Rose Connor

{{About|the American architect|the American author|Rose Connors}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Rose Connor

| other_names =

| image = File:Rose_Connor_at_a_drawing_table.png

| caption = Rose Connor in 1948

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1892|3|4|mf=yes}}{{r|ssdi}}

| birth_place = Des Moines, Iowa{{r|allaback}}

| death_date = {{dda|1970|12|29|1892|3|4|mf=yes}}{{r|obit}}

| death_place = Claremont, California{{r|obit}}

| occupation = Architect

| known =

| years_active = 1923 – 64

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| predecessor =

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| signature = Rose Connor signature.png

}}

Rose Connor {{post-nominals|list=AIA}} (March 4, 1892 – December 29, 1970) was an American architect. Called "one of the earliest and most successful women architects of the 20th century",{{r|palm}} her architectural work was largely residential projects in Southern California, but she also did work for the U.S. military and Fuller Theological Seminary.{{r|allaback}}

Biography

Connor was born in Des Moines, Iowa{{r|bowker1970}} in 1892.{{r|palm}} She was the daughter of William Connor and Eva Gatch. Her father was a lawyer and "prominent citizen and jurist"{{r|1904obit}} in Des Moines who had served in the American Civil War. He had been born in Ireland and came to the United States as a boy.{{r|1904obit}} She had three sisters, Elizabeth, Marjorie, and Dorothy.{{r|1904obit}}{{r|obit}} Connor's father died at age 58 when she was a child.{{r|1904obit}}

=Education=

Connor attended Des Moines public schools until eleventh grade{{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=68}} and then continued her education abroad. She studied art & jewelry{{r|bowker1970}} at the Académie Colarossi in Paris{{r|palm}} and attended the Birmingham School of Art in Birmingham, England.{{r|bowker1956}} Connor then moved back to the U.S. and studied interior decoration at the Parsons School of Design (then known as New York School of Fine and Applied Art).{{r|archrec2}} She also attended Cooper Union.{{r|bowker1970}}

Starting in 1923, Connor made her living as a drafter for a series of architects, including T. Beverly Keim in Los Angeles, Allen & Collens in Boston, Soule & Murphy in Santa Barbara, and Reginald D. Johnson, W. L. Risley and Allison & Allison, all in Los Angeles.{{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=69}} During this period (from 1925 to 1930) she studied architecture at the Pasadena Atelier{{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=68}} of the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design.{{r|bowker1970}}

=Career as an architect=

Connor was licensed to practice architecture in California in 1936 and opened her own firm in Pasadena in October of that year.{{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=69}} She became a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1944.{{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=69}} Her practice was mainly residential commissions for professional women.{{r|palm}} From 1946 to 1950 she also designed several small housing projects (from 16 to 74 houses) in Lakewood, Downey, and Anaheim.{{r|aiaroster}}

The Rev. Charles E. Fuller was a major patron of Connor's work. He and his wife Grace{{r|latimes1940}} commissioned eight separate houses from Connor for their own use or as rental properties at various times. Connor also worked as an associate architect with the firm of Orr, Strange & Inslee on the project to build Fuller Theological Seminary in 1953.{{r|palm}}

Connor suspended her practice from February 1942 to April 1946 due to World War II.{{r|aiaroster}} During this time she worked for the United States Army Corps of Engineers{{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=69}} working on camouflage{{r|bowker1970}} and "other work."{{r|aiaroster}}

Connor often employed the landscape architects Florence Yoch and Lucile Council on her projects.{{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=69}} Another architect she worked with was John Byers with whom she designed an adobe house in San Gabriel in 1946.{{r|byers}}

=Women in architecture=

At the time Connor began her practice, women architects were rare. Connor was only the sixth woman to be admitted to AIA from California.{{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=238}} In 1948 Connor was one of only 10 women architects in California who had their own firms, according to the Los Angeles Times.{{r|latimes1948}} That same year, Architectural Record documented 1,119 women who had trained as architects but found that only 108 were actually practicing.{{r|archrec1}} The two-part article showcased the work of 18 of them, including Connor.{{r|archrec2}}

Connor was a member of Union Internationale des Femmes Architectes (UIFA){{r|obit}} and was elected to the national board of Association for Women in Architecture in 1958.{{r|latimes1958}} That year Connor researched the records of architects in all the U.S. states and found that at that time, there were only 320 women registered architects; there were seven states which had no women architects registered at all, and women represented about one percent of all the registered architects in the United States in her survey.{{r|almanac}}

=Personal life=

Connor never married.{{r|obit}} She was involved in charitable groups outside architecture including the Pasadena chapter of Zonta International and was a charter member of the Women's City Club of Pasadena.{{r|obit}}

In 1964 Connor lost vision in her left eye due to temporal arteritis, and gave up her practice on the advice of her physicians.{{r|aiafile}} She moved to Claremont, California that year{{r|obit}} and became an emeritus member of AIA in 1965.{{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=69}} She died on December 29, 1970, in Claremont and was buried in the family plot in Woodland Cemetery in her hometown of Des Moines.{{r|obit}}

The Art, Design & Architecture Museum has a collection of her drawings. The Schlesinger Library has papers related to UIFA donated by Connor.{{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=70}}

List of works

All of Connor's known architectural work was in California; here is a partial list:

Beardsley House, Eagle Rock (1937){{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=69}}
Hickman House, Los Angeles (1938){{r|archrec2}}{{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=69}}
Ransome Beach House, Three Arch Bay (1938){{r|archrec2}}{{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=69}}
Marshall Triplex, Los Angeles (1939){{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=69}}
Grace Fuller Rental Houses, South Pasadena (1940){{r|latimes1940}}
Caldwell House, Hollywood (1942){{r|archrec2}}{{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=70}}
Marshall Duplex, Monterey (1946){{r|latimes1946}}
Sturtevant House, Balboa (1947){{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=70}}
Brown House, Laguna (1948){{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=70}}
Brown-Mountain House, Seven Oaks (1950){{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=70}}
Fuller House, Newport Beach (1950){{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=70}}
Nightingale Mountain Cabin, Sky Forest (1952){{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=70}}
Fuller House, San Marino (1952){{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=70}}
Young Women's Christian Association (NRHP listed) (28 North Marengo Avenue, Pasadena) (1952, 1956) alterations{{r|pasadena_civic}}
Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena (1952-1953){{sfn|Allaback|2008|p=70}}

References

{{reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite book|title=The First American Women Architects |last=Allaback |first=Sarah |year=2008 |pages=68–70 |location=Urbana |publisher=University of Illinois Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OpY0KmICqKYC&pg=PA68 |access-date=July 10, 2018 |isbn=9780252033216 |oclc=167518574 | via=Google Books}}

{{cite news|last=Callan |first=Mary Ann | title=Women Succeed As Architects |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=November 24, 1948 |page=B1 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22893749/rose_connor_in_women_succeed_as/ | access-date=November 15, 2018 |via=Newspapers.com |url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115213359/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22893749/rose_connor_in_women_succeed_as/ | archive-date=November 15, 2018}}

{{cite book|title=American Architects Directory |edition=3rd|year=1970|location=New York City |publisher=R. R. Bowker LLC |page=174 |oclc=903050977 |title-link=American Architects Directory}}

{{cite book|title=American Architects Directory |edition=1st|year=1956|location=New York City |publisher=R. R. Bowker LLC |page=106 |oclc=476432658 |title-link=American Architects Directory}}

{{cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VMM9-BMP|title=Rose Connor|publisher=Social Security Death Index |url-access=registration|via=Family Search|access-date=July 11, 2018}}

{{cite book|title=Almanac of Architecture & Design

|access-date=July 11, 2018 | via=Internet Archive}}

{{cite web|last=Hays|first=Catherine S.|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Pasadena Civic Center District|url={{NRHP url|id=80000813}}|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=July 11, 2018|date=September 15, 1978}} {{NRHP url|id=80000813|title=Accompanied by photos|photos=y}}.

{{cite magazine| title=A Thousand Women in Architecture - Part 1 |magazine=Architectural Record | volume=103 | issue=3 | date=March 1948 |pages=105–113 |url=http://www.usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1948-03.pdf | access-date=July 11, 2018 |via=US Modernist}}

{{cite magazine| title=A Thousand Women in Architecture - Part 2 |magazine=Architectural Record | volume=103 | issue=6 | date=June 1948 |page=111 |url=http://www.usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1948-06.pdf | access-date=July 11, 2018 |via=US Modernist}}

{{cite web|url=https://www.smgov.net/departments/pcd/agendas/Landmarks-Commission/2003/20030714/2034%20La%20Mesa%20Eval%20Rpt.pdf|title=John Byers (Third) Residence - 2034 La Mesa Drive - Santa Monica, California - City Landmark Assessment Report|publisher=City of Santa Monica Planning Division | date=July 2, 2003 | access-date=July 11, 2018 | page=5 }}

{{cite web|title=City of Palm Springs Citywide Historic Context Statement and Survey Findings (Appendix A) | date=October 13, 2015 | page=32 |url=http://www.palmspringsca.gov/home/showdocument?id=38171 |access-date=July 27, 2018 | url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727012201/http://www.palmspringsca.gov/home/showdocument?id=38171 | archive-date=July 27, 2018 | publisher=Palm Springs, California }}

{{cite web |title=Rose Connor (1892-1970) Membership File |work=The AIA Historical Directory of American Architects |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=American Institute of Architects |url=https://content.aia.org/sites/default/files/2018-09/ConnorRose.pdf |access-date=August 10, 2021 |ref={{sfnref|AIA|1965}} |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810181046/https://content.aia.org/sites/default/files/2018-09/ConnorRose.pdf |archive-date=August 10, 2021 }}

{{Citation |last=Connor |first=Rose |date=February 14, 1953 |title=Architect's Roster Questionnaire | work=The AIA Historical Directory of American Architects |publisher=American Institute of Architects |location=Washington, DC |url=https://content.aia.org/sites/default/files/2018-09/ConnoRose_roster.pdf |access-date=August 10, 2021 | url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810181336/https://content.aia.org/sites/default/files/2018-09/ConnoRose_roster.pdf |archive-date=August 10, 2021 }}

{{cite news| title=Obituaries - Miss Rose Connor |newspaper=Pomona Progress Bulletin |date=December 30, 1970 |page=A4 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22893720/rose_connor_obituary_progress_bulletin/ | access-date=November 15, 2018 |via=Newspapers.com |url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115211530/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22893720/rose_connor_obituary_progress_bulletin/ | archive-date=November 15, 2018}}

{{cite news|last=Townsend |first=Dorothy | title=Women Architects' Group Elects Missourian as Chief |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=July 3, 1948 |page=28 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22894049/rose_connor_named_to_board_of/ | access-date=November 15, 2018 |via=Newspapers.com |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115213738/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22894049/rose_connor_named_to_board_of/ | archive-date=November 15, 2018 }}

{{cite news | title=Judge Connor Died Yesterday - Prominent Citizen and Jurist Expired at Early Hour Tuesday Morning |newspaper=Des Moines Register and Leader |date=February 10, 1904 |page=10 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23259068/judge_william_connor_rose_connors/ | access-date=November 15, 2018 |via=Newspapers.com |url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115212624/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23259068/judge_william_connor_rose_connors/ | archive-date=November 15, 2018 }}

{{cite news| title=A Monterey Duplex |newspaper=Los Angeles Times Home Magazine |date=September 15, 1946 |page=3 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22894479/monterey_duplex_designed_by_rose_connor/ | access-date=November 15, 2018 |via=Newspapers.com | url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115214146/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22894479/monterey_duplex_designed_by_rose_connor/ | archive-date=November 15, 2018}}

{{cite news| title=The Problem: One Lot... Two Houses |newspaper=Los Angeles Times Home Magazine |date=December 8, 1940 |page=7 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22894130/grace_fuller_rental_houses_in_pasadena/ | access-date=November 15, 2018 |via=Newspapers.com |url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115212955/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22894130/grace_fuller_rental_houses_in_pasadena/ | archive-date=November 15, 2018 }}

}}