Storming the Old Boys' Citadel: Two Pioneer Women Architects of Nineteenth Century North America

This book focuses on the lives and works of two of the very first women of European American ancestry to practice architecture in North America during the 19th century. Mother Joseph du Sacré-Coeur, a Sister of Providence—born Esther Pariseau, in St. Elzéar, Quebec—is credited with works built in the present states of Washington, Idaho, Montana, northern Oregon, and in the province of British Columbia. For her contributions, Mother Joseph was honored by the State of Washington as one of two people to represent it in the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington, DC. Louise Blanchard Bethune designed and built works in the Buffalo, New York area. Storming the Old Boys’ Citadel follows the evolving histories of two Revival-styled multiuse public buildings considered to be these women’s major works. Listed on the United States’ National Register of Historic Places, they have both continued to function, with extensive additions and other changes made to each architect’s original structure, for the communities where their architects lived. The book addresses issues of lost or hidden North American history.