Nationality American Occupation Architect | Name Lois Howe Died September 13, 1964 | |
Born September 25, 1864 ( 1864-09-25 ) Cambridge, Massachusetts Awards American Institute of Architecture Fellow Practice Howe, Manning & Almy, Inc. Alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston | ||
Lois Lilley Howe (September 25, 1864 – September 13, 1964) was an American architect and founder of the first all female architecture firm in Boston, Massachusetts. Howe was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Howe studied at the Museum of Fine Arts School from 1882-1886. She later studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she studied with fellow female student Sophia Hayden. Howe graduated in 1890.
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After graduation she worked in the offices of Allen and Kenway. She placed second in a competition to design the Women's Building at the Chicago World's Fair. Howe opened her own architect office in 1894. In 1913 she partnered with Eleanor Manning and in 1926 Mary Almy joined the firm which then became Howe, Manning & Almy, Inc. Architect Eliza Newkirk Rogers worked for Howe before starting her own practice in 1913. For a short time around 1920, the landscape architect Elizabeth Greenleaf Pattee worked for Howe.
During her career, Howe was president of the Business Women's Club of Boston and president of the MIT Women's Association. Howe retired in 1937 when Howe, Manning & Almy, Inc. dissolved.
Awards and recognition
In 1901, Howe became the second woman member of the American Institute of Architecture (AIA). In 1931, she was elected an AIA fellow.
Legacy
Lois Lilley Howe's papers reside in the collection for Howe, Manning, and Almy at MIT. The Lois Lilley Howe photographic collection is housed at the Cambridge Historical Society.