts and crafts shop,[3] named "The Home-Spun Shop".[2] Located in an arts colony she participated in Summer art fairs.[4] While travelling to visit Purcell, she died of a heart attack.[4]

Parker's collection is at the Northwest Architectural Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries, as are Purcell's papers.[3]

Works

Notes

  1. ↑ sources vary on her middle name: Ann in Allaback, Alice in Conforti, and Sarah in Barry; Allaback estimated she was born in New Hampshire in c.1875, while the archives says Massachusetts in 1873, but went to school in New Hampshire

Sources

  1. 1 2 Barry, Ray (1 January 1974). "The Good Old Days". The Michigan Technic. UM Libraries (93-96): 22. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Northwest Architectural Archives. "Marion Alice Parker collection". University of Minnesota. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Allaback, Sarah (23 May 2008). The First American Women Architects. University of Illinois Press. pp. 165–166. ISBN 978-0-252-03321-6. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Conforti, Michael (1994). Minnesota 1900 : art and life on the upper Mississippi, 1890-1915. Newark: University of Delaware Press. ISBN 0874135605.
  5. ↑ "Purcell and Elmslie, Architects". www.organica.org.

Further reading

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