Elizabeth Ayer
American architect
Elizabeth Ayer (October 13, 1897 – August 4, 1987) is recognized as a pioneering architect in Seattle, Washington, whose professional activities stretched over more than five decades. She was the first woman to graduate from the professional architecture program at the University of Washington and was the first woman to be registered as an architect in Washington State.
Ayer was born in Thurston County, Washington, in October 1897. She enrolled in the University of Washington in 1916, graduating in 1921 with her B.Arch. degree. In 1919, while still a student, she was hired by Andrew Willatsen. The next year, she began her long association with Seattle architect Edwin Ivey. From 1922 to 1923, she worked in New York City, but after a year returned to Seattle, again working with Ivey.
By the late 1920s, Ayer was identified as Ivey's "Associate." During the 1920s and 1930s, Ayer played key roles in design and supervision of the Ivey's residential commissions. About 1930, Ayer became registered as an architect in Washington State.
“Elizabeth Ayer” enters the record as american architect. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Elizabeth, Ayer and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5362356. VIAF identifies the subject as 91123423. The Library of Congress control number is no2009103171. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1897, 1987, 1916 and 1921.
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This entry incorporates text from “Elizabeth Ayer” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.