Ries, Jane Silverstein, 1909-2005

Julia Jane Silverstein was born in Denver, Colo. in 1909. In 1929 she attended the Lowthorpe School of Landscape Architecture for Women in Groton, Mass. During World War II, Silverstein served in the Women's Reserve of the U.S. Coast Guard in New York City, N.Y. In 1953, Silverstein married Henry F. Ries (1905-1984). Although Jane Ries initially worked with design partner Julia Andrews, she later became the sole proprietor of her own landscape architecture firm. In 1966, Ries worked to support a bill establishing the Colorado State Board of Landscape Architecture and was granted the third certificate ever issued by the Colorado Board of Examiners of Landscape Architects in 1968, making her Colorado's first licensed female landscape architect. In 2005, Ries was awarded the prestigious American Society of Landscape Architects Medal in honor of her lifetime achievement in the profession. Ries died in 2005 in Denver, Colo.