{{Short description|American architect (1883–1967)}} {{for|the diarist during the American Revolution|Mary Gould Almy}} {{Infobox architect | name = Mary Almy | alt = A young white woman wearing an academic mortarboard cap | caption = Mary Almy, from the 1905 yearbook of Radcliffe College | birth_date = 1883 | birth_place = Beverly Farms, Beverly, Massachusetts, United States | death_date = {{death date and age|1967|7|29|1883}} | death_place = Boston, Massachusetts | alma_mater = Radcliffe College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology | spouse = | children = | awards = | practice = Howe, Manning & Almy, Inc. | significant_buildings = | significant_projects = | significant_design = | image = MaryAlmy1905.png }} '''Mary Almy''' (1883–1967) was an American architect, and a partner at Howe, Manning & Almy, Inc., one of the first architecture firms founded by women in the United States and specializing in domestic architecture.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Lady Architects: Lois Lilley Howe, Eleonor Manning and Mary Almy, 1893-1937|last=Cole|first=Doris and Keren Cord Taylor|publisher=Midmarch Arts Press, NYC|year=1990|isbn=1-877675-01-6|location=New York}}</ref> She studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1917 to 1919.
==Early life and education== Almy grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She had polio as a child and walked with crutches throughout her life. In 1905 she graduated from Radcliffe College. She worked as a teacher before developing an interest in architecture. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1919 after three years of study. Due to academic policies in place at the time, female students were not accepted into the four-year program in Architecture, but limited to the two-year degree program in architectural drafting at MIT.<ref name=":1" /> Prior to her education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Almy designed a summer home for her family on Cape Cod.<ref name="Allaback2008">{{cite book|author=Sarah Allaback|title=The first American women architects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OpY0KmICqKYC&pg=PA42|access-date=5 February 2012|date=23 May 2008|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-03321-6|page=43}}</ref>
==Career== Almy worked as a drafter at a London based architectural firm called Collcutt and Hamp, for two years. In the 1920s, she became a drafter for the Boston firm owned by Lois Lilley Howe and Eleanor Manning, who had also attended MIT. In 1926, she became a member of the American Institute of Architects and a partner at Howe, Manning & Almy, Inc.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://libraries.mit.edu/news/bibliotech/howe-manning-papers/ |title=Featured Special Collection: Howe, Manning & Almy papers | MIT Libraries News |publisher=Libraries.mit.edu |date=2015-05-04 |access-date=2015-10-14}}</ref> Upon becoming partner at the firm, she took over the position of chief draftsman.<ref name=":1" /> Despite surviving the Great Depression, the firm closed in 1937 after Howe retired. Manning and Almy continued in private practice. Almy also worked with landscape architect Henrietta Pope.<ref name="Allaback2008"/>
== Works == {| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;" !Commission Number !Building Name !Year !<small >Location</small> !Other Information ! class="unsortable" |Reference |- |652 |Fitchburg Art Museum |1926 |185 Elm St, Fitchburg, Massachusetts 01420 | |<ref name=":0" /> |- |660 |Cape Cod Competition |1926 |Unbuilt | |<ref name=":0" /> |- |684 |The College Club of Boston |1926 |44 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02116 | |<ref name=":0" /> |- |686 |Pine Manor College |1926 |400 Heath St, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467 | |<ref name=":0" /> |- |724 |Radcliffe College |1928 |Cambridge, MassachusettsUnited States | |<ref name=":0" /> |- |831 |Fleur-de-Lis Camp |1931 |120 Howeville Rd, Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire 03447 | |<ref name=":0" /> |- |834 |Stevens Institute of Technology |1932 |1 Castle Point Terrace, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030 | |<ref name=":0" /> |- |835 |Winship - Boston Public Schools |1932 |54 Dighton Street, Brighton, MA 02135 | |<ref name=":0" /> |- |866 |Subsistence Homesteads Division |1933-34 |United States Department of the Interior | |<ref name=":0" /> |- |867 |Lynn Boy Scout Camp |1934 |Lynn, Massachusetts | |<ref name=":0" /> |- |873 |Paine Webber |1934 |48 Congress Street, Boston, MA | |<ref name=":0" /> |- |878 |Lynn Bank Block |1934 |21–29 Exchange Street Lynn, MA 01901 | |<ref name=":0" /> |- |890 |Cambridge Social Union |1935 |Cambridge, Massachusetts | |<ref name=":0" /> |- |944 |Garland Junior College |1937 |Chestnut Street Beacon Hill, Boston | |<ref name=":0" /> |}
==Legacy== Mary Almy's papers reside in the collection for Howe, Manning and Almy at MIT.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://libraries.mit.edu/archives/research/collections/collections-mc/mc9.html|title=Guide to the Records of Howe, Manning & Almy, Inc. and the Papers of Lois Lilley Howe, Eleanor Manning O'Connor, and Mary Almy MC.0009|website=Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Institute Archives and Special Collections|access-date=2016-05-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701172149/https://libraries.mit.edu/archives/research/collections/collections-mc/mc9.html|archive-date=2019-07-01|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Almy family papers are located at the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College.<ref name="Allaback2008"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/deepLink?_collection=oasis&uniqueId=sch00089|title=Almy family. Papers of the Almy family, 1649-1967 (inclusive), 1835-1967 (bulk): A Finding Aid.|website=Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University|access-date=2016-05-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701141150/http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/deepLink?_collection=oasis&uniqueId=sch00089|archive-date=2016-07-01|url-status=dead}}</ref> Howe, Manning, and Almy were the subject of a dissertation defended in 1976 at Boston University by Gail Morse.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|url=https://open.bu.edu/bitstream/handle/2144/6073/Morse_Gail_1976_web.pdf?sequence=3|title=The Firm A Study of the First Women's Architectural Firm in Boston: Howe, Manning, and Almy|last=Morse|first=Gail|date=1976|website=Open BU|access-date=2019-01-15|hdl=2144/6073}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Almy, Mary}} Category:1883 births Category:1967 deaths Category:MIT School of Architecture and Planning alumni Category:Architects from Cambridge, Massachusetts Category:Architects from Boston Category:Radcliffe College alumni Category:American women architects Category:20th-century American architects Category:Museum designers Category:Quaker Philanthropy Category:Colonial Revival architecture Category:Polio survivors