And this is the last of the 'county firsts' for August! Kevin and I were both absolutely charmed by the little community of Bellefonte, which we visited on our way home from his birthday trip last month; it's picturesque and out of the way, nestled between the mountains of Centre County. We were actually a little sorry that we couldn't stay longer. It seemed like every turn we took brought us to another beautiful building, particularly the Centre County Courthouse, and there were a surprising number of historical markers to be found.
I decided to go with this one for the first Centre County marker because the woman it celebrates is quite extraordinary, and I was curious to learn more about her.
 |
| The marker stands in front of Plaza Centre at 124 West High Street, Bellefonte |
After graduating from Bellefonte High School, she spent a year at Pennsylvania State Collect (which today is known as Penn State University), where she was the only woman in the mechanical engineering class. From there she went to Cornell University, where in 1911 she received her degree in architecture. She was only the fifth woman in the school's history to earn a degree in that male-dominated course of study.
After the war, having long since come to the conclusion that industrial design was her passion, she began to look into creating designs that would save both time and effort in the home. In 1920, she became the first woman certified by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania as an architect. She also became a successful inventor, holding seven patents, the first of which was for a combination sink and washtub to save space in the kitchen. Anna was convinced that although architecture was traditionally regarded as a man's art, women could excel in it because of their understanding of how a home is laid out, and she was out to prove it. In 1924 she patented a design for a kitchen which focused on "comfort and convenience, efficiency, and conservation of space." The design included glass-fronted cabinets, sloped countertops, and a new way of arranging the oven and cooking surface. Google Patents has preserved her original sketches, so we can see her innovative ideas here.
Anna's most famous patent came in 1927, when she developed what became known as the K Brick. (The K was in her honor; it didn't look anything like a K.) It was a hollow clay brick, lighter and less expensive to make than regular bricks, because it used fewer materials and didn't need to be fired as long. It was fireproof, and the empty interior could be filled with insulation or soundproofing material as needed. You know the concrete blocks used in construction even today? Yeah, they're based on her original design. She received honors from the American Ceramic Society in 1931 for the brick.
Anna died on February 5, 1943. She never married and had no children, and is buried with her parents in Bellefonte's Union Cemetery. Her great-niece, Nancy Perkins, is also an architect who has done considerable work to honor her great-aunt's memory and shine a light on the influence she still has on the craft even today. She's also the one who wrote about Anna's achievements for the Bellefonte Historical and Cultural Association website. Anna's beautiful hometown, which benefited so much from her contributions and talent, is in no danger of forgetting her.
Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I would love to hear from you!