Emily Helen Butterfield
| Emily Helen Butterfield | |
|---|---|
|
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| Born |
August 4, 1884 Algonac, Michigan |
| Died | March 22, 1958 Michigan |
| Alma mater | Syracuse University |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Parent(s) | Wells Duane Butterfield (father) and Helen Hossie Butterfield (mother) |
Emily Helen Butterfield (August 4, 1884, Algonac, Michigan – March 22, 1958, Neebish Island) was a pioneer in the Michigan women's movement.
She was Michigan's first licensed female architect, one of the founders of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority, active in Greek life, and a founding member of the Detroit Business Women's Club, the first professional women's club in the nation.
Butterfield was born in Algonac, Michigan, in St. Clair County, near Port Huron. She attended Detroit Public Schools. Butterfield and her father shared a great love of art. In her teenage years she and her father went on sketch trips to the western United States and Europe.
Butterfield was accepted into the architecture program at Syracuse University in 1903. In 1907 she became the first licensed woman architect in the state of Michigan. With her father, she established the firm of Butterfield and Butterfield in 1917. The firm specialised in church architecture, and led the transformation of churches, especially Methodist, from Sunday meeting halls to centers of daily community and social activity. She practiced architecture in Detroit and Pontiac, planning 26 churches throughout the state as well as other buildings including factories, summer camps, stores, schools and homes.
The Detroit Business Women's Club, the first professional women's club in the nation, was started in 1912, by Butterfield (the first president), publisher Emma Spoor, and manufacturer's agent Grace Wright.
In a series of mergers and assimilations, the Club became part of what is now known as BPW/Michigan, in turn a part of the oldest and largest organization for working women in the world, Business and Professional Women (BPW). The national BPW organization is made up of federations from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
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