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WALLBRIDGE, Jean

Born
Edmonton, Alberta, 1912
Died
Edmonton, Alberta, 1979
Biography synopsis
Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Jean Louise Emberly Wallbridge studied in Victoria, British Columbia, Switzerland, England and Edmonton, before going on to complete her Bachelor of Applied Sciences in Architecture from the University of Alberta in 1939. In 1941, after completing her required experience, she was the third woman to qualify with the Alberta Association of Architects. She first worked at Rule, Wynn & Rule in Edmonton, then at the Town Planning Commission in Saint John, New Brunswick. Returning to Edmonton in 1946, Wallbridge was employed until 1950 with the Office of the City Architect and Building Inspector, Mr. M.C. Dewar, where she met fellow architect Mary Imrie. In the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s, the two women travelled together through Europe, South America and Asia, writing about their journeys for the journal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. In 1951, Wallbridge and Imrie established the first Canadian architectural partnership of two women, and went on to build their office/residence, “Six-Acres,” between 1954 and 1957 in Edmonton. Mainly working on residential projects, the two women practiced, lived and traveled extensively together for twenty-eight years until the death of Wallbridge in 1979. (Thanks to Alexis Lenk for the research on Jean Wallbridge.)
Media used
Architecture
Education
University of Alberta, ? - 1939
University of Alberta, ? - 1940
File & Archive locations
Provincial Archives of Alberta
University of Alberta Archives
City of Edmonton Archives, AB
Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Writings about
"Architect's Own House." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada 36 (Feb. 1959): 41
"Claim to Fame." Edmonton Journal 2 Nov. 2003: 82
"Contributors." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (May 1960): 223-229
"House of Mr. J.A. Russell, Edmonton, Alberta." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada 30 (Feb. 1953): 42-43
"List of Members: Alberta." Journal, Royal Architecture Institute of Canada (June 1963): 5
"News from the Institue: Alberta." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Dec. 1949): 448
"News from the Institute: Alberta." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Mar. 1954): 91
"News from the Institute: Contributors to this Issue." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Oct. 1948): 395
"News from the Institute: Contributors to this Issue." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Feb. 1952): 51
"Notes from the Institute: Announcement." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (May 1958): 196
"Notes from the Institute: Erratum." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Sept. 1958): 355
"Notes from the Institute: RAIC Standing Committees, 1954-1955." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Oct. 1954): 372
"Province of Alberta Members." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Jul. 1941): 124
"Row Housing, Edmonton." Canadian Architect (Feb. 1957): 31-32
Adams, Annmarie. "Building Barriers: Images of Women in Canada's Architectural Press, 1924-73 (Journal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada)." Resources for Feminist Research 23.3 (Fall 1994): 11-23
Adams, Annmarie. "Les représentations des femmes, dans la revue de l'Institut royal d'architecture du Canada, de 1924 à 1973." Recherches féministes 7.2 (1994): 7-36
Adams, Annmarie & Peta Tancred. 'Designing Women': Gender and the Architectural Profession Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000
Burgess, Cecil S.. "Provincial Page: Alberta." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Mar. 1941): 52
Burgess, Cecil S. & Donald Grant Wetherell. Architecture, Town Planning and Community: Selected Writings and Public Talks by Cecil Burgess, 1909-1946 Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2005: XLVIII
Contreras, Monica, Luigi Ferrara & Daniel Karpinski. "Breaking In: Four Early Female Architects." Canadian Architect 38.11 (Nov. 1993): 18-23
Dominey, Erna. "Wallbridge and Imrie." http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0010295 Canadian Encyclopedia, 2009
Dominey, Erna. "Wallbridge and Imrie: The Architectural Practice of Two Edmonton Women, 1950-1979." Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada Bulletin 17.1 (Mar. 1992): 12-18
Field, D.. "Notes from the Editor." Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada Bulletin (Mar. 1992): 355
Fisher, Richard. "Review of Student Competition, RAIC, 1939." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Apr. 1939): 85-88
Grierson, Joan and the For the Record Committee, eds. For the Record: The First Women in Canadian Architecture Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2008
Imrie, Mary. "Les girls en voyage." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada 35 (Feb. 1958): 44-46
Joynes, Jennifer R. "Women in the Architectural Profession." Habitat 2.4 (Jul/Aug 1959): 2-6
Joynes, Jennifer R. "Women in the Architectural Profession." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada 36.9 (Sept 1959): 320-321
Kent, Gordon. "Natural Areas Saved by Woman's Bequest." Edmonton Journal 23 Sept. 1989: C3
Powell, Kerry. "Pioneer Spirit Helped Women Build a Career: Edmonton 200 Bicentennial." Edmonton Journal 15 May 1995: B1
Rose, Albert, Bowser, Sara, and Peter Stokes. "Row Housing." Canadian Architect 2.2 (Feb 1957): 20-32
Van Ginkel, Blanche Lemco. "Slowly and Surely (and Somewhat Painfully): More or Less the History of Women in Architecture in Canada." Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada Bulletin 17.1 (Mar. 1991): 5-11

Writings by
Imrie, Mary & Jean Wallbridge. "Planning in Europe." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada 25 (Oct. 1948): 388-390
Imrie, Mary & Jean Wallbridge. "South American Architects." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada 29 (Feb. 1952): 29-31
Wallbridge, Jean. "Book Review: Camini D'oggi." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Aug. 1957): 324
Wallbridge, Jean. "Khyber Pass to Canada." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Jul. 1958): 278-279

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