Buffalo's Bethune: America's First Professional Woman Architect - BECHS
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The Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society presents “Buffalo's Bethune: America's First Professional Woman Architect,” focusing on the life of Louise Blanchard Bethune. Bethune's most famous building is the Lafayette Hotel, which now undergoing restoration.
The exhibit was created with the assistance of guest curator Kelly Hayes McAlonie, American Institute of Architects (AIA), LEED® AP, interim assistant vice president of the Capital Planning Group at UB, and president-elect of AIANYS; her husband, Brian McAlonie, vice president of account services at Thinking Outside The Square, a design firm; and illustrator/designer Michael Gelen,of Inkwell Studios.
Along with the museum’s staff, this team has created a series of wall-mounted panels, including ephemera and artifacts. Each panel addresses a major theme from Bethune’s life and career: apprenticeship, design work, professional recognition, masterpiece, hobbies, and legacy.
In 1881, Bethune, 25, a drafting apprentice for Buffalo architect Richard Waite, opened her own office; the first woman in the United States to do so. Shortly thereafter, she married fellow architect Robert Bethune, who joined the firm. Two years later, the Bethunes added William Fuchs (rhymes with “books”) to the practice; it became known as Bethune, Bethune & Fuchs.
Bethune’s additional distinctions include:
First woman to be admitted to the American Institute of Architects(AIA)
First woman to be named a Fellow of the AIA, its highest honor
She founded the Buffalo Society of Architects, which eventually became the AIA Buffalo/WNY chapter.
November 30, 2011
Louise Bethune and the Lafayette Hotel
Panelists will discuss Bethune’s masterpiece work, the Lafayette Hotel, now under major renovation in downtown Buffalo.
Members of the panel will include Kelly Hayes McAlonie, co-curator of the Bethune exhibit and author of a forthcoming biography; Earl Ketry, owner of Pearl Street Grill & Brewery, who is working closely with developers on the Lafayette Hotel renovation and who will be opening a new restaurant there; Rocco Termini, the current owner and lead developer of the Hotel; and Martin Wachadlo, architectural historian and a co-nominator of the Lafayette Hotel for its national historic landmark status.
Additional topics will include those addressed in the Historical Society’s exhibit, such as: Bethune as the first nationally recognized professional female architect; the Lafayette Hotel’s presence and architectural significance importance in early 20th century Buffalo; and the contemporary renovation and ongoing plans for the Hotel today.
Cynthia Van Ness, MLS, director of library and archives for the Historical Society will moderate. There will be a question-and-answer session as well.
Historical Society members: FREE. Non-members: FREE with museum admission.
Buffalo Architecture: A Guide (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780262520638
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The First American Women Architects (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780252033216
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ISBN-13: 9780801870521
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Availability: Out of Print
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From Craft to Profession (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780520214941
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