Eleanor Manning O'Connor (June 27, 1884 – July 12, 1973) was an American architect and educator passionate about the creation of decent public housing for all.

Early life and education

Eleanor Manning O'Connor was born in 1884 to Irish immigrant parents, Delia Josephine Grady and James Manning, a building contractor in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

. She attended Lynn Classical High School and received an S.B. degree in architecture in 1906. Her thesis was entitled "Design for a Country Residence."MIT (1906). ''Senior Portfolio'', p. 30. Sparrell Print, Boston. She served as the president of Cleofan, MIT's club for women in her senior year.

Architectural practice

Two years after graduation, O'Connor accepted a position as a draftsman with another architect and MIT graduate,

Lois Lilley Howe Lois Lilley Howe (September 25, 1864 – September 13, 1964) was an American architect and founder of the first all female architecture firm in Boston, Massachusetts. Biography Howe was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Howe studied at the ...

. In 1912, she took an extended leave of absence and traveled in Europe with her associate and classmate Eliza J. Newkirk Rogers, creating watercolors of the buildings she observed. She cut short the trip to accept an offer of partnership from Howe and joined the firm calling themselves Howe and Manning, America's fourth firm of female architects, later Howe, Manning & Almy, Inc. The firm frequently worked on remodeling and renovating outdated structures and O'Connor coined the term "renovising" to describe their work. In the 1920s, O'Connor worked with Lois Howe and other architects on the

Village of Mariemont The Mariemont Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District encompassing most of the municipality of Mariemont, Ohio, USA. Mariemont was planned and developed in the 1920s by philanthropist Mary Emery and landscape architect John ...

, a planned community in

Hamilton County, Ohio Hamilton County is located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 830,639, making it the third-most populous county in Ohio. The county seat and largest city is Cincinnati. The county i ...

. During this period one of her major works was a commission from

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for low-cost housing in an Irish neighborhood in

South Boston South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...

called the

Old Harbor Housing Project The Old Harbor Housing Project, later renamed the Mary Ellen McCormack Project, is a 27-acre housing project opposite Joe Moakley Park in South Boston, Massachusetts. History Built in 1936 by the Federal Public Works Administration (PWA) as one o ...

, constructed 1933-1938. She worked with other architects in a collaboration known as the Seventeen Associated Architects. This project, consisting of three story apartments and two story townhouses was distinguished for its residential appeal as compared to the sterile atmosphere of most public housing. Biographer Doris Cole says that O'Connor was the partner most concerned about social issues and her concerns reflected the detailing, choice of materials and attention to proportion that contribute to the appeal of the project. Subsequently, O'Connor served on numerous housing commissions and councils at the city, state and national levels.

Educator

After WWI, O'Connor began lecturing at

Simmons College Institutions of learning called Simmons College or Simmons University include: * Simmons University, a women's liberal arts college in Boston, Massachusetts * Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky * Har ...

as a Special Instructor of Architecture and later of Housing, a position that she held for 50 years . During the 1930s she also taught at

Pine Manor Junior College Pine Manor College (PMC) was a private college in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1911 and was historically a women's college until 2014. It currently serves fewer than 400 students, many of whom live on the 40-acre campus. Origin ...

, Chamberlain School for Retailing, and Garland College. She lectured frequently in the New England area on housing throughout her career.

Collaboration with Johnson O'Connor

In 1931, Eleanor Manning married the American psychometrician, researcher, and educator

Johnson O'Connor Johnson O'Connor (January 22, 1891 – July 1, 1973) was an Americans, American psychometrician, researcher, and educator. He is most remembered as a pioneer in the study of aptitude testing and as an advocate for the importance of vocabulary. ...

, founder of the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation. At the foundation, she championed the causes of women and encouraged women to enter into the fields of engineering, medicines and science.Wyatt, 2002 O'Connor died in Mexico in 1973''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', "Eleanor O'Connor, architect and teacher", July 13, 1973. while researching Indian cultures and is buried beside her husband in

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island, Newport ...

. She was survived by O'Connor's engineer son,

Chadwell O'Connor Chadwell O'Connor (October 9, 1914 – September 5, 2007) was an American inventor and steam engine enthusiast. He is most remembered as the inventor of an improved fluid-damped tripod head, for which he won Academy Awards in 1975 and 1992. E ...

Writings

* Eleanor Manning, "Architecture as a Profession for Women", "Simmons Review", Simmons College, April 1934, 71-75 * Eleanor Manning, "Buildings for the National Welfare", National Altrusan, March 1935.

Notes

References

* Sarah Allaback, "The First American Women Architects", University of Illinois Press, 2008, () * Doris Cole; Karen Cord Taylor; Sylvia Moore, "The lady architects : Lois Lilley Howe, Eleanor Manning, and Mary Almy : 1893-1937", Midmarch Arts Press, 1990, () * ''

'', "Eleanor O'Connor, architect and teacher", July 13, 1973. * MIT Institute Archives and Special Collections, Manuscript Collection MC 9. * Wyatt, George. "Johnson O'Connor: A Portrait From Memory", EPM Publications, Inc., 2002.

External links

Watercolors by Eleanor Manning O'Connor

Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Eleanor Manning 1884 births 1973 deaths 20th-century American architects 20th-century American educators American people of Irish descent American women architects 20th-century American women Architects from Lynn, Massachusetts Architects from Boston