Boston Society of Landscape Architects Spring Fieldbook Volume 14.1 | Page 42

Elected Officers Appointed Committee Chairs President Tim Nickerson, ASLA BSLA Awards Chair Michael Wasser, ASLA Past President Kathleen Ogden Fasser, ASLA Communications Todd Robinson, Associate ASLA Secretary Crystal Maring, ASLA Emerging Professionals Nina Chase, Associate ASLA Treasurer Jef Fasser, ASLA Membership Natalie Adams, ASLA Trustee Jeanne Lukenda, ASLA Nominations – Fellows Harry Dodson, FASLA Member-At-Large Kevin Horgan, ASLA Nominations - Awards Kaki Martin, ASLA Appointed Section Chairs Programs Elena Saporta, ASLA Maine Section Chair Steve Ribble, ASLA Western Massachusetts Section Chair Mark Lindhult, FASLA ASLA Liaisons Advocacy Elena Saporta, ASLA Historic American Landscape Survey (HALS) Marion Pressley, FASLA 2014 Fieldbook Editorial Team Todd Robinson, Chair Tim Nickerson Natalie Adams Vicki Carr 40 BSLA Graphic available at ASLA website Public Awareness Jon Pate, ASLA Scholarship Chair Joe Strayer, Associate ASLA Chapter Office Vicki Carr, Affiliate ASLA [email protected] Condensed from an essay entitled, “Against All Odds: MIT’s Pioneering Women of Landscape Architecture.“ Mabel Babcock Rose Standish Nichols Marian Cruger Coffin BSLA Leadership Images courtesy of MIT Archives MIT’s Pioneering Women of Landscape Architecture Eran Ben-Joseph, Ph.D., Holly Ben-Joseph, ASLA, Anne Dodge The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had one of the earliest Landscape Architecture programs in the United States. It was an influential, yet little known and short-lived program that lasted from 1900 to 1909. Not only was it one of only two professional landscape architecture education programs in the United States at the time (the other being at Harvard, which also started in 1900), it was the first program to accept women. Harvard did not admit women until 1942, some four decades later. Unlike other schools of the era, the MIT program did not separate its female students from their male counterparts or from the academic leaders and designers of the time; MIT’s women were given the opportunity to study directly under Beaux-Art design pioneers such as Charles S. Sargent, Guy Lowell, Désiré Despradelle and Francis Ward Chandler. Getting Started: The Landscape Architecture Option In the late 1800s, changes in construction technologies, a growing interest in natural sciences, and diversity in public and private commissions spurred curriculum adjustments within MIT’s existing Department of Architecture. Department leaders initiated additional components, called options, to augment the architecture program. In 1898, Guy Lowell, a graduate of Harvard, MIT and the Ecole des Beaux Arts, took charge and shaped what would become the landscape architecture option at MIT. This educational approach was modeled on the French system, with key aspects of the ‘atelier,’ including competitive camaraderie, collaboration and the exchange of ideas. The first year’s courses consisted of the fundamentals of biological, botanical and geological subjects, followed by a curriculum of basic architectural design, the history of landscape architecture, and horticulture taught at the Arnold Arboretum. The second to fourth year courses focused on architectural history, landscape design, practical work and horticulture. Throughout the duration of the program, freehand drawing, pen and ink and watercolor courses supplemented the core curriculum. MIT, unlike Harvard, did not offer a specific degree in Landscape Architecture; the MIT students received a degree in Architecture regardless of whether their concentration was in landscape architecture or in architecture. MIT’s divergent attitude vis-à-vis landscape architectural education proved detrimental to the school. Unable to complete with Harvard’s specialized degree, MIT’s program suffered from low enrollment and was terminated in 1910. Despite the short tenure of MIT’s landscape architecture program, several of its female graduates went on to become wellknown landscape architectural practitioners, authors and teachers. Among these distinguished women were: Rose Standish Nichols (1872-1960), best known as a landscape gardener and author of several books including English Pleasure Gardens (1902), Italian Pleasure Gardens (1928) and Spanish and Portuguese Gardens (1924); Marion C. Coffin (1877-1957), who established herself by designing the grounds of Winterthur, the Henry F. du Pont estate and the University of Delaware campus; and Mabel K. Babcock (1862-1931) who, in addition to teaching at Wellesley College from 1910-1914, designed the MIT President’s garden and Great Court. To read the essay in its entirety, go to: http://web.mit.edu/ebj/www/LAatMIT/LAatMIT.htm 2014 Boston Society of Landscape Architects Spring Fieldbook 41