Louise Blanchard Bethune: Every Woman her Own Architect

By Kelly Hayes McAlonie (State University of New York Press, 2023)
Architect, mother, cyclist, partner: Buffalo architect Louise Bethune was all of these and more. And although she was the first professional woman architect in the United States, her story has remained largely untold.
In a notable new book?one of two biographies of Bethune to appear in the past decade?architect and Canadian ex-pat Kelly Hayes McAlonie offers a comprehensive and compelling account of Bethune?s life and career. What may at first glance seem like a minor story in a minor place is, in fact, an inspiring history of everyday professional determination and ethics, situated in a region that was a centre of innovation and wealth at the time. The thoughtfully researched narrative offers an extensive look into Bethune?s career, including the founding of her office in 1881, where she was later joined by her husband, Robert Bethune, and then by architect William Fuchs. Together, the ?partnership of equals? designed numerous residential, commercial, and public buildings, especially schools. In 1888, Bethune was the first woman elected to the American Institute of Architects, and in 1889, she became the AIA?s first female fellow. 
Louise?s crowning achievement was as lead designer and construction supervisor of the 1904 Hotel Lafayette in Downtown Buffalo, the largest luxury hotel of its decade. (The building was renovated and its public areas were...