To celebrate International Women’s Day, we are featuring two pioneering women in the field of architecture in Canada, Alice (Malhiot) Ross and (Esther) Marjorie Hill.
This post is a text version of an Instagram post, plus resources for further reading below.
Updated March 9, 2023 to add the following comment received from Prof. Annmarie Adams at McGill University:
“Kudos to Cate Alexander and Ellen Schoeck for new research on Malhiot showing that she was not a registered architect in Alberta, as once thought. See Robert Hill’s updated biographical entry for more context: dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/node/2364/.”
Thank you, Prof. Adams, for the additional information and for highlighting that historical knowledge of women in architecture continues to evolve.
Text: “International Women’s Day” (large white capital letters on black and dark pink background)
Image description: Left: a black-and-white photograph of Alice Malhiot Ross as an older woman; she is outdoors and smiling broadly, wearing glasses, pearl earrings, and a pearl necklace. Right: a black-and-white photographic portrait of Marjorie Hill as an older woman; she is smiling slightly and looking directly at the camera, wearing a light-coloured shirt and darker cardigan. A stack of papers is visible in the background.
Text: “Alice Malhiot Ross (1889-1968)
First Canadian woman to graduate from a school of architecture (1910)
Esther Marjorie Hill (1895-1985)
First woman to graduate from a Canadian school of architecture (1920) and become a registered architect (1925).” (black text on yellow background)
Image description: Left: a black-and-white photographic portrait of Alice Malhiot as a young woman; she is smiling slightly and looking down, wearing a a checked jacket, ruffled shirt, and elaborate dark hat. Right: a black-and-white photographic portrait of Marjorie Hill as a young woman; she is looking directly at the camera and wearing a light-coloured shirt.
Text: “Alice Malhiot was the first Canadian woman to graduate from a school of architecture.
She was born to a French-speaking family in Eastern Ontario and was living in Calgary by 1905.
She moved to Providence, Rhode Island in 1907 and graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1910.” (black text on yellow background)
Image description: A black-and-white photograph of Alice Malhiot wearing dark clothing and standing on the steps leading to the glass entrance of a brick building. A hand-written caption in capital letters reads “Rhode Island School of Design / 1908 Providence R.I.”
Text: “After returning to Calgary, Alice Malhiot worked in the firm of Lang & Major between 1910 and 1913.” (black text on yellow background)
Image description: A black-and-white photograph of Alice Malhiot, wearing a long skirt, winter coat, and hat, standing on the snow-covered ground in front of several wood-clad houses.
Text: “Long thought to be the first woman architecture school graduate in Canada, Marjorie Hill was actually the first woman to graduate from a Canadian architecture school.
She was born in Guelph, Ontario and grew up in Edmonton. She earned a BA in 1916 and began her architecture studies at the University of Alberta.
She later graduated from the University of Toronto in 1920.” (black text on yellow background)
Image description: a black-and-white photograph of Marjorie Hill, seated and wearing a graduation cap and gown, holding bouquets of flowers and a sign reading “B. A. Sc.”
Text: “Marjorie Hill overcame significant opposition to become the first woman to become a registered architect in Canada. She was accepted into the Alberta Association of Architects in 1925.” (black text on yellow background)
Image caption: “Marjorie Hill, Hillcrest Apartments, 1952″ (black text on yellow background)
Image description: a black-and-white photograph of Marjorie Hill’s Hillcrest Apartments, a modern, two-storey residential building with a flat roof, deep overhang, and wide windows with dark frames.
Text: “Alice Ross had a varied career in design and other fields. She launched Ross Home Plans in 1948.
“With Edmonton’s home building setting a new Canadian housing record this year, Mrs. Hugh V. Ross has chosen an opportune moment to specialize in home designing.” – Edmonton Journal, 1948″ (black text on yellow background)
Image caption: “Alice Ross, Hawkeye House, ca. 1949″ (black text on yellow background)
Image description: a black-and-white perspective drawing of Alice Ross’ Hawkeye House, a modern, one-and-a-half-storey house with a flat roof, rectilinear volumes, and trees in the background.
Text: “’One must have artistic talent, practical experience, professional knowledge, good business and executive ability, resourcefulness and a determination to persevere. With these assets there is no reason why a woman should not be as successful as a man.’ – Marjorie Hill, 1920″ (black text on yellow background)
Image description: a black-and-white photograph of Marjorie Hill, wearing a graduation cap and gown and holding bouquets of flowers, stands with a group of men wearing dark suits, ties, and graduation gowns.
Further reading:
- Angela Carr, “Eric Ross Arthur [1898-1982] The Educator: ‘Modern Thought… Built on Society’s Needs,’” Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada 42, no. 2 (2017): 27–44.
- Cheryl Mahaffy, “Alice Charlotte [Malhiot] Ross,” Women Building Alberta, March 30, 2016.
- Cheryl Mahaffy, “(Esther) Marjorie Hill,” Women Building Alberta, March 30, 2016
- Elsa Lam, “Canada’s First Woman Architect Identified,” Canadian Architect, March 7, 2016.
- Robert G. Hill, ed., “Malhiot, Alice Charlotte,” in Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800 – 1950, n.d.
- Robert G. Hill, ed., “Hill, Esther Marjorie,” in Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800 – 1950, n.d.
- Blanche Van Ginkel, “Esther Marjorie Hill,” in The Canadian Encyclopedia, December 16, 2013.
- Susan Pedwell, “Ontario’s First Female Architect,” University of Toronto Magazine, June 19, 2013.
- Annmarie Adams, “‘Marjorie’s Web’: Canada’s First Woman Architect and Her Clients,” in Rethinking Professionalism: Women and Art in Canada, 1850-1970, ed. Kristina Huneault and Janice Anderson (Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2012), 380–99.
- Christopher Thomas and Kim Reinhardt, “Victoria Moderna (1945-1970): Of Civic Myth and Difference in Modern Architecture,” Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada 26, no. 3–4 (2001): 3–14.
- Annmarie Adams and Peta Tancred, Designing Women: Gender and the Architectural Profession (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000).
- Annmarie Adams, “‘Archi-Ettes’ in Training: The Admission of Women to McGill’s School of Architecture,” Bulletin (Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada) 21, no. 3 (1996): 70–73.
- Percy Johnson, “George Heath MacDonald (Class of 1911): The Story of One Graduate from McGill University’s School of Architecture,” Bulletin (Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada) 21, no. 3 (1996): 74–76. Footnote 13 mentions Marjorie Hill’s contribution to the design of the Edmonton Public Library (1922–1923) while working at the Edmonton firm of MacDonald and Magoon.
- Blanche Lemco van Ginkel, “Slowly and Surely (and Somewhat Painfully): More or Less the History of Women in Architecture in Canada,” Bulletin (Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada) 17, no. 1 (1992): 5–11.
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