Posted on April 4, 2019
In the 1800s and early 1900s, men dominated the art and science of architecture. Like...super dominated. There were very, very few women in the field.
But Mary Colter was an exception.
Born on this date in 1869, Colter lived in several states (Pennsylvania, Colorado, Texas) before she was 11 years old, when her family settled down in St. Paul, Minnesota. That town had a large minority population of Sioux Indians, and a friend of Colter's gave her some drawings of Sioux art.
At that point, Mary became interested in Native American art and culture - and she started a lifelong journey of learning more about a variety of Native American peoples' art.
Colter went to art school in California and then returned to St. Paul to teach art at the university level...
...And then she went to work for the Fred Harvey Company.
The Harvey House restaurants were probably the first restaurant chain in the U.S. - with one at many of the rail stops in the Western United States. Colter, with her interest in and knowledge of Native American art, was asked to decorate the interior of the Indian Building at one of the Harvey hotels in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She did so well, she ended up doing a lot more work designing interiors, exteriors, buildings and furniture and more.Colter ended up completing 21 hotels, lodges, and public spaces for the Fred Harvey Company.
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| La Fonda Hotel, Santa Fe |
When the Santa Fe Railroad bought a hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, they leased it to the Harvey Company to operate it - and they used Colter to furnish and decorate the hotel. She cared about authenticity and hired Pueblo people to make furniture and Pueblo artists and artisans to make handcrafted chandeliers and other items used in decoration.
This hotel, La Fonda, became the most successful of the Harvey House hotels, and it also became a style setter. The blend of Puebloan and Spanish art and architecture became known as Santa Fe Style, and it became (and still is!) very popular in the Southwest region.
Colter is also famous for her works in the Grand Canyon National Park, which are now considered National Historic Landmarks. She designed the Hopi House, Bright Angel Lodge, the Desert View Watchtower, and many other buildings. |
| Above, Hopi House Below, Bright Angel Lodge |
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| The Desert View Watchtower seems to change color in the changing light as sunrise (above) turns to day, to sunset, and to night (three photos below). |
From a restaurant in LA's Union Station (right) to china and flatware used on Chicago-LA rail service...
...from every aspect of La Posada Hotel (left), including the gardens, the furniture, and even the maids' uniforms, to guide books to be used at the Grand Canyon... 
...from an inn at the Petrified Forest National Park to a stone fireplace with stones arranged exactly like the geologic strata seen on the Grand Canyon's walls...
...Mary Colter cared about authenticity, details, and back story. She was an amazing woman who ended up retiring to Santa Fe and donating her collection of Native American pottery and relics to Mesa Verde National Park.
Also on this date:
Sonia Kovalevsky Mathematics High School Day (held on different dates by different institutions)
Birthday of lock-and-key inventor Linus Yale, Jr.
Anniversary of the knighthood of Francis Drake
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