Episode 105: Mary Nevan Gannon & Alice J. Hands
Our story begins in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the year was 1867 and the month was August - when Bridget Nevan and Peter Gannon gave birth to Mary Nevan Gannon. Alice J Hands was born in Alpine, New Jersey on November 16th, 1974. Mary would attend the New York School of Applied Design for Women in 1892, where she would meet Alice. In only their second year at school, Mary and Alice would team up and enter into a competition to design and build a summer cottage….well they won. During their time in school, Mary and Alice would enter over 10 competitions. I only mentioned the three that they won but the year that they scored the hospital they had entered seven others just that year! Okay so with basically two projects being built - Mary and Alice pretty much had established their firm in their dorm rooms. They called themselves “Gannon and Hands, Architects” officially becoming the FIRST FEMALE FIRM. Mary and Alice would become a part of the 10th Ward Sanitary Committee, in New York City. In 1897, Alice and Mary moved offices still in New York City, 16 East Twenty-Third Street. That same year in November Mary would marry her childhood friend John Walp Doutrich who was a tailor. Two years after Mary and John welcomed a son named Stephen. The company would slowly dissolve. Mary and her hubby would move to Spokane, Washington so that he could start his tailoring business. Alice I think kept the business going but I don’t think they got new work. In 1935 Alice would receive a patent for making a collapsible push cart for milk bottles. At the Age of 97 in 1971 - Alice passed away - in the Post Standard of Syracuse - they mentioned her work but not her partnership with Mary. Before her in 1932, Mary had passed away from Pneumonia.
Caryatid: Lindsey Wikstrom and Jean Suh
We have a duo in the house because that’s what this season is all about. Plus they have a cool story. So Lindsey grew up in a couple of different places - she mentions, Colorado, Arizona, and Michigan - eventually leading her to get a bachelor's at Arizona State University and a master’s at Columbia. Jean grew up mostly in Philly but spent most of her time in Seoul, South Korea. She studied at UVA and then at Yale. They started collaborating and working together on a project while at Studio Gang. Lindsey would eventually move on from Studio Gang, but they got together during the pandemic to start their firm Mattaforma. They do a lot of work in research on materiality with a focus on ethical practice. They quote “invest in research on contextual technical, historic, and cultural material values.”
References
Pioneering Women of American Architecture. pioneeringwomen.bwaf.org/alice-j-hands.
---. pioneeringwomen.bwaf.org/mary-nevan-gannon.
Reeder, Linda. “Gannon &Amp; Hands Solved the Tenement Problem — THE ARCHITECTRESS.” THE ARCHITECTRESS, 14 June 2023, www.lindareederwriter.com/blog/gannon-hands.
Reggev, Kate. “‘Open Only to Women’: Three Early Female-Focused Design Schools — Madame Architect.” Madame Architect, 10 May 2021, www.madamearchitect.org/in-ink/2021/5/10/open-only-to-women-three-early-female-focused-design-schools.
---. “‘Preeminently a Women’s Century:’ the Beauty and History of Remote Architectural Studies — Madame Architect.” Madame Architect, 29 Sept. 2020, www.madamearchitect.org/in-ink/2020/9/28/preeminently-a-womens-century-the-beauty-and-history-of-remote-architectural-studies.
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