Hook, Mary Rockwell

Mary Rockwell Hook

Please log in or register to edit.

Dates of Birth and Death

1877-1978

Education

  • Wellesley College
  • Art Institute in Chicago
  • École des Beaux-Arts in Paris

Affiliations/Firms

  • Howe, Hoit & Cutler
  • Hoit, Price & Barnes
  • Hook & Remington

Biography

Mary Rockwell Hook (1877-1978) was a lady-architect as Thomas Jefferson was a gentleman-architect—her social status made it inappropriate to accept payment for work. Mary was the middle daughter of five close-knit girls of a wealthy grain-trader in Junction City. Mary attended Dana Hall, a girl’s preparatory school in Massachusetts. After graduating from Wellesley College in 1900, she traveled through Europe and to the Philippines where her uncle had been appointed military governor. She then met dignitaries with her father in Japan and China and stopped in Singapore, Ceylon, Malta, and the Suez Canal during her return travels. These travels inspired her to study architecture and in 1903, she enrolled at the the Art Institute in Chicago—the only woman in her architecture class. She continued her studies in 1905 at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Marcel Auburtin, who was engaged to (but never married) her sister, Kitty. Her sister Bertha married Italian architect Carlo Gino Venanzi. Although her father would not let her accept payment, she worked for Howe, Hoit & Cutler in 1907 (which would become Hoit, Price & Barnes after 1919). At the time, they were designing the “Corinthian Hall,” the Kansas City residence for lumberman Robert A. Long. After her studies were complete, she designed houses on lots that her father purchased. In 1921, at age 44, she married Ingram Hook, a Kansas City lawyer. After two years of marriage she tentatively asked her husband if he had “any objections” to her “doing architecture professionally.” With his blessing, she led her own firm, Hook & Remington from 1924-1928 with her friend, Mac Remington.

Major Buildings and Projects

1004 West 52nd Street in Kansas City, Missouri, 1908-1909

1004 West 52nd Street in Kansas City, Missouri, 1908-1909

5011 Sunset Drive in Kansas City, Missouri, 1922-1923

4940 Summit Street, in Kansas City, Missouri