Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter - Grand Canyon Association
Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter - Grand Canyon Association
Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter - Grand Canyon Association
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<strong>Mary</strong> <strong>Elizabeth</strong> <strong>Jane</strong> <strong>Colter</strong><br />
An Incomprehensible Woman
• Born April 4, 1869<br />
• Pittsburgh, Penn.<br />
• Also in 1869<br />
•Completion of transcontinental<br />
railroad<br />
John Wesley Powell<br />
runs the Colorado<br />
Early life
• 1886 William <strong>Colter</strong> dies<br />
• <strong>Mary</strong> attends California<br />
School of Design in San<br />
Francisco<br />
• Apprentices to an<br />
Architect<br />
• Beginning of “Arts and<br />
Crafts” movement<br />
Training
• 1892 begins teaching<br />
Mechanic Arts High<br />
School<br />
• Lectures University of<br />
Michigan<br />
• Meanwhile along the<br />
Santa Fe…<br />
The beginning
Fred Harvey and the Santa Fe<br />
• Harvey Houses<br />
• Harvey Girls
Minnie Harvey…and husband<br />
• “Once Harvey women<br />
begin getting<br />
interested in<br />
something, the men<br />
are pulled along by the<br />
short hairs”.”<br />
• Hosteen Tsani<br />
• Indian House
• 1902<br />
Albuquerque Indian House<br />
• Half hour museum<br />
• Santa Fe Style<br />
• Harvey Indians
Santa Fe Railroad architecture<br />
• 1905<br />
• El Tovar<br />
• Charles Whittlesey<br />
• Norwegian Hunting Lodge<br />
• “…a tourist is continually<br />
harassed by…livery<br />
solicitors and guides,<br />
who..fought..over<br />
prospective customers.”
<strong>Mary</strong> <strong>Colter</strong> Architect<br />
• “Indian House” for El<br />
Tovar<br />
• The Hopi House<br />
– Nampeyo<br />
– Elle of Ganado<br />
– Maria Martinez
• Hired full time 1910<br />
• 41 years of age<br />
A new career
• Lamy, New Mexico<br />
• Ten rooms<br />
• Boutique Hotel<br />
El Ortiz 1910
1913 Kansas City Union Station<br />
• The Westport Room
• Frederick Law Olmsted<br />
encouraged designs that<br />
blended with their natural<br />
surroundings<br />
• “Parkitecture”<br />
• “As long as the Fred<br />
Harvey Company’s work<br />
is passed onto Miss<br />
<strong>Colter</strong>, its present<br />
architect, its<br />
appropriateness can be<br />
considered assured.”<br />
• Direct competition Kolb<br />
Studio<br />
The lookout 1914
Hermit’s Rest 1914<br />
• Trapper cabin<br />
• West Rim Drive tea<br />
house
• “You can’t imagine<br />
what it cost to make it<br />
look [this old]”
Panama - California Exposition 1915<br />
• Painted Desert Exhibit<br />
International Exposition<br />
• Harvey Indians “living as they have<br />
lived and their ancestors have lived<br />
for centuries”.<br />
• Maria Martinez
Indian Garden 1916<br />
• Park Service wants<br />
lodge within the<br />
<strong>Canyon</strong><br />
• Ralph Cameron does<br />
not cooperate<br />
(surprise!)
1920: suffrage<br />
The most powerful woman in the<br />
Fred Harvey/Santa Fe Railroad<br />
companies can VOTE!
Phantom Ranch 1922<br />
• <strong>Mary</strong> 53 years old at<br />
the time
• Rusts Camp<br />
• Roosevelt Camp<br />
• Roosevelt Chalet<br />
What’s in a name?
Why Phantom?<br />
• Phantom Creek<br />
• Why Phantom Creek?
Luxurious accommodations<br />
• Upper one percent<br />
• Authors<br />
– Edna St. Vincent Millay<br />
– Owen Wister<br />
• Movie Stars<br />
– Tom Mix<br />
– Roy Rogers
Details, details
Rock On
Water and Sewage
• Gallup New Mexico<br />
• Sand Paintings<br />
El Navajo 1923
• Working with<br />
architect Meem<br />
• “I got your letter<br />
saying that the hotel<br />
would be ready the<br />
first of February. I<br />
wonder where you are<br />
going when you die?.”<br />
La Fonda 1929
• Favorite building<br />
• Winslow, Arizona<br />
La Posada 1930
The Watchtower 1933<br />
• The perfectionist<br />
100 page brochure<br />
“I won’t love you<br />
Anymore!”
Artist Fred Kabotie<br />
Watchtower interior<br />
“<strong>Mary</strong> <strong>Colter</strong><br />
was…talented…with<br />
strong opinions. We<br />
got along well … most<br />
of the time.”
Tiyo<br />
• Legend of the Snake Clan
Altar Room
• Fred Greer<br />
Second floor pictographs
• Herman Schweizer<br />
Abo Caves
Bright Angel Lodge 1935<br />
• Motor Lodge<br />
• El Tovar vs. BA
Village on the Rim
• Cinder block<br />
construction<br />
Victor Hall 1936
Mimbreno Apache china 1937<br />
• Super Chief<br />
• Turquoise Dining<br />
Room
• Women’s dorm<br />
<strong>Colter</strong> Hall 1937
Union Station Los Angeles 1939<br />
• Closed to public
Painted Desert Inn 1947<br />
• Salt Trail Mural<br />
• Fred Kabotie
Park Service Rustic<br />
• “Attention…devoted<br />
to the harmonizing<br />
…with the landscape”
� Born 1869<br />
� Alvarado Indian House 1902<br />
� Hopi House 1905<br />
� El Tovar cocktail lounge 1905<br />
� El Ortiz 1910: demolished 1943<br />
� Union Station Kansas City 1913<br />
� Lookout 1914<br />
� Hermit Rest 1914<br />
� Painted Desert Exhibit International Exposition 1915<br />
� Indian Garden 1916: not built<br />
� Phantom Ranch 1922<br />
� El Navajo 1923<br />
� Union Station Chicago 1925<br />
� La Fonda 1929<br />
� La Posada 1930<br />
� Watchtower 1933<br />
� Bright Angel Lodge 1935<br />
� Victor Hall 1936<br />
� Mimbreno Apache dishes 1937<br />
� <strong>Colter</strong> Hall 1937<br />
� Union Station St. Louis 1939<br />
� Cosina Cantina Alvarado 1940:<br />
� Painted Desert Inn 1947; interior Salt Trail Mural<br />
� Retired 1948<br />
� La Cantinita La Fonda 1949<br />
� Died 1958<br />
The <strong>Colter</strong><br />
legacy
� Born 1869<br />
� Alvarado Indian House 1902: demolished 1970<br />
� Hopi House 1905<br />
� El Tovar cocktail lounge 1905: only room beams left<br />
� El Ortiz 1910: demolished 1943<br />
� Union Station Kansas City 1913 redesigned 1958<br />
� Lookout 1914<br />
� Hermit Rest 1914<br />
� Painted Desert Exhibit International Exposition 1915<br />
� Indian Garden 1916: not built<br />
� Phantom Ranch 1922<br />
� El Navajo 1923: demolished 1957<br />
� Union Station Chicago 1925 razed 1969<br />
� La Fonda 1929<br />
� La Posada 1930: converted to offices1956, being<br />
renovated<br />
� Watchtower 1933<br />
� Bright Angel Lodge 1935<br />
� Victor Hall 1936<br />
� Mimbreno Apache dishes 1937<br />
� <strong>Colter</strong> Hall 1937<br />
� Union Station St. Louis 1939<br />
� Cosina Cantina Alvarado 1940: Demolished 1970<br />
� Painted Desert Inn 1947; interior Salt Trail Mural<br />
� Retired 1948<br />
� La Cantinita La Fonda 1949: replaced with crepe<br />
shop<br />
� Died 1958<br />
I called my men from the trenches<br />
My quarries, my wharves, and my<br />
sheers.<br />
All I had wrought I abandoned<br />
To the faith of the faithless years.<br />
Only I cut on the timber --<br />
Only I carved on the stone:<br />
“After me cometh a Builder.<br />
Tell him, I too have known!”
� Hopi House 1905<br />
� Lookout 1914<br />
� Hermit Rest 1914<br />
� Phantom Ranch 1922<br />
� Watchtower 1933<br />
� Bright Angel Lodge 1935<br />
� Victor Hall 1936<br />
� Mimbreno Apache dishes<br />
1937<br />
� <strong>Colter</strong> Hall 1937
Bibliography<br />
• <strong>Mary</strong> <strong>Colter</strong>: House Made of Dawn, Karen<br />
Bartlett, KAET documentary<br />
• <strong>Mary</strong> <strong>Colter</strong>: Architect of the Southwest, Arnold<br />
Berke and Alexander Vertikoff<br />
• Desert View Watchtower. M.E.J. <strong>Colter</strong><br />
• Appetite for America, Stephen Fried<br />
• <strong>Mary</strong> <strong>Colter</strong>: Builder Upon the Red Earth,<br />
Virginia Gratten<br />
• Public Architecture and Design-Creating<br />
Community: <strong>Mary</strong> <strong>Colter</strong>. NPR Morning Edition
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