Peddle, Juliet Alice

Juliet Alice Peddle

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Dates of Birth and Death

1899-1979

Birthplace

Terre Haute, Indiana

Education

  • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1922
  • Art Institute of Chicago
  • Berkshire Summer Art Institute

Affiliations/Firms

  • Perkins, Fellows, and Hamilton
  • Edwin H. Clark, Inc.
  • Self-owned firm

Location of architect’s archive

Vigo County Historical Society and Vigo County Public Library, Terre Haute, IN

Keywords

Indiana

Biography

Early Life and Education

Juliet Alice Peddle was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1899. Her father, a professor of machine design, taught her drafting and photography before she enrolled at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1918. After graduating in 1922 with a degree in architecture, Peddle joined the firm of Perkins, Fellows, and Hamilton in Chicago. She became a licensed architect in Illinois in 1926.

Early Career in Architecture

From 1927 to 1931, Peddle worked for Edwin H. Clark, Inc., in Chicago. During this time she co-founded the Chicago Women’s Architectural Club, among the first professional organizations for female architects. The Club was invited to exhibit at Chicago’s first Women’s World’s Fair in 1927 and continued to exhibit during the 1930s.

Peddle lost her job at Edwin H. Clark, Inc., in 1931 due to the Great Depression. She found temporary employment with the Historic American Building Survey (HABS), where she learned much about historic preservation and restoration. In 1939, she established her own firm in Terre Haute, which achieved moderate success before closing from 1942 to 1946 due to a stagnation in residential building brough about by World War II. Peddle continued her work during the war through a series of temporary design jobs.

Later Career

From 1946 through the 1950s, Peddle had few commissions but established strong ties with contractors and community organizations in Indiana. She was commissioned in 1955 to design a medical facility in Terra Haute; the Dr. Roy J. Ault Medicenter helped to further establish Peddle’s reputation as a designer and secured her regular residential commissions through the 1960s. When she retired in the mid-1970s, Peddle continued to work as a historian and developed a slide collection of over one thousand historic buildings.

Peddle died in 1979.

Writings

“Early Terre Haute Architecture.” (Weekly essays and sketches.) Terre Haute Tribune-Star, Feb. 2, 1941-April 19, 1942.

Leaves of Thyme, 1949-1979. Vigo County Historical Society newsletter edited by Peddle.