For the Record: The First Women in Canadian Architecture.

Janet Collins is a freelance writer in Sechelt, British Columbia.

Ask for the name of a famous architect, and chances are you’ll receive a list of men—Frank Lloyd Wright or Le Corbusier, among others. The token Canadian might be Frank Gehry (although he’s lived most of his life outside of this country) or perhaps Arthur Erikson. And a woman? Don’t count on it. Certainly not a Canadian woman. Which makes this book all the more important.

For the Record pays homage to the first women to graduate in architecture from the University of Toronto. While Jean Hall, Mary Imrie, Alice Ayer Alison, and the other women profiled may not be household names, their designs can be seen in homes and in office, defence, and institutional structures across Canada. The fact that most of the women are largely unknown—as are their contemporaries—underscores the male bias within the professional and the inherent complications of being a woman in a male-dominated field. That said, there is little doubt that their talent and determination have made it easier for today’s young women to enter and thrive in the design fields.

While the graduates of U of T are the focus of For the Record, the book also acknowledges contributions made by other women architects such as Julia Morgan, William Randolph Hurst’s architect of choice, Mother Joseph of the Sisters of Providence (designer of St. Ann’s Academy in Victoria, among other structures in British Columbia and Washington State), and the more recent work of Catherine Chard Wisnicki, Phyllis Lambert, and Blanche Lemco van Ginkel.

Doubtless the book will inspire many an architect wannabe. It’s also fodder for anyone researching the rise of women in the professions or studying the history of architecture in Canada.