During the month of April, the "Early Women of Architecture in Maryland" exhibit will be on display in the Greenbelt Community Center (15 Crescent Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20770). A free talk on one of the women in the exhibit: Victorine Du Pont Homsey, FAIA (1900-1998) will be presented by  Jillian Storms, AIA, on Thursday evening, April 20, in Room 201 of the Community Center starting at 7:30pm as part of the Greenbelt Museum's quarterly lecture series. Immediately following the lecture, join us for light refreshments and a viewing of the exhibition. 

 

Victorine & her husband Samuel founded their architectural practice in Wilmington DE in 1935, one of the first husband-and-wife architectural firms in the U.S. During WWII, the family termporarily relocated to Washington DC where Victorine worked with the Federal Housing Administration to design war worker housing. In collaboration with architect Eugene H. Klaber, she designed a number of educational and service buildings in the public cooperative community of Greenbelt, founded in the New Deal Era under the United States Resettlement Administration.  Soon after the war ended, the Homseys returned to their Delaware practice, but continued to have projects in Maryland, including some award winners. In 1967, she followed in her husband’s footsteps and was honored by obtaining Fellow status in the American Institute of Architects. She lived to the age of 97, leaving a legacy of an inspiring work and words.

 

The "Early Women of Architecture in Maryland" exhibit is on view along the first floor hallways of the Greenbelt Community Center during their open hours of M-Sat 9am-10pm and Sundays 10am-7pm. The Women in Architecture (now called EQUITY) Committee of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Baltimore Chapter, in collaboration with the Baltimore Architecture Foundation, embarked on the project to assemble the stories of women pioneers in the profession. With research assistance from students at Morgan State University and a starter grant from the Maryland Humanities Council, they developed this travelling exhibit that showcases twelve extraordinary women,  Many of the women practiced through the lean years of the Depression and World War II, designing buildings in Maryland and across the country, serving as a story of perseverance and determination

 

Jillian Storms, AIA, received the  Baltimore Architecture Foundation's Roger Redden Award in recognition of her work in both organizing the volunteer research effort and curating the “Early Women of Architecture in Maryland” traveling exhibit.  She once has served as Chair of AIABaltimore's Women in Architecture Committee; President of the Baltimore Architecture Foundation, and as co-chair of the Friends of Maryland Olmsted Parks & Landscapes’ Inventory and Research Committee. She has a Master of Architecture from the University of Oregon and a Bachelors in Urban Studies & Planning from Goucher College where she picked up her penchant for research.  Currently, she serves on the AIA Baltimore Board of Directors and is a School Facilities Architect for the Maryland State Department of Education.