Sophia Hayden Bennett
| Sophia Hayden | |
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Sophia G Hayden, Architect of the Woman's Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago
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| Born | Sophia Gregoria Hayden October 17, 1868 Santiago, Chile |
| Died | February 3, 1953 Winthrop, Massachusetts, United States |
| Fields | Architecture |
| Alma mater | MIT |
| Known for | Woman's Building at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1892 |
Sophia Hayden (October 17, 1868 – February 3, 1953) was an American architect and first female graduate of the four-year program in architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Sophia Gregoria Hayden was born in Santiago, Chile. Her mother, Elezena Fernandez, was from Chile, and her father, George Henry Hayden, was an American dentist from Boston. Hayden had a sister and two brothers. When she was six she was sent to Jamaica Plain, a suburb of Boston, to live with her paternal grandparents, George and Sophia Hayden, and attended the Hillside School. While attending West Roxbury High School (1883–1886) she found an interest in architecture. After graduation Hayden's family moved to Richmond, Virginia, but she returned to Boston for college. She graduated from MIT in 1890 with a degree in architecture, with honors.
Hayden shared a drafting room with Lois Lilley Howe, a fellow female architect at MIT. Hayden's work was influenced by MIT professor Eugène Létang.
After completing her studies Hayden may have had a hard time finding an entry level apprentice position as an architect because she was a woman so she accepted a position as a mechanical drawing teacher at a Boston high school.
She is best known for designing the Woman's Building at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1892, designing the building when she was just 21. The Woman's Building was the nation's most prominent design competition for women at that time. Hayden based her design on her thesis project, "Renaissance Museum of Fine Arts," a grand two-story structure with center and end pavilions, multiple arches, columned terraces and other classical features, reflecting her Beaux-Art training. It became a controversial structure as many women objected to having their work in a separate structure.
Hayden's entry won first prize out of a field of thirteen entries submitted by trained female architects. She received $1,000 for the design, when male architects earned $10,000 for similar buildings.
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