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Olive Frances Tjaden

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Olive Tjaden
Born(1904-11-24)November 24, 1904
New Utrecht, New York, U.S.
DiedMarch 15, 1997(1997-03-15) (aged 92)
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materCornell University
OccupationArchitect
Spouses
  • Carl G. Johnson
  • Roswell Van Sickle[1]
PracticeGustav Erda, Thomas W. Lamb, & Harrison G. Weisman (1925-28) Olive Tjaden, Architect (principal)

Olive Frances Tjaden (/ˈtʃɑːdən/; November 24, 1904 – March 15, 1997) was a pioneering woman architect, one of the first female architects of her generation.

Early life and education

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Born November 24, 1904 in New Utrecht, New York. Her father was John G. Tjaden, a structural engineer.[2]

Tjaden graduated from Jamaica High School at the age of 15.[3] Rejected from Columbia University's architectural program because she was too young, Tjaden waited a year to meet the age requirements for Cornell University's School of Architecture.[3] Tjaden completed the five-year course in four years and graduated from Cornell University in 1925 with a bachelor's degree in architecture at the age of 19.[3] She was the only woman architect in her graduating class.[4]

Career

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In 1929, at the age of 24, Tjaden became the youngest registered architect in New York State.[5] In 1938, she became the first woman admitted to the Brooklyn Chapter of the American Institute of Architects[4] and for many years was the only female member of the organization.[6] She specialized in residential architecture,[4] and was chosen to design a home for the 1939 World's Fair.[4] She designed more than two thousand buildings in her career.[7]

On the recommendation of a Cornell dean, Tjaden was hired by a Mineola, New York, architecture firm and began designing “distinctive homes for people of both significant and moderate means.”[3] From the 1920s to 1940s, Tjaden supervised the design of more than 400 homes in the Garden City area of Long Island, New York.[3] Tjaden's designs included flourishes such as formal breakfast rooms and sweeping staircases.[3] One of her most admired elements was her use of stained glass windows, particularly a colorful peacock door designed by her and constructed in England.[3] The homes were meant to sell for around $12,000.[3] According to Nassau County Historical Society member Millicent Vollono “She would sometimes do a whole block of homes using five or six kinds of styles. When you go through those neighborhoods now, the homes look different, but they all fit together.”[3]

A Tudor mansion Tjaden designed in Woodmere, New York, for a distiller was featured in a 1935 edition of “Good Housekeeping” magazine.[3]

Tjaden's former home on 11th Street in Garden City is marked with a weather vane representing her career- a young woman holding a caliper and sitting astride a T-square.[3] Tjaden often hosted social events for women at her home and the house served as an advertisement for her work.[3]

In 1943, she moved to Florida to capitalize on the building boom of the era.[7] Once in Florida she ceased working on individual homes, but wrote a column for an architectural journal and designed garden apartments.[3] She also served as program director and member of the board for the Museum of Fine Arts in Fort Lauderdale.[1]

Personal life and legacy

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Olive Tjaden Hall, part of the Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning

Tjaden married Carl G. Johnson of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1945.[2] At the time, Tjaden was reported to live in Garden City, New York.

Tjaden died at the age of 92 and left most of her $12 million estate to Cornell.[3] A building housing part of Cornell's College of Architecture, Art and Planning was named in her honor in 1981.[3][8]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Olive Tjaden, pioneering architect who designed more than 400 Garden City, L.I., homes, dies at 92 | Cornell Chronicle". news.cornell.edu. Archived from the original on 2018-03-09. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
  2. ^ a b "OLIVE J. TJADEN MARRIED". The New York Times. 28 May 1945. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "A woman who shaped Garden City style". Newsday. Retrieved 2018-05-07.
  4. ^ a b c d "Brooklyn Body of Architects Admits Woman: Olive Tjaden is First to Be Elected by Chapter of American Institute". Washington Post. February 27, 1938.
  5. ^ "Girl Architect, 24, Designs Long Island Homes to Suit Women Rather Than Men". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 29, 1929.
  6. ^ Obituary of Olive Tjaden Van Sickle. Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) (Published as Sun-Sentinel) - March 18, 1997Edition: FINALSection: LOCALPage: 7B
  7. ^ a b Allaback, Sarah (2008-01-01). The first American women architects. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252033216. OCLC 167518574.
  8. ^ "Olive Tjaden Hall". Cornell University. Retrieved 2018-05-07.
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Tjaden's entry in the International Archive of Women in Architecture Biographical Database at Virginia Tech

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