Cautley, Marjorie Sewell, 1891-

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Landscape architect.

Cornell University Class of 1917. Marjorie Sewell Cautley, the daughter of Elbridge Sewell and Minnie Moore, was born into a Navy family and spent part of her early years in Japan and Guam. Eucated at the Packer Institute for Collegiate Studies in Brooklyn, N.Y.,she received a B.S. in landscape architecture from Cornell, 1917, and an M.A. in city planning from the University of Pennsylvania, 1943. After graduating from Cornell, she worked for Warren Manning in Massachusetts, and was employed by California architect Julia Morgan. She returned to New Jersey to start a private practice. In 1921 she began work on Roosevelt Common, a community park in Tenafly, NJ. She married Randolph Cautley in 1922; they were divorced in 1944. They had one daughter, Patricia Cautley Hill, born in 1925. In 1924, Marjorie S. Cautley was hired by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright, and worked on Sunnyside Gardens (1924-1928), Phipps Garden Apartments (1930, 1935), Hillside Homes (1935), and Radburn, NJ (1928-1930). She also taught site planning and landscape design as a part-time lecturer at Columbia University and at MIT. She published Garden Design in 1935 and oversaw CCC projects in New Hampshire state parks. In 1937, she was stricken with an illness that dominated the rest of her life. Although she was hospitalized for several years, she continued to write articles and completed her graduate work. Her thesis was published in part as an article in American City. She died in 1954.

From the description of Marjorie Sewell Cautley papers, 1847-1995. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 71193368

Marjorie Sewell Cautley attended the Pratt Institute and graduated from the Packer Collegiate Institute. She studied landscape architecture at Cornell University (B.S. 1917). After working for Warren Manning and then for Julia Morgan, she opened her own practice in New Jersey. She was married to Randolph Cautley in 1922, and gave birth to a daughter, Patricia. In 1925 she was elected a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Marjorie Sewell Cautley made a substantial contribution to the developing planning profession as well as to landscape architecture. Her landscape projects show her characteristic focus on planning for people as well as on esthetics and plant materials. In particular, her work with Clarence Stein and Henry Wright engaged her deep concern for the needs of residents and the relationship between the project and the larger community. She gave many lectures and published articles and a book (Garden Design, 1935). She taught site planning and landscape design at MIT (1934-1937) and Columbia (1935-1937).

At the height of her productivity in 1937, she suffered a nervous breakdown and spent several years in a mental hospital. She obtained release in 1942, earned the Master of Fine Arts degree in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania in 1943 and divorced Randolph Cautley in 1944. However, she was institutionalized again by 1946 and remained until her death in 1954.

From the description of Marjorie Sewell Cautley architectural records, 1925-1935. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 235955523

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Clarence Stein papers, 1905-1983. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
creatorOf Cautley, Marjorie Sewell, b. 1891. Marjorie Sewell Cautley papers, 1847-1995. Cornell University Library
referencedIn Stein, Clarence S. Clarence Stein papers, 1905-1983. Cornell University Library
referencedIn Marjorie Sewell Cautley papers, 1847-1995. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
creatorOf Cautley, Marjorie Sewell, b. 1891. Correspondence with Johan Thorsten Sellin, 1943. University of Pennsylvania Library
referencedIn Designing garden city landscapes: Works by Marjorie L. Sewell Cautley, 1922-1937, 2005. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
creatorOf Cautley, Marjorie Sewell, b. 1891. Marjorie Sewell Cautley architectural records, 1925-1935. University of Pennsylvania, Architectural Archives
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Black, Russell Van Nest, 1893-1969. person
associatedWith Cornell University corporateBody
associatedWith Cornell University. Class of 1917. corporateBody
associatedWith Curtis, Ralph W. (Ralph Wright), 1878-1968. person
associatedWith Lowrie, Charles N. person
associatedWith Manning, Warren H. (Warren Henry), 1860-1938. person
associatedWith Marjorie Sewell, Cautley b. 1891. person
associatedWith Moore family. family
associatedWith Moore, John White. person
associatedWith Sewell, Albert Henry, 1847-1924. person
associatedWith Sewell, Barbara. person
associatedWith Sewell family. family
associatedWith Sewell, Helen. person
associatedWith Sewell, Minnie Moore. person
associatedWith Sewell, William Elbridge. person
associatedWith Stein, Clarence S. person
associatedWith Stein, Clarence S. person
associatedWith Walker, Nell. person
associatedWith Way, Thaisa. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Landscape architecture--New Hampshire
New Hampshire
United States
Sunnyside Gardens (New York, N.Y.)
Landscape architecture--New Jersey--Radburn
Eastchester Heights (New York, N.Y.)
Subject
City planning
Landscape architects
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture
New towns
Parks
Planned communities
Women college students
Women landscape architects
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1891

Death 1954

Americans

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