My wife and I have become quite interested in the American Architect
Julia Morgan, the first female graduate of the architecture school at
the Ecole des Beaux-Artes in Paris. She was also a friend of Phoebe
Apperson Hearst, and we believe a contem****ary of William Sutherland
Maxwell, Richard Bolles and the young Mason Remy, all of whom attended
the same school around the same time.
No doubt Paris was a dynamic place during the 90s, and one can only
imagine the energy there as Phoebe Hearst stopped through in 1898 to
make the pilgrimage to Acre, and May Bolles who tagged along and
eventually declared her faith. She later met Maxwell through her
brother, married and gave birth to Ruhhiyih Khanum. Wow, something
seriously powerful must have been going there.
So here's my question. Given that Julia Morgan was no doubt exposed to
much of this, and to these people, how did the Baha'i beliefs and
principles impact her work and ideals as an architect?
Interesting to consider a woman who would create projects like Ansilomar
and countless YWCA centers that stressed service, environmental harmony
and humility on one hand, and then on the other, Hearst Castle, one of
the grandest manors on the West Coast. The research we've done so far
barely seems to scratch the surface of this intriguing woman and her
influences.
If anybody has any interesting Baha'i "connections" to Ms. Morgan, or
ideas for further research, I'd love to hear it. Again, this is just a
subject that's piqued our interest...
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