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Born: 5/14/1862, Died: 11/17/1949 Minerva Parker Nichols is the best-known woman architect working in nineteenth and early twentieth-century Philadelphia. She won the International competition for the Queen Isabella Pavilion intended to be erected for the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, IL. Although her design was never constructed, and Sophia Hayden's Woman's Building was erected instead, the resultant publicity did much to increase the reputation of Nichols in both the Philadelphia and national press.Nichols was born in rural Lancaster (near the village of Glasford), Peoria County, Illinois, approximately 20 miles west of the city of Peoria. She was the granddaughter of Seth Brown Doane who instilled upon her an interest in building and architecture, something her her mother also encouraged. After an early education in St. Josephs Convent, Dubuque, IA, she studied architecture at the Franklin Institute Drawing School, receiving honorable mention in the Class of 1884/85 and her certificate after attending four terms at the School in May 1886. Following graduation she entered the office of Edwin W. Thorne. When Thorne moved to Arch Street in August 1889, Nichols succeeded him in his office at 14 South Broad Street. Although she made residential architecture a specialty, she designed several women's Century Clubs in the Philadelphia area, an iron foundry, and a macaroni factory. In addition to her successful practice, Nichols lectured on historic ornament and classic architecture in the Women's School of Design in Philadelphia (now Moore College of Art.) In 1891 she married the Rev. William J. Nichols, and in 1896 they moved to Brooklyn, NY. After this time Nichols's practice was limited to work for relatives and friends, and she never actually reopened her architectural offices. At the time of her death she was supervising construction of a residence designed for her older daughter.
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