Absence and Presence: a Historiography of Early Women Architects in New South Wales
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ABSENCE AND PRESENCE: A HISTORIOGRAPHY OF EARLY WOMEN ARCHITECTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES Bronwyn J. Hanna Faculty of the Built Environment University of New South Wales 1999 A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ABSTRACT Women architects are effectively absent from architectural history in Australia. Consulting first the archival record, this thesis establishes the presence of 230 women architects qualified and/or practising in NSW between 1900 and 1960. It then analyses some of these early women architects’ achievements and difficulties in the profession, drawing on interviews with 70 practitioners or their friends and family. Finally it offers brief biographical accounts of eight leading early women architects, arguing that their achievements deserve more widespread historical attention in an adjusted canon of architectural merit. There are also 152 illustrations evidencing their design contributions. Thus the research draws on quantitative, qualitative, biographical and visual modes of representation in establishing a historical presence for these early women architects. The thesis forms part of the widespread political project of feminist historical recovery of women forebears, while also interrogating the ends and means of such historiography. The various threads describing women’s absence and presence in the architectural profession are woven together throughout the thesis using three feminist approaches which sometimes harmonise and sometimes debate with each other. Described as “liberal feminism”, “socialist feminism” and “postmodern feminism”, they each put into play distinct patterns of questioning, method and interpretation, but all analyse historiography as a strategy for understanding society and effecting social change. Note to on-line version Privacy concerns have dictated that the names of those who contributed to the qualitative research with information about the lives and careers of early women architects, and also the names of the early women architects who were not already well published, have been deleted or disguised in the on-line version of this thesis. 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to gratefully acknowledge the following people and institutions for their contributions to this research project: Sophie Watson, then Professor of the Department of Planning and Regional Development at the University of Sydney, was my initial supervisor who helped me get this project off the ground with the backing of an Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship. Robert Freestone, Associate Professor in the Faculty of the Built Environment at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), took over the role of supervisor halfway through my candidature and has offered prompt and astute critical comment throughout the long process of writing. Other academics have helped with technical and/or moral support: Joan Kerr with advice in the first stages; Susan Thompson for moral support and advice in the last stages; Peter Murphy for being an excellent employer on two research projects during my candidature and for encouraging me to move to UNSW; James Weirick for alerting me to the work of Eva Buhrich and offering comment on my essay about her; Rosemary Pringle on questions regarding women professionals; Elizabeth Turnbull for sociology references and wise overviews; Alison Bashford for references on women’s history; Paula Hamilton for references on oral history and autobiography. Also thanks to Barbara Caine, Anna Rubbo, Adrian Snodgrass, Bev Kingston, Matthew Devine and Elizabeth Teather. My student colleagues have been very supportive, especially: Sue Stewart for careful, constructive readings and insightful discussions, also for finding us a great house with nice neighbours; Cristina Martinez for teaching me how to use Excel and the internet and for pulling my postgraduate cohort together into a dynamic, friendly network; Julie Willis for swapping references, primary information and eventually theses in our parallel studies; Sharon Veale for sharing research insights about Florence Taylor; Rose Bulgin Hannah for computing help; and Leonie Matthews, who made a copy of both her excellent undergraduate thesis on early women architects in Western Australia and the slides she had put together for an exhibition of their work. Also thanks to Belinda Mason, Scott Robertson, Carol Morrow, Suzanne Mitchell, and finally Emma Wise for great help with formatting and proofreading. Many architects have contributed to the research presented here. When I began the project in 1992, I joined Constructive Women, a Sydney-based group of women architects and other professionals working in the built environment, and have found the organisation very supportive. I particularly thank Bev Atkinson, Judy Ambler, and Sally Dryburgh for their collaboration in founding the Constructive Women Architecture and Design Archive at Stanton Library; also Ro Murray for her excellent undergraduate thesis on Florence Taylor and her patience with my questions more than 20 years later; Ms R for directing me to Ms H; Ms C for wise insights. Other architects who helped include: Louise Cox who put me in contact with Ms N’s family; Ms H who described her historical work on the Ryde Council housing project of the 1950s; Mr C for directing me towards Ms B; Mr N for sharing reminiscences of three pioneering women 3 architects in Western Australia; and Mr F for sharing information about Ms S in his research project on Malcolm Moir. I owe a special debt to the women, and their friends and families, who told me about their lives as early women architects, especially: Ms R and Ms H, daughter and sister of Ms A; Ms B, one-time employee of Ms A and Ms S; Ms C; Ms C; Ms M; Ms G and Ms A, sister and niece of Ms N; Mr G Jnr, son of Mr G Snr; Ms B, administrator at Ku-ring-gai Old People’s Welfare Association; Ms N for early advice on the project as well as an interview on her own career; Ms M for her courageous example of persevering in the face of adversity; Mr M, son of Ms S; Ms W, whom I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting, although we have had numerous telephone conversations regarding her reminiscences of university friends; and Ms and Mr M, who told stories about their greatly respected aunty Florence Taylor and lent photos from her personal photograph album. Archival and library sources which have been used in this research include: the Mitchell Library manuscripts and general collection; the State Library of New South Wales, the Australian National Library manuscripts section, the archives at Sydney TAFE; the State Archives at Kingswood, the University of Sydney archives, the UNSW archives; the Royal Australian Institute of Australia archives in Sydney and Canberra offices; the archives of the Board of Architects of New South Wales in Sydney; and the Sydney Day Schools and Nursery Association in Redfern. Most of all, I would like to offer thanks to my family and friends for their patience and support in the long process of completing a PhD: to my parents and grandparents for providing me with the social context and emotional support to pursue a doctorate; to my parents-in-law for devoted childcare one day a week, also thanks to Cong for transcribing several interviews; and to my best friend Marijke for reading much of the thesis in its nearly final form. More than anyone, I am indebted to my husband Martin and son Vincent, who uncomplainingly did without me on so many evenings and weekends. Martin has supported me with endless good will, generosity and jokes, financially, socially and emotionally, while Vincent has convincingly maintained the role of most beautiful baby/toddler/child in the world to our great delight these last three years. 4 CONTENTS List of abbreviations 8 List of illustrations (plates are situated in Volume II) 9 List of graphs (graphs are interspersed through text) 17 List of tables (tables are interspersed through text) 18 List of appendices 19 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION 21 THREE FEMINIST APPROACHES TO HISTORIOGRAPHY 23 Liberal feminist historiography 25 Socialist feminist historiography 27 Postmodern feminist historiography 30 RESEARCH BOUNDARIES 35 STRUCTURE AND METHODOLOGY Sampling procedures 37 Structure 42 Chapter 2 CONSTRUCTING IMAGES OF WOMEN ARCHITECTS: A LITERATURE AND METHODOLOGY REVIEW INTRODUCTION 45 WOMEN ARCHITECTS IN ESTABLISHED AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY 46 FEMINIST RESEARCH ON EARLY WOMEN ARCHITECTS 52 Theoretical/historical overviews 52 Pre-twentieth century amateur women designers 54 Recovery of pioneers 56 Early practitioners 59 STUDIES OF CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIAN WOMEN ARCHITECTS Quantitative aspects of studies of contemporary women 61 architects Qualitative aspects of studies of contemporary women architects 64 FEMINIST APPROACHES TO QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY 69 Some dilemmas in qualitative research 71 FEMINIST APPROACHES TO BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY 73 CONCLUSION 75 Chapter 3 DISCOVERY! A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF EARLY WOMEN ARCHITECTS’ PRESENCE INTRODUCTION 77 Methodological notes 78 THE PRESENCE OF EARLY WOMEN ARCHITECTS: 5 OUTLINE OF FINDINGS Pre-twentieth century architectural education 80 The Sydney Technical College architecture school 81 The University of Sydney architecture school 84 Registration 88 The Royal Australian Institute of Architects 89 The census 90 Two cohort studies 92 Cohort study of women architecture graduates from the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales 92 Cohort study of three generations of women architects in New South