Famous Women Landscape Architects in Indiana

Rita McKenzie, Retired IAA Executive Director

Claire R. Bennett, born in 1928 in Burlington, Vermont, was the first woman to enroll in the mechanical drawing at her high school, earned her A.B. in architectural sciences at Radcliffe College in 1949, and completed the first year of an M. Arch. at Harvard Graduate School of Design. When Bennett moved to Indianapolis in 1958, she wanted to apply her LA Design knowledge while caring for her four children, eventually founding her own firm Claire Bennett Associates.

Her body of work contributed to the landscape designs at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Canal Walk, and White River State Park. Among her many accomplishments, in 1978 she was elected president of the Indiana Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (INASLA), served as the president of the National Society from 1990 to 1991, and in 1995 appointed to the National Urban Forestry Council by US Secretary of Agriculture.

Mary Deputy Lamson - Being from Indiana, Claire Bennet’s name might be familiar to you, but how about Mary Deputy Lamson? Mary was born September 6, 1897, in Paris Crossing, Indiana, located in Jennings Co. After two years at State Normal School in Mankato, Minnesota, she returned to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where in 1919 she earned a B.A. and M.A. in English. She then entered Cambridge School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and completed the three-year degree in two years.

Mrs. Lamson worked for Ruth Dean in New York City until Dean’s death in 1932 and in 1934 opened her own company in New York City, concentrating her talents on large estates, college campuses, farms, small suburban gardens, city backyards and penthouses from Maine to Florida. One of her notable works was at Pretty Penny, residence of Helen Hayes in Nyack, New York. In 1935 she was awarded an M.L.A. from Smith College which had merged with Cambridge.

From 1917-1929, Mrs. Lamson corresponded with then Indiana University President William Bryan regarding a landscape plan at IU. In the end she designed a garden at the president’s home but was never able to submit a design for the university.

She published two books, Gardening with Shrubs and Small Flowering Trees (1946) and Garden Housekeeping (1951). In 1950, Mrs. Lamson spoke to the Indianapolis Garden Club about landscaping concepts.

One paragraph from the Indianapolis Star might sound like familiar advice, “When buying shrubs, consider their size at maturity and rate of growth. Small, slow growing young evergreens for example, cannot catchup with tall half-grown dogwoods in time for you to enjoy the combination. Observe species’ habitats before planting.” Sound familiar??

Editors Note:

The Indiana Arborist Association accepts guest articles from membership at large and will also re-publish relevant articles from other publications. Articles may be published, regardless of the beliefs or world view of the author, as long as the article is relevant to the arboricultural community. Some opinions and statements by guest authors may not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the IAA Board or individual members.