Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation for promoting and celebrating authentic historic hotels, is proud to announce The 2023 Top 25 Historic Hotels of America Where Women Made History list. The written histories of historic hotels are largely records of the men who built, bought, visited, and made history at these hotels. In the United States, most historic hotels were built in eras when it was uncommon, even considered immoral, for a single woman to stay at a popular hotel without a female companion or family member. When travel became easier in the 19th century with the widespread use of passenger railroads, women were expected to tend to their homes and their families, and not to travel on business or on their own for leisure. However, this does not mean that women were not present at hotels and, subsequently, not a part of the history of hotels in the United States in the 19th and early-20th centuries. Women-only hotels and boarding houses were once common, and remained popular through the 1970s. Larger hotels offered separated women’s and men’s dining rooms, reading rooms, and tearooms for female guests. Within the fields of hotel management and design, a few women held privileged positions of power at hotels as the wives or daughters of hoteliers, or were able to break social barriers and achieve professional success. Under racial segregation up until the mid-20th century, these spaces and rare opportunities for advancement at luxury hotels were exclusively for white women. But women of all backgrounds and classes have been making history at hotels throughout the history of American hospitality: performing gendered labor such as keeping rooms clean, meals served on time, and telephones connected, and even taking action to protest racial segregation. At these hotels, the achievements and compelling stories of the iconic “Harvey Girl” waitresses, trailblazing “Whirly-Girls,” First Ladies, athletes, artists, activists, engineers, and other women who made history represent many facets of women’s history and women’s diverse experiences in the United States. Historic Hotels of America invites travelers to experience these historic hotels in person, and to be inspired to learn more at the places where women made history.
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The Omni Homestead Resort (1766) Hot Springs, Virginia
Women’s sports history has been made several times on the historic golf courses of The Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia. Designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and recently featured in the 2022 Top 25 Historic Hotels of America Most Historic Golf Courses announcement, this historic resort has hosted many tournaments since the 1890s and women have made history on all its historic courses. The New York Times wrote on September 10, 1899: “The well-kept greens have won the praise of all the visiting experts, and, as usual, golf has been the most popular pastime here this Summer. Everyone is anxiously looking forward to the tournament.” Glenna Collett, perhaps the greatest female golfer of her time, won the USGA Women’s Open on The Cascades course in 1928. The victory was among her finest, as she defeated one of her most challenging competitors, Virginia Van Wie. Collett’s win at The Omni Homestead would ultimately be the first of three consecutive first-place finishes in the U.S. Women’s Amateur tournaments; she would ultimately win six U.S. Women’s Amateur tournaments. In 1935, Babe Didrikson Zaharias famously drove her ball into the fork of a tree. Aspiring French golfer Catherine Lacoste won the 1967 U.S. Women's Open at The Omni Homestead Resort. An underdog heading into the competition, no one expected her to win amongst a crowded field of competitors like Louise Suggs, Marilynn Smith, and Sandra Haynie. Despite the odds stacked against her, she managed to beat the entire field, finishing with a 79 in the final round. Lacoste subsequently became the first international golfer to win the U.S. Women’s Open, as well as the youngest. She also had the distinction of being the only real amateur to win the tournament—an achievement that still stands today. First Ladies have also been seen playing golf at The Omni Homestead Resort. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and First Lady Edith Wilson spent their honeymoon at the resort, and played golf together each morning on The Old Course. Future First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy learned to play golf on The Cascades course as a young girl in the 1930s.
The Red Lion Inn (1773) Stockbridge, Massachusetts
The Red Lion Inn is an iconic landmark located in the picturesque town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts in the Berkshires. Celebrating its 250th anniversary in 2023, this historic hotel is steeped in history and has maintained a long-standing tradition of female stewardship. In 1773, Silas Pepoon established the small tavern and his widow Anna Bingham successfully operated the tavern for eleven years after his death. A century later, “Mert” Plumb, married to the inn’s owner, took on the duties of managing the Inn, and began collecting antiques for refurnishing the Inn, some of which remain inside the Inn to this day. In recent decades, The Red Lion Inn has been owned and operated by three generations of women. In 1968, the Inn was purchased by Stockbridge residents, Jack and Jane Fitzpatrick, who renovated the property and made it a year-round destination for the first time. The newly renovated Red Lion Inn brought fame and fortune to the historic inn. Jane operated the Inn until 1993, when her daughter, Nancy, followed in her mother’s footsteps and became the President of The Red Lion Inn. In 2013, Nancy’s stepdaughter, Sarah Eustis, became part of the leadership at the family-owned and women-operated historic hotel. Family recipes passed down through the generations of women also appear on the Inn’s menus. When The Red Lion Inn’s Apple Pie à La Mode recipe was selected for the 2022 Top 25 Historic Hotels of America Most Unique Culinary Heritage and Culinary Traditions, Nancy Fitzpatrick recalled that the recipe was passed down from her grandmother, Mary Pratt: “When we first opened, Nana May (as we called her), went out to the kitchen and showed the chef how she made her pie.” The Red Lion Inn was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 1989, and is a charter member of the program.
The Willard InterContinental, Washington DC (1818) Washington, DC
The Willard InterContinental, Washington, DC has hosted an impressive roster of notable women over the past two centuries. The hotel offered something uncommon: public areas designated for women, including a Ladies’ Lounge, a private entrance for ladies to enter and exit the hotel, and the famous Peacock Alley, when the center of DC was dominated by male-only spaces. In The Pompeian Room, where men and women mingled socially, women were even permitted to smoke—scandalous at the time. One of the most notable women to stay at The Willard in the 19th century was Julia Ward Howe. Howe was an American writer and political activist who started her literary career in the 1850s. While she had attracted some national attention for her support of the abolitionist movement, Howe would not become a household name until she wrote the lyrics to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” at the beginning of the American Civil War. Howe was inspired to pen the song during a trip to Washington with her husband to meet President Abraham Lincoln in 1861. Inspired by the music she had heard during a review of the troops, Howe returned to her guestroom at The Willard that night and began to write. By morning, she had written the verses for a new song that served as the spiritual ode to the preservation of the Union. Entitled “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” it first appeared on the front page of The Atlantic Monthly in February 1862. It was an overnight sensation, becoming one of the most frequently sung tunes by Northern soldiers during the American Civil War.
Hamilton Hotel (1851) Washington, DC
Given its prime location just a few blocks from the White House, Hamilton Hotel has seen its fair share of history pass through its stately hallways since it opened in 1851. However, this storied hotel is not just a testament to the “old boys’ club.” In fact, while some might assume that the Hamilton Hotel takes its name from one of the United States’ Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton, the moniker honors his second daughter, Eliza Hamilton Holly, who was a family friend of the hotel’s original owner. The Hamilton Hotel continues to draw inspiration from history-making women to this day with The Suffrage Suite: Women Win The Vote. Created in partnership with the Freedom Forum’s Newseum and Boston-area political activist Barbara Lee, the suite was unveiled in 2020 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage. It is a women’s history exhibit and a guestroom, featuring a treasure trove of photographs, original artwork, historical artifacts, and more contemporary memorabilia—all curated by Samantha Barry, the editor-in-chief of Glamour magazine. The suite is decorated in shades of yellow and purple, the colors of the suffragists. Within the suite, guests can experience the stories of suffragists, from Sojourner Truth and Susan B. Anthony, to modern-day changemakers like Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the 116 women elected to Congress in 2018, the “Year of the Woman.” A member of Historic Hotels of America since 2021 and listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, the Hamilton Hotel is a Beaux-Arts-style masterpiece, and has been one of the most illustrious hotels in the capital city for generations.
The Morrison-Clark Inn, Washington DC (1864) Washington, DC
Charming and stately, The Morrison-Clark Inn, Washington DC was originally two separate townhouses constructed off Massachusetts Avenue at the height of the American Civil War. During the 1920s, a national women’s organization known as The Women’s Army and Navy League brought the Morrison House and the Clark House together as a single structure for its national headquarters. The new buildings quickly became the epicenter for all of the League’s charitable events to aid members and veterans of the U.S. military. During the peak of demand by soldiers and veterans in 1943, the women of the League provided 46,000 rooms and 85,000 meals in a single year. The organization specifically attracted many prominent female figures within Washington society, which elevated the League to one of the city’s premier social groups. The most notable women to attend the League over the years were numerous First Ladies of the United States, who often served as the leader of the organization. In fact, First Lady Grace Coolidge was at the head of the reception line when The Women’s Army and Navy League held its opening ceremony at the Morrison House. The Women’s Army and Navy League remained at the Morrison-Clark Houses up until the late 1980s, when it sold the buildings to hoteliers. The new owners renovated the buildings, transforming them into a stunning boutique hotel known as The Morrison-Clark Inn, Washington DC. The Inn was quickly recognized for its historic importance, and has been a charter member of Historic Hotels of America since 1989.
Palmer House®, A Hilton Hotel (1871) Chicago, Illinois
Bertha Honoré Palmer’s life became entwined with the historic Palmer House®, A Hilton Hotel when she married Potter Palmer, who built the hotel for her as a wedding present in 1871. Today, the hotel’s interior beauty and personality can be traced to her creativity and passions. The glamour of the hotel can, in part, be credited to her interior design choices: she specifically installed additional features like garnet-draped chandeliers; a 1.25 ton, 24-karat gold winged-angel Tiffany candelabra; and 21 breathtaking ceiling frescos created by French painter Louis Pierre Rigal. A great patron of the arts, in her lifetime, Palmer collected over 200 impressionist paintings, making it one of the largest collections of its kind outside of France, and featuring artists including Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. She selected pieces from her own collection to curate the hotel, and much of the collection is now part of The Art Institute of Chicago. Bertha Honoré Palmer is also famous for her work planning the World’s Columbian Exposition (better known as the Chicago World’s Fair) of 1893. She was involved in the creation of the exposition’s Women’s Building, which showcased the historical achievements of American women over the past century, and famously proclaimed there, “even more important than the discovery of Columbus is the fact that the government has just discovered women.” Her experiences at the World’s Fair inspired her to create a unique treat that guests could easily eat when walking through the Palmer House®, A Hilton Hotel. At her request, the hotel’s team of pastry chefs concocted a handheld, cake-like chocolate dessert that they called the “brownie.” Although they have likely enjoyed the treat before, guests can experience the Palmer House Brownie during their visit, and can even take a square home with them. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, Palmer House®, A Hilton Hotel dates to 1871 and was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2007.
Wentworth By The Sea (1874) New Castle, New Hampshire
A member of Historic Hotels of America since 2004, Wentworth by the Sea is among the last great stately resort hotels to grace New Hampshire’s coast. It was founded as The Wentworth Hotel in 1874, and offered generations of holiday makers sun, sand, and sea. Among the activities Wentworth by the Sea offered were classes taught by renowned experts. Two of the experts brought in to entertain guests were trailblazing female celebrities of the early-20th century: sharpshooter Annie Oakley and Olympic swimmer Helen Wainwright. Annie Oakley was a renowned sportswoman who became a pop-culture icon for her incredible marksmanship during America’s Gilded Age. Oakley arrived at Wentworth by the Sea in 1916, and exhibited her rifle skills and abilities on horseback. Throughout her career, Oakley taught thousands of gun-handling lessons to interested individuals. In 1920, new management led to exciting modern amenities and entertainment including a saltwater pool, a nine-hole golf course designed by legendary golf course architect Donald Ross, and private bathrooms in the guestrooms—a luxury at the time. After the change in management, Oakley supervised shooting lessons at the resort's new golf course. Oakley was followed by Helen Wainwright, an internationally renowned swimmer who competed in the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games. Wainright won Olympic silver in both swimming and diving, and she trained to be the first woman to swim across the English Channel, though she never completed it due to injury. In 1925, at the height of her fame, Wainwright taught swimming classes at Wentworth by the Sea and gave special demonstrations for guests in the saltwater pool. Once dubbed "America's all-around champion mermaid" by The New York Times, Wainwright continued coaching swimming and in 1972 she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa (1886) Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Known as “The Grand Ol’ Lady of The Ozarks,” 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa opened in 1886 in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Between 1908 and 1934, during the resort’s “off” seasons, the Crescent College & Conservatory for Young Women housed students at the hotel. An advertisement in the Arkansas Gazette on July 6, 1910, described the girls’ school as being "on top of the Ozarks, at Eureka Springs, the famous health resort. Most picturesque town in America," where young women could take “Full Preparatory and Collegiate courses. Conservatory of Music, Art, Expression, Commercial branches, Horseback riding a feature.” It soon became one of the most exclusive boarding academies in Arkansas, training the minds of countless women who passed through its doors. Due to tough economic times brought on by the Great Depression, the college closed completely in 1934. Among its most influential graduates are Mary Ella Lundy and Mayme “Natachee" Scott Momaday. Lundy, a dedicated athlete and musically-gifted student during her time at Crescent College, went on to become the Head of Women's Education and Physical Education for Women at the University of Georgia for 35 years. Momaday made history for her talents as an artist, educator, and writer. Being Kiowa Cherokee, she championed Native American cultures and student-centered education. Momaday taught at the Jemez Pueblo Day School in New Mexico and is popularly known as the author of the children’s book, Owl in the Cedar Tree (1965).
Bright Angel Lodge & Cabins (1890) and Phantom Ranch (1922) Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Carved by the mighty Colorado River, the majesty of the Grand Canyon has been a source of artistic inspiration for thousands of years. Several hotels inducted into Historic Hotels of America are in Grand Canyon National Park and reflect that source of inspiration. Two of these hotels were designed by pioneering architect Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter. Between 1902 and 1948, Colter worked her way up to become the principal architect and interior designer for the Fred Harvey Company, a popular tourism and hospitality company prominent in the American west. Although Colter designed and decorated many buildings throughout her prolific career, some of her seminal works are the park’s Bright Angel Lodge & Cabins and Phantom Ranch. Both lodgings have been members of Historic Hotels of America since 2012. These Grand Canyon National Park hotels showcase Colter’s take on National Park Service Rustic architecture, which draws upon a building’s surroundings for inspiration, utilizes natural materials, and synthesizes architectural styles like Mission Revival, Spanish Colonial, and Arts and Crafts to create an organic aesthetic and architectural style. This can especially be seen in her “geologic” fireplace in Bright Angel Lodge’s History Room. In a true masterstroke, the fireplace is crafted from each of the Grand Canyon’s rock layers, from cobbles from the river, up to the rim’s newer stone strata. Bright Angel Lodge & Cabins was completed in 1935 and today it is a hub of activity along the gorge’s Southern Rim, as it serves as the check-in point for the Grand Canyon’s mule rides. Phantom Ranch opened in 1922, and today it retains the same rustic charm and sense of adventure that Colter imbued in it many years ago, remaining the only lodging facility located beneath the canyon rim. Open year-round, Phantom Ranch is only accessible by mule, by foot, or by rafting the Colorado River. The accommodations at Phantom Ranch are dormitory spaces and cabins.
Riggs Washington DC (1891) Washington, DC
THoused in the former headquarters of the Riggs National Bank in Washington, DC’s Penn Quarter neighborhood, Riggs Washington DC was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2019 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Once known as the “Bank of Presidents,” today, the Riggs pays tribute to the nation’s leading historic hostesses with its series of First Ladies’ Suites. Designed as an homage to four First Ladies, each of the First Lady Suites are more than 500 sq ft with unique personalities of their own. The Ida McKinley Suite is dedicated to First Lady Ida McKinley’s love of flowers, from its graceful floral wallpaper to the lush, rose-pink textiles. In fact, McKinley was known to carry a bouquet of flowers to public appearances, so she could avoid shaking hands. First Lady Caroline Harrison was an avid porcelain painter, so the Caroline Harrison Suite is decorated in soothing blue hues, bone-china whites, and porcelain dishes collected from DC-area antique shops. Harrison is credited with establishing the White House’s china collection, and even designed the very first set. The Louisa Adams Suite honors First Lady Louisa Adams, who loved music and was a talented musician. She would often perform duets with her husband and retreat to her room to compose songs or strum her harp. Today, guests in the Louisa Adams Suite can unwind much like she might have—by playing the room’s baby grand piano. Widower U.S. President Martin Van Buren invited his daughter-in-law Angelica Van Buren to take the role of “acting” First Lady at the age of 20 after marrying into the family. Known for her flair for opulence, the Angelica Van Buren Suite is similarly extravagant, resplendent in luxe velvets and gold accents. The four First Lady Suites offer guests freestanding soaking tubs, and separate living rooms provide plenty of space to relax.
St. Louis Union Station Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton (1894) St. Louis, Missouri
On September 1, 1894, the iconic Union Station opened its doors as a major train depot. Today, the St. Louis Union Station Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton, is a popular family entertainment destination. When this National Historic Landmark building opened, it was a symbol of the city's position as a hub of commerce and transportation. Legendary restauranteur Fred Harvey opened his Harvey House dining room at Union Station in 1895. Visitors can dine in the same elegant dining room today, now called the Station Grille. In its heyday, St. Louis Union Station was the largest and busiest railroad terminal in the nation, with more than two dozen railroads operating from its massive train shed. During the height of World War II in 1943, the Fred Harvey Restaurants at Union Station served more than 2,700,000 meals in their three distinctive dining rooms. Dining with Fred Harvey was an elegant experience, with linens imported from Ireland, silver from England, and china from France. Harvey's waitresses were recruited to head West, and formed the bulk of the workforce. To be a Harvey Girl, women had to be between the ages of 18-20 and of ‘good character’—they even had to sign a contract to stay in their job for one year at a fixed rate of $17.50 per month. The Harvey Girls were housed in dormitories and watched over by a “housemother.” During the early era of the Fred Harvey Company, Harvey Restaurant waitresses wore long black dresses with starched white collars and white aprons. They also could not wear makeup, pinch their cheeks, or flirt. Nevertheless, the “Harvey Girls” helped make the restaurants a fixture in the St. Louis community for years until the station’s conversion to a hotel at the end of the 20th century.
West Baden Springs Hotel (1902) West Baden Springs, Indiana
West Baden Springs Hotel has long captivated the imaginations of its guests with its unique architecture and luxurious amenities. Since 1902, its most stunning feature is its unique architecture, epitomized by the magnificent historic dome that rests atop the resort. While many have contributed toward creating the opulence that defines the West Baden Springs Hotel, none were more influential than Lillian Sinclair Cooper. The daughter of the hotel’s owner, Lee Wiley Sinclair, Cooper assumed managerial responsibilities over the West Baden Springs Hotel in 1912, and inherited the hotel upon his death in 1917. Her appointment prompted her to initiate extensive renovations. She oversaw the creation of numerous new architectural motifs, including the development of a stunning brick driveway that featured twenty-four elaborate eagle-topped light standards. The road’s most compelling feature was the Beaux-Arts-inspired gateway that Cooper herself made with double-arched steel and stone. While her work covered many areas of the hotel building, it was underneath the dome where she truly left her mark. Cooper’s new additions featured a floor-to-ceiling “classical reformation,” which replaced the brick façade with marble-paneled lower walls and plastered columns. However, she also focused on the atrium, installing millions of gorgeous marble tiles, and an 11-foot-tall, 20-foot-wide Rockwell Pottery fireplace. The West Baden Springs Hotel is truly an architectural masterpiece, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Lillian Sinclair Cooper. West Baden Springs Hotel, built in 1902 and inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2009, is designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
Inn at the Presidio (1903) San Francisco, California
Built in 1903, the Inn at the Presidio is a Classical Revival-style brick building that blends history with urban sophistication and natural beauty. The Inn at the Presidio was established as Pershing Hall, which housed bachelor officers’ quarters. However, it was not exclusive to single men: Mrs. Sue R. Merriman, a U.S. Army widow, lived there for several years. Merriman managed the Officers’ Mess from 1913 to 1924. She was also active with the Red Cross during World War I and co-founded the Presidio Ladies Club in November 1919, which became the Presidio Women’s Club in 1920, and was active until the Post closed. As an active military base, female nurses were also present at The Presidio during the same era that Merriman was living there. The Presidio of San Francisco’s Letterman General Hospital was the first Army general hospital that stationed members of the Army Nurse Corps, which was founded in 1901 when the value of female nurses became undeniable in the wake of the Spanish American War. When the Great Earthquake of 1906 struck San Francisco, the female nurses from The Presidio were some of the first on the scene to help. Women who gained experience in nursing at The Presidio went on to serve in World War I. Today, The Presidio is the largest historic preservation project underway in the country. The Presidio became a National Park in 1994, and the Inn at the Presidio was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2011.
The Redbury New York (1903) New York, New York
The Redbury New York originally opened as the Women’s Hotel on March 2, 1903, at 30 East 30th Street. It was the first hotel in New York to provide housing for professional women, serving both temporary transient guests and permanent residents. Male guests were not allowed above the ground floor. With its 416 rooms, it was almost immediately fully occupied, with over two hundred names on a waiting list. Rooms ranged from $3 to $17 per week. Amenities included a drugstore, tailor shop, and manicurist. It was subsequently named the Martha Washington Hotel and was known as such for many years. Suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt established the headquarters of the Interurban Political Equality Council, a federation of NYC suffrage clubs, at the hotel in 1907. On June 19, 2012, The Redbury was designated a historical landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission for its architectural and historical significance. In 2022, The National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites and William G. Pomeroy Foundation commemorated Catt and the hotel’s contribution to women’s suffrage by adding The Redbury New York to the National Votes for Women Trail.
Mizpah Hotel (1907) Tonopah, Nevada
The Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah, Nevada, was heralded as “the finest stone hotel on the desert” by local newspapers when it opened its doors in 1908 and was the state’s tallest building at the time. The Mizpah Hotel became the gathering place for the mining and political elite of Nevada; prominent guests included Tasker Oddie, who became governor of Nevada and later a U.S. Senator; Key Pittman, another senator from Nevada; and Henry Calvin “Cal” Brougher, the director of the Mizpah Hotel Corporation of Tonopah. But women, too, gathered there to increase their own political and economic power. Between 1912 and 1914, Nevada women met at the Mizpah Hotel to organize for women’s suffrage. The hotel is part of the William G. Pomeroy Foundation’s National Votes For Women Trail, and a marker was installed outside the hotel in 2019, describing its historical significance. The meetings at the Mizpah Hotel were led by Marjorie Moore Brown. According to the Nevada Women’s History Project, Brown was a founding member of the Nevada Equal Franchise Society, and a member of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association, among other organizations. Brown lived in, and organized for women’s rights in, Tonopah, rubbing elbows at the Mizpah Hotel with the likes of Oddie and Pittman, until she moved out of the state in the early 1920s. Visitors today can see the women’s suffrage marker right outside the hotel, at the corner of Veteran’s Memorial Highway and Brougher Avenue.
The Fairmont Hotel San Francisco (1907) San Francisco, California
The story of The Fairmont Hotel San Francisco dates to 1903, when two sisters—Theresa Fair Oelrichs and Virginia Fair Vanderbilt—decided to build a spectacular boutique hotel in the heart of San Francisco’s Nob Hill neighborhood. Dedicated in honor of their father, Senator James Graham Fair, the two sisters hoped that the business would become a renowned local icon. However, mere weeks after the building debuted to the public, the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 struck the region. Like many other buildings in Nob Hill, The Fairmont Hotel was destroyed. Undeterred, the sisters hired an up-and-coming architect and engineer Julia Morgan to rebuild the entire structure. Under the direction of Morgan, The Fairmont San Francisco became the city’s first major business to reopen following the earthquake when it opened in 1907 and Morgan’s hotel is the one travelers flock to visit today. Morgan was one of the world’s preeminent female architects: the first woman to be admitted to study architecture at École des Beaux-Arts, and the first woman to be granted an architect’s license in California in 1904. Her early advancement in San Francisco was due to her uncommon knowledge of earthquake-resistant concrete construction—a lucrative skill after the 1906 earthquake. She went on from designing The Fairmont Hotel San Francisco to design hundreds of buildings, many listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and at least two designated National Historic Landmarks by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. The Fairmont Hotel San Francisco was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2001 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
Hotel Boulderado (1909) Boulder, Colorado
In 1922, two entrepreneurial women began operating their successful taxi business from an office at Hotel Boulderado, which opened in Boulder, Colorado, in 1909. The story of Florence Molloy and Mabel MacLeay can be traced to the 1910s, when the two women met in Syracuse, New York. Both were married previously, and census records state they were either divorced from or widowed by their husbands by the time they moved out west. What is known is that they became good friends in New York and moved to Colorado together by 1918. The women were excellent drivers, and to make money, they started a small scenic tour business with a Cadillac 8, showing tourists the beauty of Colorado between Estes Park and Nederland. During the Flu Pandemic of 1918, Molloy and MacLeay saw a need for taxi services and then, as the community rebounded, their work blossomed into a thriving transportation company. By 1922, the Molloy-MacLeay Taxi Company moved into Hotel Boulderado. They continued to serve the Boulder community, driving guests anywhere in Boulder for $0.25 per ride, until 1927. On the eve of the Great Depression, the two women sold the business and opened a dude ranch on Gold Hill in Boulder, which later became the Colorado Mountain Ranch, and is still in operation. Today, guests can see Molloy and MacLeay’s portraits as a part of the self-guided and historian-guided history tours around the Hotel Boulderado.
The Hermitage Hotel (1910) Nashville, Tennessee
In 2020, The Hermitage Hotel was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior for its integral place in the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. A century prior, in 1920, the fate of the amendment hung precariously in the balance. With nearly all of the states split evenly over its pending passage, only North Carolina and Tennessee were undecided. Led by esteemed suffragists like Carrie Chapman Catt, (President of the National American Women Suffrage Association) and Anne Dallas Dudley (President of the Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association), suffragists from around the nation flocked to Nashville to push for the law’s adoption. Catt, Dudley, and their colleagues eventually set up headquarters at The Hermitage Hotel to coordinate with their allies in the Tennessee State Capitol nearby. For weeks, the suffragists campaigned to shore up political support among state politicians, holding frequent meetings and social gatherings inside The Hermitage Hotel. They even had to contend with the presence of many anti-suffragists, who quickly established their own offices within the building. Despite winning the support of the Tennessee Senate, the suffragists struggled to get enough votes within the deadlocked Tennessee House of Representatives. However, a young representative named Harry T. Burn decided to flip his vote to “yes” after reading an impassioned letter from his mother, who encouraged him to support Carrie Chapman Catt. The amendment subsequently passed amid a second round of voting on August 18, officially ratifying the 19th Amendment. A chorus of cheers erupted all over the city, and countless suffragists flooded into The Hermitage Hotel to celebrate. In the years since the ratification of the 19th Amendment, The Hermitage Hotel has honored and shared with visitors its connection to women’s history in the United States. One example of this is the “Suffrage Getaway Experience” package. Created to help celebrate the centennial of the 19th Amendment, The Suffrage Getaway Experience includes a welcome packet with information on area suffrage tours; a welcome amenity of yellow roses and Suffrage-era shortbread cookies; access to events and displays; and a copy of the book The Woman’s Hour – The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine Weiss. The hotel offers a wealth of programming that highlights this history for guests and visitors alike: Suffrage Sunday suppers, a Yellow Rose Tea every week in August, and a 45-minute Suffragist History Tour. The Grande Dame of Nashville for over 110 years, the Hermitage Hotel first opened its doors to guests in 1910, and was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 1996.
The Skirvin Hilton Oklahoma City (1911) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Women’s history and Civil Rights history was made at The Skirvin Hilton Hotel in Oklahoma City, during the summer of 1961, when Clara Luper, a schoolteacher and adviser to the NAACP's local youth council, selected its segregated lobby as a site for a lunch counter sit-in protest. This sit-in was one in a series of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, sit-ins that Luper organized, beginning with the Katz Drug Store sit-in of 1958, and continuing at other restaurants that only allowed white patrons to sit and eat. During the Oklahoma City sit-in movement, she, her young son and daughter, and numerous young members of the NAACP Youth Council successfully conducted carefully planned nonviolent sit-in protests of restaurants. The segregation policies at the places they sat-in were eventually overturned, but these businesses required pressure from activists like Luper to change. Her actions in Oklahoma City inspired future sit-ins, such as the 1960 Woolworth’s Lunch Counter Sit-In in Greensboro, North Carolina, and her students went on to participate in other Civil Rights Movement actions, including the Birmingham Children’s Crusade on May 2, 1963. In 2023, The Skirvin Hilton Oklahoma City’s Artist in Residence, LaQuincey Booker T. Reed, is designing a Clara Luper statue, which will be part of the new Clara Luper Sit-In Plaza, located where the Katz Drug Store once stood. The hotel is honored to support Mr. Reed’s work and to have this opportunity to participate in a momentous celebration of Clara Luper’s activism. Listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, The Skirvin Hilton Oklahoma City was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2008.
HOTEL DU PONT (1913) Wilmington, Delaware
When HOTEL DU PONT opened in 1913, the twelve-story Italian Renaissance-style building was widely considered a great achievement in both hotel architecture and ingenuity. Five years later, the hotel was expanded to offer more guestrooms and the Ballroom Suite, which included the Gold Ballroom. This breathtaking ballroom features French neoclassical design elements, including glistening chandeliers, gilded ceiling detail, and hand-carved medallions featuring bas-reliefs of famous women. Designed by Violet Terwilliger of New York, the bas-relief medallions of twenty women from history memorialize figures including Mary Queen of Scots, Pocahontas, Emma Lady Hamilton, Queen Cleopatra, and Dido Elizabeth Belle. The walls depict women in fashions from different eras around the world along with mythological figures. The artwork was done in sgraffito, a "scratching" technique where the design is hand-cut into multiple layers of colored plaster. It took thirty artisans more than a year to complete the room under Terwilliger’s direction. One of the thirty-two founding charter members of Historic Hotels of America, HOTEL DU PONT was inducted into the program in 1989.
The Broadmoor (1918) Colorado Springs, Colorado
When Julie Penrose’s husband passed away in 1939, she took on the role of Vice President of his beautiful resort in the Colorado Rockies: The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. Her husband, Spencer Penrose, had purchased the land around the Pikes Peak area in 1916, and set out to build the region’s greatest resort. In 1917, European artisans began construction on The Broadmoor, and after its opening in 1918, The Broadmoor quickly gained the reputation of being one of the world’s premier resorts. For Julie Penrose, Vice President was not a ceremonial role; she remained steadfastly committed to ensuring that the resort offered only the best guest experiences throughout the entire Rocky Mountain region. She even lived on-site for more than 10 years, residing in a 6th-floor suite from 1944 to 1955. Guests can stay in her former three-bedroom, three-bathroom private apartment, which is currently named the “Penrose Suite.” Left intact, the suite features a dining room made for entertaining, a cozy sitting room with a fireplace, a formal living room, and a glass-enclosed sunroom. Guests can relax inside and enjoy spectacular views of the mountains, the lake, and the nearby city. Guests interested in learning more about Julie Penrose can visit the Carriage House Museum, which she founded in 1941. Located a few minutes away from The Broadmoor, the institution provides an historical interpretation of her life, the Penrose family, and the early history of the community through carefully curated exhibits. The Broadmoor was inducted into Historic Hotels of America as a charter member in 1989.
Hacienda Del Sol Guest Ranch Resort (1929) Tucson, Arizona
In 1929, John and Helen Murphey created Hacienda del Sol, a desert oasis and “home-away-from-home” ranch school for girls. Inspired by early Spanish colonial-style architecture, the school contained many outstanding structural details that the Murpheys constructed themselves. The school offered a college preparatory curriculum for adolescent women, as well as an array of outdoor activities that captured the essence of the Old American West. These extracurricular programs specifically focused on equine sports, with the school providing space to house any personal horses of their students. The climate, culture, and scholastic appeal of Hacienda del Sol was great and many prominent American families sent their daughters to the school. Indeed, the school’s student body featured illustrious surnames like Westinghouse, Pillsbury, Kellogg, and Vanderbilt. A granddaughter of former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson even attended Hacienda del Sol. Nevertheless, the academy had to shutter its operations during World War II and struggled to stay open once the conflict ended. The Murpheys thus reluctantly sold the site to Howard Morgan for a sum of $110,000. But the Morgans would prove to be wonderful stewards, spending thousands of dollars on refurbishing the remarkable estate into a resort called the “Hacienda Del Sol Hotel.” Now known as the Hacienda Del Sol Guest Ranch Resort, this spectacular holiday destination has become one of the best vacation spots in the American Southwest. Hacienda Del Sol Guest Ranch Resort is also committed to preserving its heritage as an all-girls academy, taking great pains to maintain its collection of artifacts and memorabilia. Hacienda Del Sol Guest Ranch Resort was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2009.
La Fonda on the Plaza™ (1922) Santa Fe, New Mexico
La Fonda on the Plaza™ in Santa Fe, New Mexico is a beloved landmark of Southwestern hospitality, and was the earliest and best-known hotel in America’s oldest capital city. Dating to 1922, the hotel was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 1991, and is proud to celebrate its connections to women’s history as a one-time hotel and restaurant of the Fred Harvey Company. Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, a noteworthy figure in the architectural history of the Southwest, was the principal architect and interior designer for the Fred Harvey Company from 1902 to 1948. One of the most visionary architects and interior designers of her time, Colter was a trailblazer in what was traditionally a male-dominated industry. Not only did she set the tone for the interior of La Fonda, but she served as one of the guiding forces behind National Park Service Rustic-style architecture, believing that a building should grow organically out of its environment. Today, you can see both her vision and authentic elements of the American Southwest in La Fonda’s hand-hewn beams, hammered-tin chandeliers, painted headboards, and terracotta tiles, each crafted by local artisans. Many visitors who stayed in Fred Harvey Company hotels like La Fonda may not have known of Colter, but they certainly knew the “Harvey Girls” who worked there. Employed throughout the Fred Harvey Company’s nationwide-wide chain, Harvey Girls had to be between the ages of 18-20 and of ‘good character’—they had to sign a contract to stay in the job for one year. Typically, Harvey Girls were housed in dormitories and watched by a “housemother.” Called by the promise of adventure and decent wages, young women from the East and Midwest made their way West to restaurants and hotels like La Fonda, providing guests with impeccable service and good food.
The Mayflower Hotel, Autograph Collection (1925) Washington, DC
Women’s aviation history was made at The Mayflower Hotel, Autograph Collection in 1955, when the world’s first female helicopter pilots from France, Germany, and the United States met in Washington, DC, to form the “Whirly-Girls.” The women “founded the Whirly-Girls in hopes of developing an organization where female pilots could share information and camaraderie regardless of country, race, religion, or politics.” Their first meeting (or as they called them, their first “hovering”) was held on The Mayflower Hotel’s mezzanine. The pilots borrowed a typewriter and Mayflower stationery from the hotel to draft their bylaws. Pilots at the first “hovering” included French Army neurosurgeon and pilot Dr. Valérie André, and Americans Edna Gardner Whyte and Jean Ross Howard. Howard organized the first “hovering” and became the Whirly-Girls' first president. Whyte is notable for training military pilots after being denied access to flying as a military pilot. She was also one of two women in history to fly an early autogyro, a predecessor of the helicopter; the second woman with that distinction was Amelia Earhart. Earhart who had long disappeared by the time of the Whirly-Girls' “hovering,” had also once been a visitor at The Mayflower Hotel. Following her 1932 solo flight from Newfoundland to the British Isles, Amelia Earhart posed for photographs in The Mayflower Suite before she received the Special Gold Medal of the National Geographic Society from President Herbert Hoover.
“Historic Hotels of America is proud to preserve and tell the stories of women who lived, worked, and visited the historic hotels that travelers can experience today. Within the Historic Hotels of America, some hotels were once occupied entirely by women or girls, as schools or as women-only hotels. Several notable historic hotels have been operated by women, may have once been the site of a protest or political organizing by a woman or groups of women, and were even designed by pioneering women artists and architects, the firsts or few of their gender in the professional fields of design and engineering at the time,” Lawrence P. Horwitz, Executive Vice President of Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. “We invite travelers to be inspired to visit historic hotels to learn more about these compelling and remarkable women that made history at Historic Hotels of America. Truly, the history of these legendary hotels in the United States is women’s history.”
About Historic Hotels of America®
Historic Hotels of America® is the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation for recognizing, celebrating, and promoting the finest historic hotels in the United States of America. To be nominated and selected for membership in this prestigious program, a hotel must be at least 50 years old; designated by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark or listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places; and recognized as having historical significance. Of the more than 300 historic hotels inducted into Historic Hotels of America from 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, all historic hotels faithfully preserve their sense of authenticity, sense of place, and architectural integrity. For more information, please visit HistoricHotels.org/US.
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