How Did Mary Colter Want To Get A Degree In Art?

In order to get a job, Colter had to persuade her parents to allow her to get a degree in art. Colter had to repeatedly ask them for three years, and it wasn't until her father's sudden death that she was able to encourage her mother and sisters to send her to a college. Colter attended California School of Design and was taught architecture which was unusual for women during that era.

Mary Colter's struggle was finding a well paying job, but she was working in a man's world where women were not treated equally. Colter needed to be aggressive in talking and working in order to get the career she wanted and the respect she needed.

Colter really wanted a career in art and design. She also apprenticed with an architect in college. However,
She worked as a teacher with a steady income to support the family. She also took temporary job offers with the Fred Harvey Co.

Colter had to work as a teacher most of her early years, but she did not enjoy teaching as much as designing. Once she accepted a summer job at the Fred Harvey Co., she knew that she wanted to work for them as a designer. In 1908 Mary accepted a permanent job as a display designer and decorator with the Frederick and Nelson Department Store in Seattle.
The time of her dreams had arrived. Then, in 1910 Colter accepted a permanent job with the Fred Harvey Co. She became so valued that the Fred Harvey Co. trusted her with major architect and interior design jobs. The Fred Harvey Co. knew that she could be entrusted to create tourist attractions that people were more impressed with. Her continued to work as a architect and designer until she was 79.

Colter is now credited for her work, and she showed the whole world that being a different gender doesn't matter; it's what you do that matters. She showed her amazing talent to the world. Grand Canyon now credits Colter for her work. Many books have been written on how she designed the buildings and, there are some books dealing with the conflicts in her
1886: Father died from a blood clot in his brain.

1886: She persuaded her mother to allow her to go to school at California School of Design in San Francisco so that she could support the family because of her father's death. (Age 17)

1890: Colter graduated and returned to St. Paul, Minnesota to find a teaching job. She found a job at Mechanic Arts High School in St. Paul.

1902: She was hired for a summer job by Fred Harvey Co. to design and display Indian artifacts for the Indian building adjoining their newest property, the Alvarado Hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

1902: She accepted the job offer from Fred Harvey Co. to design the Hopi House. (Age 33)

1905: She finished designing the Hopi House and went back to teaching at St. Paul, Minnesota.

1908: She took a job as a display designer and decorator with the Frederick and Nelson Department Store in Seattle because she was not happy with teaching.

1909: Her mother, Rebecca, died from anemia on December 17, 1909.

1910: She was finally offered a permanent position with the Fred Harvey Company. (Age 41)

1914: She designed Hermits Rest at the Grand