Louise Bethune

(1856-1913)

The first woman to become a licensed architect in the United States, Ms. Bethune’s contributions to the land- scape, including her iconic Hotel Lafayette, would have been widely visible to Mr. Hitchcock on his Buffalo trip, but none are acknowledged in his monograph or building lists. In fact, the only woman to be acknowledged in the 1940 exhibition was a young socialite named Jessie Mixer, to whom, while not a professional architect, Hitchcock attributes much of the design influence at her Tillinghast Place home.