Gannon and Hands facts for kids

Gannon and Hands was a special architecture company started in 1894. It was the first time two women architects, Mary Gannon (born 1867, died 1932) and Alice Hands, worked together as partners in the United States. Even though their company didn't last very long (from 1894 to about 1900), they became famous for their new ideas about building affordable homes in cities.

The Architects: Mary Gannon and Alice Hands

Mary Nevan Gannon

Alice J. Hands

Mary Nevan Gannon was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1867. She had some experience working in an architect's office. In 1892, she joined the first class at the New York School of Applied Design for Women.

Her future business partner, Alice J. Hands, was also in her class. We don't know as much about Alice Hands. We do know she studied at the New York City YWCA before joining the design school.

Both Gannon and Hands did very well at the school. They won awards for their drawings. They even got jobs designing buildings while they were still students. One big project was the Woman's Building for the 1895 Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia.

Designing Buildings for a Better City

Right after they finished school in 1894, Mary and Alice opened their own architecture company, Gannon and Hands. In that same year, they won a big job to design a hospital in San Francisco. The hospital cost about $30,000 to $40,000 to build.

When the Florence Hospital opened, doctors praised it. They said it was a great example of being clean, easy to use, and beautiful.

Improving City Homes

Early in their careers, Gannon and Hands joined a city group called the Sanitary Investigations Committee. They wanted to understand how poor people lived in New York City. To do this, they actually lived in a New York tenement building themselves.

They called New York's tenement buildings "a shame to our modern times." They wanted to find better ways to build homes for people who didn't have much money. Their company quickly became known for designing new types of apartment buildings. These buildings were affordable, clean, had good airflow, and were practical.

One of their model apartment buildings was designed around a central open space. This space let in light and fresh air. Each apartment had balconies, and there were fire escapes at the front and back. They also included special chutes and bins for trash. Some buildings were made especially for young working women moving to the city. Mary and Alice were even chosen to join the Women's Health Protective Association of New York.

Praise for Their Work

A social reformer named Jacob Riis praised Gannon and Hands in his book A Ten Years' War (1900). He said their buildings were bright and airy. He even said they solved a problem he thought was impossible: building a good apartment building on a small piece of land.

Another important person, Sir Sidney Waterlow, also admired their work. He was in charge of a company in London that built improved homes. He called their plans "the best plans for single tenements I have ever seen." Even in the 1930s, their apartment designs were still used as examples of low-cost housing.

Other Projects

Gannon and Hands designed many other buildings. These included a hotel for women in New York, a women's club building in New York, and a summer home for women students in Twilight Park. They also designed seaside cottages in New Jersey and mountain cabins in the Catskills.

They even designed a very fancy, $50,000 house for a client in California. This house was inspired by the Russian tsar's Livadia Palace. Gannon and Hands were known for watching over the actual building work themselves. They only brought in an engineer if it was absolutely needed.

The End of the Partnership

In 1897, Mary Gannon married John Walp Doutrich. That same year, their company moved to a fancier neighborhood. This showed that they had become quite successful.

However, there is not much information about Gannon and Hands after 1900. This is around the time Mary Gannon moved with her husband and new son to Spokane, Washington. It is likely that the company stopped working together early in the new century.

Selected Buildings

• Hotel for Women, 7th Ave. and 37th St., New York
• Women's Hotel, Broadway and 37th St., New York
• Student Apartment House, 20th St., New York
• Florence Hospital, San Francisco

See also

In Spanish: Gannon and Hands para niños