University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations Dissertations and Theses Fall November 2014 Project Space(s) in the Design Professions: An Intersectional Feminist Study of the Women's School of Planning and Architecture (1974-1981) Elizabeth Cahn University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2 Part of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons, and the Urban Studies and Planning Commons Recommended Citation Cahn, Elizabeth, "Project Space(s) in the Design Professions: An Intersectional Feminist Study of the Women's School of Planning and Architecture (1974-1981)" (2014). Doctoral Dissertations. 160. https://doi.org/10.7275/6044908.0 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/160 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PROJECT SPACE(S) IN THE DESIGN PROFESSIONS: AN INTERSECTIONAL FEMINIST STUDY OF THE WOMEN’S SCHOOL OF PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE (1974-1981) A Dissertation Presented by ELIZABETH CAHN Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY September 2014 Regional Planning © Copyright by Elizabeth Cahn 2014 All Rights Reserved PROJECT SPACE(S) IN THE DESIGN PROFESSIONS: AN INTERSECTIONAL FEMINIST STUDY OF THE WOMEN’S SCHOOL OF PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE (1974-1981) A Dissertation Presented by ELIZABETH CAHN Approved as to style and content by: _________________________________ Mark T. Hamin, Chair _________________________________ Flavia Montenegro-Menezes, Member _________________________________ Gretchen B. Rossman, Member ________________________________________ Elisabeth M. Hamin, Department Head Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning DEDICATION For all those who came before When we are weary and in need of strength, we remember them. When we have achievements that are based on theirs, we remember them. Sylvan Kamens and Jack Riemer, New Prayers for the High Holy Days ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The idea behind a dissertation cannot become reality without assistance from a large number of people over a long period of time. This one is no different. I am grateful to my family for making education a priority. Without their support I probably would not have started down this path, and might not have persevered to the end of this research project. A large number of faculty members provided encouragement and assistance throughout the research and writing process. My dissertation committee members earned special thanks: Mark Hamin, chair of my committee, provided an understanding ear, excellent strategic advice, and an unparalleled sense of humor; Gretchen Rossman served as advisor on methodology and all-around magical person; and Flavia Montenegro-Menezes stepped in enthusiastically at an important time and brought a fresh perspective to the questions I was trying to answer. Ellen Pader supplied important intellectual foundations for this work at an earlier point in the process. Other faculty who were important supporters of my intellectual journey include Michael Everett, of the Rhode Island School of Design; Ann Cline, Elizabeth Duvert, and Linda Singer of Miami University (Ohio); Marsha Ritzdorf, of the University of Oregon; Jane Slaughter, of the University of New Mexico, and Patricia McGirr, of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. My department, Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, and the Regional Planning program provided essential resources at various points of my PhD work, including the financial support of a University Graduate Fellowship during the first two years. The directors of the PhD program (first Elisabeth Hamin, now Department Head, and later Henry Renski) were both patient and inspiring, as needed. The Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning department staff—Marny West, Sandi Potyrala, Terry Trudeau, Sheila Jones, and Crystal Nielsen—each provided critical information, practical support, and encouragement along the journey. The Graduate School staff were exceptionally kind as well as helpful, and I especially thank Debra Britt, Diane Gerrish, Tina Johnson, Joyce Williams-Boisjolie, and Susan Chinman. Essential skills for my toolbox as a scholar were contributed by many other faculty members involved in my studies at UMass Amherst. I am particularly appreciative of those I worked with while completing the Certificate in Advanced Feminist Studies: Ann Ferguson, Joyce Berkman, and Miliann vi Kang. The staff of Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies provided invaluable support throughout this process: Nancy Patteson, Karen Lederer, and Linda Hillenbrand. I could not have carried out this work without the women who founded the Women’s School of Planning and Architecture: Katrin Adam, Ellen Perry Berkeley, Phyllis Birkby, Bobbie Sue Hood, Marie Kennedy, Joan Forrester Sprague, and Leslie Kanes Weisman. Katrin, Ellen, Bobbie Sue, Marie, and Leslie all graciously welcomed me into their lives and shared their memories of WSPA in lengthy interviews. I am grateful to Phyllis and Joan for saving documents and other records about WSPA, and I recognize the important role of the executors of their estates, who made sure these materials were deposited where others could use them for research. In addition to the founders of WSPA, I received important information and support from Elise Friedman Shapiro, who shared her memories of the St. Louis conference in 1974, and Patti Glazer, who generously provided permission for the reproduction of certain photographs. And this work would not have been possible without the amazing archival work of Maida Goodwin, of the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College. I am also grateful to Sherrill Redmon, former Director of the Sophia Smith Collection, and all the other staff of this archives, where I spent many productive hours. Andrea Merrett and Ipek Türeli provided important scholarly companionship in our collective efforts to understand women’s work in planning and design. I owe a special debt to the researchers, clinicians, and staff of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, especially Ian Krop, Mehra Golshan, Jane Bausch, Dan Silver, and Judy Garber. Their work demonstrates the importance of research in solving problems and changing people’s lives. Without them, I might not have survived to complete this dissertation. Marsha Keener and Grace Gibson provided additional support and exceptional understanding during the years I spent completing my PhD. I appreciate the many friends who didn’t fall away throughout the long months and years of research and writing, providing a supportive ear and continual encouragement. Thank you to Alison Green, Margo Shea, Karen Jacobus, Karen Cardozo, Kate Rindy, Mary Moore Cathcart, and Annalise Fonza. Kathleen Marie Baldwin, Colleen Smith, Heidi Bauer-Clapp, and Laura Grant were inspiring companions during my last year of work on this project. Judith DiPierna, Ruth Ewing, Klara Grape, Karen Nelson, Carin Rank, and Amy Wong cheered from the sidelines on many occasions. I offer a special thanks to vii Alina Gross, for essential moral support throughout, but especially during the final few months. And I would be remiss if I did not also mention Sasha, Jonathan, Mr. Buttercup, and Sarah, who do not understand what a dissertation is, but stayed by my side anyway and also tolerated the many hours it took me away from them. Last but certainly not least, I thank my editor, Robin Maltz, without whom this dissertation would be far less readable. If any errors remain, it’s all on me. viii ABSTRACT PROJECT SPACE(S) IN THE DESIGN PROFESSIONS: AN INTERSECTIONAL FEMINIST STUDY OF THE WOMEN’S SCHOOL OF PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE (1974-1981) SEPTEMBER 2014 ELIZABETH CAHN, B.ARCHITECTURE, RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN S.M.ARCH.S., MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY M.A., SETON HILL COLLEGE Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Mark T. Hamin The Women’s School of Planning and Architecture (WSPA) was an ambitious, explicitly feminist educational program created by seven women planners and architects who used the school to introduce ideas and practices of the 1970s women’s movement into design and planning education in the United States. Between 1974 and 1981, WSPA organized five intensive, short-term residential educational sessions and a conference, each in a different geographical location in the United States, after which the organization ceased formal programming and the organizers moved on to other activities. The founders and participants involved in WSPA collectively imagined and created a feminist space for environmental design teaching and learning through their evolving project, which was marked by interdisciplinarity, creativity, flexibility, egalitarian decision-making, and attention to diversity. This study uses an interdisciplinary, intersectional feminist framework and feminist qualitative methodologies to investigate WSPA through analysis of archival materials, interviews of surviving members of the founding group, and experiences of the author in the same fields and professions. This research also locates WSPA within a historical review of women in the design