{{Short description|American architect (1876–1955)}} {{Infobox person | name = Frances E. Henley | birth_date = 1876 | birth_place = Crompton, Rhode Island, U.S. | death_date = 1955 | death_place = Pawtuxet, Rhode Island, U.S. | alma_mater = Rhode Island School of Design | partner = Nellie Evelyn Livermore (?–1952) }} [[File:Hope Building at the Wheeler School.jpg|thumb|The Hope Building of the Wheeler School in Providence, Rhode Island, designed by Franklin J. Sawtelle and Frances E. Henley and completed by Henley alone in 1913.]] '''Frances E. Henley''' (1876 – 1955) was an American architect. She was the first woman to study architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design and the first woman to independently practice architecture in Rhode Island.
==Early life and education== Frances Evelyn Henley was born in 1876<ref>Gravestone, St. Philip's Church Cemetery, Crompton, RI</ref> in Crompton, Rhode Island to Charles A. and Mary E. Booth Henley. She grew up in Providence, Rhode Island.<ref name="RIHS">{{cite web | author1=Harold Kemble | author2=R. P. Flynn | year=1997 | title=Frances Evelyn Henley Papers | work=Manuscripts Division | publisher=Rhode Island Historical Society | url=http://www.rihs.org/mssinv/Mss486.htm | accessdate=6 February 2012}}</ref> Henley's parents wanted her to become a school teacher.<ref name="Buzila">{{cite web |last1=Buzila |first1=Ciprian |title=Frances E. Henley and the Wilcox Building - When Ambition Meets Talent |url=http://rhodetour.org/items/show/264 |website=Rhode Tour |accessdate=10 January 2020 |language=en}}</ref> She disagreed and became the first woman to study at the Rhode Island School of Design for architecture.<ref name="RIHS"/> In 1897 she graduated, with honors.<ref name="RIHS" />
==Career== Eliza Greene Metcalf Radeke helped Henley secure employment as a drafter with Howard K. Hilton, though after a few years Henley quit her job with Hilton due to health problems. She pursued architecture as an independent consultant starting in 1904, making her the first female architect in Rhode Island to practice under her own name.<ref name="RIHS"/><ref name="Buzila"/> She shared office space with Franklin J. Sawtelle, with whom she collaborated on the design of the Wheeler School in Providence.<ref name="RIHS"/><ref name="Buzila"/> In 1912, after Sawtelle's death, she began working with architect Arthur L. Almy.<ref name="Buzila"/> He died in 1924, and Henley took over his practice, under the agreement should would never marry.<ref name="RIHS"/><ref name="Buzila"/> Henley designed mainly private residences along the Atlantic coast.
==Architectural works== Projects completed by Henley include: * 1907 — Apartment house,{{efn|name=Dem|Demolished.}} 83 Franklin St, Providence, Rhode Island<ref>"Gets Verdict For $397,72," ''Providence Journal'', June 10, 1908, 11.</ref> * 1910 — Residence, 59 Ridge Rd, Highland Beach, Warwick, Rhode Island<ref>"A Woman Architect And Her Achievements," ''Providence Journal'', June 11, 1911, 8.</ref> * 1913 — Wheeler School Hope Building,{{efn|name=Wheeler|Designed in association with Franklin J. Sawtelle and completed by Henley alone after his death.}} 216 Hope St, Providence, Rhode Island<ref>{{cite web |last1=Buzila |first1=Ciprian |title=A Shell for Knowledge at Mary C. Wheeler School |url=http://rhodetour.org/items/show/263 |website=Rhode Tour |accessdate=28 April 2024 |language=en}}</ref> * 1927 — Thomas E. O'Donnell residence,{{efn|name=Elmgrove|A contributing resource to the Wayland Historic District, NRHP-listed in 2005. Altered.}} 196 President Ave, Providence, Rhode Island<ref>"Colonial House Impressive Though Built on Small Lot," ''Providence Journal'', March 27, 1932, D.</ref> * 1934 — Alterations to residence, Diamond Hill, Cumberland, Rhode Island<ref>"Architects and Contractors Cheered by Spring Outlook," ''Providence Journal'', December 31, 1933, D.</ref> * 1937 — Alterations to Trinity Episcopal Church, 139 Ocean Ave, Pawtuxet, Cranston, Rhode Island<ref name="RIHS"/>
==Later life and legacy== In 1936, she quit her Providence firm and relocated to Pawtuxet in Cranston, Rhode Island. In Pawtuxet she lived with her partner, Nellie Evelyn Livermore, her former assistant. The couple broke up over health problems in 1952.<ref name="Buzila"/> She died in 1955 at home in Pawtuxet.<ref name="RIHS"/>
Henley's papers are held in the collection of the Rhode Island Historical Society.<ref name="RIHS"/>
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Henley, Frances}} Category:1876 births Category:1955 deaths Category:20th-century American architects Category:People from West Warwick, Rhode Island Category:People from Warwick, Rhode Island Category:Rhode Island School of Design alumni Category:American women architects Category:Architects from Providence, Rhode Island Category:American LGBTQ artists Category:LGBTQ architects Category:LGBTQ people from Rhode Island Category:20th-century American women Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people