Minerva Parker Nichols : the search for a forgotten architect. / txt
editors: Heather Isbell Schumacher, Elizabeth Felicella, Molly Lester, and William Whitaker.
- 335 p. : ill. ; col. ; plans ; photo ; 28 cm. book
Published in the occasion of the exhibition of the same title, held at Harvey and Irwin Kroiz Gallery, the Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, March 21-July 22, 2023
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Foreword The Elusive Archive Despina Stratigakos 11 -- Prologue Requiem for a Building Heather Isbell Schumacher 15 -- Biography Finding Minerva Molly Lester 21 -- Portfolio A Submission to the Historic American Buildings Survey Elizabeth Felicella 81 -- Catalogue Raisonné The Architecture of Minerva Parker Nichols William Whitaker 177 -- Writings Minerva Parker Nichols: The Agency of Women in Buildings and Texts Franca Trubiano 301 -- Acknowledgments 327 -- Index 331 -- Colophon 336 --
Minerva Parker Nichols (1862?1949) was the first American woman to practice architecture independently. Her specialty was residential spaces, though her commissions also included an iron foundry and a macaroni factory, and she was a significant figure in the design of the emerging railroad towns just outside of Philadelphia, where she was in active practice from 1883 until 1896. She was also a writer, teacher, and active participant in several reform movements of the era. Creating an archive in the absence of one, this book recovers Nichols's forgotten story to document a career that spanned seven decades, engaging with contemporary questions about absences in the historical record, the challenges of architectural history and preservation, and the need for new tools and frameworks to address these gaps. A catalogue raisonné of her completed architectural works includes illustrations drawn from historical materials as well as newly drawn plans for five of her most significant designs. Archival material, paired with new photography documenting more than 30 extant buildings in the Philadelphia and beyond, offer a full and fully illustrated reconstruction of Nichols's life and career. Exhibition: Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA (21.03. - 22.07.2023).