Elizabeth Blodget Lord (1887âÂÂ1974) was a founding partner of Lord & Schryver, the first female owned and operated landscape architecture firm in the Pacific Northwest from 1929 to 1969.
Elizabeth Lord was born on November 12, 1887, in Salem, Oregon, to a prominent Pacific Northwest family. When she was eight years old, her father, William Paine Lord, was elected OregonâÂÂs ninth governor. LordâÂÂs mother, Juliet Montague Lord, was a social activist and avid gardener who travelled extensively, often accompanied by her daughter. In 1899 her father was appointed United States minister to the Argentine and the family moved to Buenos Aires for two years. There Lord studied at the Language School for Girls, becoming fluent in Spanish. She returned to Oregon in 1904 and studied at St HelenâÂÂs Hall in Portland, graduating in 1904.
William P. Lord died in 1911, leaving a substantial estate for his wife and children. Elizabeth spent the next 15 years as her motherâÂÂs companion, travelling extensively and helping her mother establish the Salem Floral Society, the first garden club in Oregon. Lord states âÂÂI had a tremendous love of gardens and civic improvement subject that I inherited from her.âÂÂ
When Mrs. Lord died in 1924, LordâÂÂs brother encouraged her to pursue a career in landscape architecture. In the fall of 1926, the 38-year-old Lord enrolled in the Lowthorpe School of Landscape Architecture for Women located in Groton, Massachusetts. The coursework was intensive and lasted three years. It included architectural drafting, freehand and perspective drawing, construction, surveying, site engineering, history of architecture and landscape architecture, soils, plant materials, elementary forestry, botany, and entomology.
In the summer of 1927, Lord joined LowthorpeâÂÂs European Travel Course co-sponsored by HarvardâÂÂs Cambridge School of Domestic and Landscape Architecture for Women. The three-month tour was limited to twenty women interested in landscape design. It introduced participants to the great historic monuments of Europe including country houses, villas, and their associated gardens. Lord visited and photographed gardens in England, France, and Italy. During this journey, she met Edith Schryver, a Lowthorpe alumni 14 years her junior. At the end of the tour, Lord and Schryver stayed an extra month in Europe, traveling through Germany and Spain. After the tour, Lord returned to Lowthorpe to complete her coursework while Schryver returned to Ellen Biddle ShipmanâÂÂs landscape architecture firm in New York City where she worked as a draftsman.
During the next year, Lord and Schryver stayed in contact and discussed plans for establishing their own landscape architecture firm in Salem, Oregon, LordâÂÂs hometown. Lord recalls, âÂÂI met Edith and she wanted to come west and forget the crowds of New York City. They traveled west in December 1928, settling in the Lord family home in Salem where they established the first firm of women landscape architects in the Pacific Northwest.
From 1929 to 1969, Lord's firm designed over 200 gardens including residential, civic, and public spaces. Lord focused on plant selection and composition while SchryverâÂÂs expertise was engineering and construction.
Lord lectured at local garden clubs, wrote articles for local and regional publications, and participated in a Corvallis-based radio show called âÂÂThe Home Garden Hour.âÂÂ
In her later years, LordâÂÂs interest moved to public works. She served on SalemâÂÂs Parks Board, the Capitol Planning Commission, and its Tree Committee for more than a decade and is responsible for design work in many of SalemâÂÂs parks and in the landscape of its schools and public buildings. Lord held leadership roles in the Salem Garden Club, the Portland Garden Club, the Garden Club of America, and the Salem Art Association.ÃÂ
Lord retired from professional practice and closed the firm in 1969. She died in Salem in 1976 in the home she shared with Schryver for over 40 years. Upon SchryverâÂÂs death in 1984, the firm's professional papers were archived at the University of Oregon, home of the only state school of landscape architecture. Lord and Schryver's home, Gaiety Hollow, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.