Drawing was considered an essential skill for late nineteenth-and early twentieth-century architects, and was part of the curriculum at the Institute. MIT-trained Eleanor Manning (class of 1906) created plans and drawings for the buildings she designed, and spent vacations painting architectural subjects she found intriguing. Manning joined in partnership with Boston architect Lois Lilley Howe (MIT, 1890) in 1913. A third MIT alumna, Mary Almy, joined them in 1926.

The architectural firm that grew into Howe, Manning & Almy is believed to be the first architectural firm in Boston founded by women and the second in the United States. The firm completed approximately 500 projects, most of which still stand, including a number of private dwellings in Cambridge. The Howe, Manning & Almy collection (MC 9) in the Institute Archives and Special Collections includes reports, paintings, drawings, blueprints, photographs, diaries, notes, correspondence, and other materials illuminating the lives and work of the three MIT alumnae.

To learn more contact the Institute Archives and Special Collections at mithistory@mit.edu