Scott, Ida Calhoun, 1936-

Ida Scott was born Ida Calhoun Futch in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma in 1926. Her father was an officer in the U.S. Army and as a result, the family moved often. Ida attended six high schools, three different schools her senior semester. She was enrolled as a student in the School of Architecture at the University of Texas from February 1944 through June 1947.

In the fall of 1946 she traveled to occupied Europe where her stepfather was in the military service. During this time Scott lived in Germany, France and Austria and her life-long interest in historic preservation was supplemented by a great appreciation of modern design.

She returned to Austin in the spring of 1947, and that summer took a job with the architectural firm of Fehr & Granger. Hired as a typist-draftsman, Scott learned all aspects of the architectural profession. Scott did not return to school, but worked at the 502 E. 5th Street office until January of 1951.

The same year Scott moved to Fort Worth with her husband and was soon employed by fellow University of Texas School of Architecture classmate Jack Schutts. Schutts subsequently opened a contemporary furniture store called Trends, Inc. where Scott was a business manager and buyer.

Along with working for many architectural firms throughout the United States – in, New York, Massachusetts, Missouri, Florida, and Texas – Scott also raised a family. While in the Fort Worth area she worked for several local architects and designers: John Floore, John Wesley Jones, and Sidney T. Padgett. In 1974 Scott moved to Tarrytown, New York and worked 3 years with Roy T. Johnson. In 1967 Scott moved to Hingham, Massachusetts and worked with Raymond Dyer; in 1971 Scott moved to St. Louis where she worked 4 years for Schmidt-Elam and 1 year for a structural engineer; and in 1976 Scott moved to Orlando, Florida and worked 1 year for Design-Biold Team, Inc. (Manuel Gonzalez, Architect). Scott supervised the drafting room for The Evans Group (Don Evans, A.I.A.) for 5 years and worked 2 years for Studio One, Architects. In 1985, Scott returned to Austin and was hired to direct the architectural department for Randy Morine Homes.

In March 29-31, 1974 more than 300 women architectural students and professionals from all over the country gathered at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, for the first national symposium on the “Role of Women in Architecture.” Professional women spoke on the subject of discrimination against women in the profession as well as other women’s issues. Ida Scott participated as a workshop presenter on “Role Conflicts-Professional, Mother, and Wife.” Ms magazine featured an article on women architects that ran in conjunction with their coverage of the symposium.

Scott had a long career and managed diverse projects – custom furniture, Usonian houses, renovation of historic houses, contemporary houses and apartments, schools, small commercial projects, and church architecture. She has an on-going interest in the removal of architectural barriers for the physically impaired.

Ida Scott lives in Austin and is an invaluable volunteer for the Austin Public Library, Austin History Center who works with the architectural drawings collection.

From the guide to the Ida C. Scott papers, SCOTT Accession numbers: 2005010, 2007033, 2008006., 1944-1974, (Alexander Architectural Archive, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.)