Over the course of her career, architect Jean A. Young made a profound impact on the lives of many female architects who struggled to make headway in a male dominated profession.

Born in Detroit, Michigan on February 15, 1922, Jean Alice Linden grew up in Ferndale, a north suburb of Detroit. With an interest in art, in 1940 she enrolled in the fine arts program at Wayne State University. There she studied painting and sculpture for three years, and on the side, worked as a draftsperson and model builder for the Detroit firm of Winn & Brezner (1942-43).

After applying and receiving the Emma Roberts Scholarship in Architecture in 1945, Jean enrolled at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. While there she worked for the Small House Council (1944-46) and for the University (1946-47), as an assistant in architectural history and research. In school she had met engineer Clayton Young, whom she married in 1948. Jean formally graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in architecture on June 8, 1947.

Upon graduation she became the head of the Architectural Interior Department at the large firm of Holabird, Root & Burgee in Chicago (1947-48). In 1948, Jean and her new husband moved to Lexington, Kentucky after Clayton was offered a professorship at the University of Kentucky. Jean took a job as a designer and draftsman at the local architectural firm of Brock & Johnson. On the side, she taught architectural design and drafting at the University of Kentucky.

Within a year, the Youngs decided that neither Chicago nor Kentucky were the places they wanted to work long-term. Together they began a cross-country, three-month tour to find a better place to live. Narrowing their choices to two cities, Seattle or San Francisco, they decided to give Seattle a year-long try, and never left. Young later recalled that they preferred “contemporary” design and noted that the people in Seattle were “freer, with no traditional ties.”

Upon their arrival in Seattle, Jean took a job with the firm of Young & Richardson (1949-1951) and then spent an additional two years in the Seattle office of Skidmore, Ownings & Merrill (1953). After she acquired her state architectural license, Jean and Clayton decided to open their own architectural firm – Jean & Clayton Young.

Early projects included a new gallery wing for the Frye Museum (1954); a lodge at the Camp Sealth Girl Scout facility on Vashon Island (1954); an innovative home for Miitz & Ukiko Ideta House (c.1958); and the Therese Lounsbery House (1959).

In 1957 Clayton took a job as coordinating architect for the Seattle World’s Fair, directing building and site development, and Jean focused on raising their three children, while practicing architecture on the side. Projects during this period in her career included the J. A. Pringle House (c1960); a remodel of office space in the General Insurance Building for dentist Dr. Hoffman (c.1961); the Perkins Musical Kindergarten (c.1962); the Dr. Sherod & Carol Billington House on Clyde Hill in Bellevue (1962); a summer house for the Patterson family in Indianola (c. 1964); a remodel of the law office of former Gov. Albert Rosellini in the Washington Building (c.1965); and the Northgate Mall Branch of Seattle First National Bank (1965).

The couple also is credited with numerous projects on the University of Washington campus including the Artificial Kidney Laboratory (1965); the Linear Accelerator (1968); the Ophthalmology Clinic (1968); Offices and Laboratories for the Hospital Surgery Department (1967); an addition to the Health Sciences – Dental Wing (1968); and the Kincaid Hall – Zoology Research Center (1968, with John Morse).

After the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, both Jean and Clayton became heavily involved in the work of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Together they served as co-chairs for the 15^th Annual Northwest AIA Conference (1966), and Clayton became AIA chapter president (1968). Jean turned her attention to the inequity of women in the field of architecture, helping both at the local, national, and international levels.

In 1974, together with a group of Seattle women architects and urban planners, Young founded SHE (Sisters for Human Environments) association. The association brought together professional women and students from the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning. The main objectives were to improve the position of women in the field, disseminate their work. and to educate women about architecture and the built environment.

She was also an active participant in several congresses of L’Union Internationale des Femmes Architectes (UIFA); an organization that brought together female architects from all over the world to publicize and promote women architects. In 1979 Jean was elected as the UIFA General Secretary and together with L. Jane Hastings, she organized the first UIFA Congress held in the United States, which was held in Seattle.

Jean was also Chair of the Committee on Environmental Awareness & Sensitivity (1969-73) for the Seattle AIA; was a member of “Home of the Month Awards Committee”; was a member of 1976 “Habitat Committee”; and was an active member of the Women in Design International (WIDI) Committee (1980-1982). At the national level, she participated in an important four-year study of women in architecture, where she helped prepare the AIA Policy Statement on Women in Architecture (1976) which developed an affirmative action program for the AIA. In 1974, Governor Dan Evans appointed her to the State Board of Architectural Registration (1974-79).

Notable later projects were varied and included another kindergarten building for the Perkins School (c.1969); the Howard Tuttle summer House on Padilla Bay, Guemes Island (c.1969); an addition to the Bushnell Summer House on LeMoLo Point, Liberty Pt (1969); the William Lewis House on Ken Lake in Olympia (c1970); the Dore & Dubuar Law Office on the 14^th Floor of the Washington Building (1971); the Alex Cugini Summer House at Mariners Cove outside of Oak Harbor (c.1972); and the Seattle National Guard Armory (1973).

Jane and Clayton divorced in 1975. Afterward Jean established her own independent practice operating under the name – Jean Linden Young. Her small firm specialized in thoughtful and creative designs focusing on residential commissions. Reportedly, the firm reached a gross construction volume of one million dollars in projects by 1989. Projects during this latter part of her career included another office space for Dore, Dubuar & Lirhus Law Office on the 21^st Floor of the Washington Building (1975); the Farrell-Johnson Dental Clinic in Kennewick (1979); and Bellevue Plaza Shopping Center (1980).

Young passed away in Seattle on May 25, 1997 in Seattle at the age of 75. Her personal papers, drawings, letters, and correspondence can be found in the “International Archive of Women Architects” collection at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia.

– Michael C Houser