Description:
View the Exhibit on New York Heritage
Louise Blanchard Bethune (1856–1913) is widely considered to be the first woman to practice as a professional architect in the United States. She played a key role in the architectural firm that she founded, going beyond simply designing buildings to supervising budgets and overseeing onsite work—a highly unusual role for a woman at that time. A strong advocate of a woman’s right to work outside the home, she firmly believed in equitable compensation for women.
The exhibition allows researchers to know Bethune not only through her architectural works, but also as a unique individual outside of them.
The Zina Bethune collection on Louise Bethune is open to the public for research and was donated to the University Archives of the University at Buffalo between 2017-2018. For more info on the collection, visit library.buffalo.edu/archives/.
