Mary Ramsay Brown Channel (December 8, 1907 – January 21, 2006) was an American architect. She was the first woman licensed to practice architecture in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, although other female architects such as Ethel Furman had previously been active in the state.

Early life and education

The daughter of William Ambrose Brown and Mary Ramsay Brown, Channel was a native of

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. It lies across the Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth River from Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

. She received a bachelor's degree in mathematics at Randolph-Macon Woman's College in 1929, and expressed a desire to study architecture at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, as had her brother. As women were denied entry into the University's graduate programs, at the time, she applied instead to the

School of Architecture This is a list of architecture schools at colleges and universities around the world. An architecture school (also known as a school of architecture or college of architecture), is a professional school or institution specializing in architectura ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, from which she graduated in 1933. Second in her class, she won the Baird Prize Competition Medal, the first woman to receive the honor.

Career

Returning to Portsmouth, she took a position with the firm of Rudolph, Cooke, and Van Leeuwen in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

; unsalaried for two years, she nevertheless gained a great deal of experience, working on a team that designed numerous civic buildings including the city's federal courthouse. In 1935, in a class of five, she was one of three to pass the licensing exam offered by the Virginia Examining Board. Following which, she opened a practice of her own in Portsmouth. In October 1941, she married businessman Warren Henry Channel. The birth of her first child led her to restrict her work to residential and ecclesiastical projects; even so she kept her license until 1990, and was developing architectural drawings until after she turned 80. Buildings designed by Channel were erected throughout southeastern Virginia, including in Greenbrier, Blackstone, and Portsmouth; she also designed additions and extensions to Portsmouth's St. John's Church and Abigarlos, among other structures. A collection of papers related to her career, including drawings and sketches for around 160 projects, were donated to the Special Collections Library at

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

in 2007, where it forms part of the collection of the

International Archive of Women in Architecture The International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA) was established in 1985 as a joint program of the Virginia Tech College of Architecture and Urban Studies, College of Architecture and Urban Studies and the University Libraries at Virginia ...

References

External links

Finding Guide to the Mary Brown Channel Architectural Collection
International Archive of Women in Architecture (Virginia Tech University Libraries)
Brief bio, Virginia Tech University Libraries
(illustrated) {{DEFAULTSORT:Channel, Mary Brown 1907 births 2006 deaths American women architects 20th-century American architects People from Portsmouth, Virginia Architects from Virginia Randolph College alumni Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning alumni 20th-century American women 21st-century American women