Monday Mems #5: WHM Julia Morgan

Julia Morgan was born in 1872 in San Francisco, California, at a time when the construction industry was dominated by men. She moved to Oakland at an early age where she would attend and eventually graduate from Oakland High School. It was at her graduation dinner that she had a conversation with a relative, an architect, who inspired her to pursue a career in architecture. She applied to UC Berkeley and studied engineering there, attending various architecture lectures and seminars that fed her love for the field. After hearing about the École de Beaux-Arts in Paris, which was considered the best architecture school in the world, Morgan decided to apply. She graduated from UC Berkeley with full honors awards and became the first woman to be admitted into the École de Beaux-Arts in Paris.

After completing her studies in Paris, Morgan returned to California and became the first female architect to be licensed in the state in 1904. She is known for introducing the Arts and Crafts Movement into west coast design and architecture, and for creating buildings that were seismically sound. Some of her most notable works include the "Hearst Castle" in San Simeon, California, the "Heritage on the Marina" in San Francisco, and Mills College in Oakland. In 2014, she was posthumously awarded the highest award in architecture, the AIA gold medal, and became the first woman to ever do so.

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