10 years...
The Archi Staff are in a tizzy because in less than a month, the fraternity will be celebrating its 10th anniversary. Messages from such dignataries as Leo M. Bauer, Chandler C. Cohagen and Lorentz Schmidt send well wishes to the brotherhood in its current state, and waxes nostalgic for its infant days when we were a mere 2 interested parties. As of 1924, the fraternity has grown to 7 national chapters, and 1 soon to join the fray. I picture them each in a drafting smock late at night, carefully drafting these correspondence with fountain pens.
The Grand Council Directory
The bulk of this Archi consists of a directory of all members to-date. this is not the first of these directors to be published, but as someone who is painstakingly entering each name into a database, I can assure you that it's getting ever so long. I admit that it is pretty neat to look at the names and see their addresses. I find myself wondering if these places of residence are still there. So I took a random sample - 1 residence from each active chapter and entered it into google maps - here we go!
Anthemios - Adolf O. Budina: 618 10th St., Wilmette, IL ----BINGO!
Looks like it's still there. A house like this was likely built before 1924, and what a sweet little house it is too.
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Iktinos - Eugene D. Straight: 479 W. Willis Ave., Detroit, MI ----Hmmm..
For some reason google street view hasn't made it to Willis - and it's now being called Willis Street. It looks like the John C. Lodge freeway has been built on this site. Unfortunately, judging from the nearby interesection this is a blighted neighborhood.
Demetrios - Russell M. Krob: 1209 Hamlet Ave., Colmbus, OH ----DOH!
This is seriously the cutest neighborhood, with good old american four-square homes, built one after the other, except it appears that there's a vacant lot where brother Krob's used to be. You'll noticed that a house does comes up when you type in the 1209 but you can see the address number is not 1209. Well, at least you can get a sense of the neighborhood.
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Mnesicles - Howard F. Dunn: 1692 Princeton Ave., St. Paul, MN ----??
Darnit google! They haven't documented this neighborhood using streetview, but it appears that this house is still there. It appears to be a garden-style designed neighbohood, and he homes appear to be built in the late teens to early twenties. If it weren't for all the snow in the wintertime, I'd want to live in this neighborhood.
Kallikrates - W. Merle Brown: 810 Carter Road, Raleigh Court, Roanoake, VA ----So Close..
Once again, I am unable to find the exact house. I think that the homes of this area have been renumbered. I am able to verify the existance of a Carter Road, and this road is within a subdivision called Raleigh Court. According to Wikipedia, "the development of [Raleigh Court] reached its peak in the 1920's, so therefore the residences in this subdivision do fit into our time frame.
Andronicus - Paul E. Willhide: 1200 37th Pl., Los Angeles, CA ----SWEET!
The house appears to still be there. It's been severely remodeled, and currently houses a youth center, but the house is still there. The place is easily within walking distance from the USC Campus. No need to ride the red car.
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Paeonios - Lawrence Byers: 901 Carer Ave., Wichita, KS ---- Whew!
That took a bit of sleuthing - depending on what side of the street had the odd numbers, it was either this quaint little thing, or a PUD apartment complex (for shame). The house is located on a little peninsula of land surrounded by a river, and is not too far from a fantastic little place called the Castle Inn - it kind of makes me want to go to Kansas for the first time in my life.
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A early mention of women in the profession is on Page 4 (Delegates Remember). Marion Petri and Gladys Bruillard found an interiors studio in Minneapolis. Marion and Gladys are members of the Beta Chapter of Alpha Alpha Gamma national architectural sorority. So is Teresa Snure, who is engaged to Bro. Frank R. Root of Mnesicles (page 11).
ReplyDeleteIIRC, these are the first mentions of Alpha Alpha Gamma in the Archi. Founded in 1922 Alpha Alpha Gamma was a professional sorority with 10 student chapters prior to WWII. Several were at schools with APX chapters. (Look for mention of expansion to Illinois in October 1924). The Archi will occasionally note joint events between chapters or engagements until the 1930s. In 1934 the alumnae of the sorority formed the Association of Women in Architecture (AWA), and in 1948 AAG reorganized as its undergraduate branch. The national organization disbanded in 1964. (See http://www.awa-la.org/history.php for more info.)
Alpha Rho Chi was not the only national architecture fraternity of this era. Scarab was also a member of Professional Interfraternity Conference for architecture. Triangle Fraternity would soon start recruiting architects to join their engineers. Besides the nationals, there were countless local architecture fraternities. (Some became APX chapters; this issue tells of plans to convert the local Delta Club to Dinocrates Chapter.) Alpha Alpha Gamma adds another, distaff element to this mix.
However from today's vantage point, AAG seems the strangest of the mix. It was not a competitor to APX, yet so many of their sisters could have been made our good brothers just a half-century later.