Pepper, Eleanor, 1904-1997

Born in 1904, Eleanor Pepper was a pioneer in the field of interior design, running one of the first departments of interior design in an architecture office before opening her own practice in 1950. Pepper was born in New York City and attended the Ethical Culture School. She obtained her B.A. from Barnard College in 1924, and her B.S. in Architecture from M.I.T. in 1928. From 1931 to 1934 she studied at the Institute for Art and Archeology at The Sorbonne, in Paris, and was granted a Diplôme des Etudes Superieures. While at Barnard, Pepper designed theatrical sets for Wigs and Cues productions, which inspired her to study architecture at a time when it was not an obvious career choice for women.

After graduating from M.I.T., Pepper worked for Henry T. Child, in New York and José Imbert in Paris. Upon returning to the United States, she ran her own practice until 1942. During World War II, she was hired by Admiral Harris Engineers to design floating dry-docks before briefly working for Fairchild Aircraft in 1943. In June of 1943 she joined the U.S.O. building staff, where she designed and supervised the construction and remodeling of almost 200 club buildings.

In 1945, Pepper joined the office of Voorhees, Walker, Foley and Smith, where she ran the quasi-independent department of interior design. In 1946 she oversaw the refurbishment of Hunter College to provide temporary meeting rooms for the U.N.’s Security Council. She was also involved in the design of the U.N. facilities at Lake Success. She left Voorhees, Walker, Foley and Smith in 1950 to open her own office and began teaching interior design at Pratt Institute. In 1951 she became head of the department, a post she held until 1959, and continued to teach at Pratt until 1970. She also taught at New York Institute of Technology and New York School of Interior Design, and lectured regularly for commercial and professional audiences.

Throughout her career, Pepper was active in the architecture and design community in New York and nationally. Among her affiliations and activities she was: an associate of the American Institute of Architects; a vice-president of the Architectural League of New York; on the board of directors of the National Institute of Architectural Education (now the Van Alen Institute); a member of the Association of Women in Architecture; a committee chairman for the Municipal Arts Society; and very involved with the Decorator’s Club, including traveling with a group to China in 1977, at the invitation of the Chinese Government.

Pepper contributed articles to professional journals, including Architectural Record, Hospitals: the Journal of the American Hospitals Association, and Architecture & Engineering News. She was an associate editor for House and Garden early in her career. Her work was also published in several professional journals, including Interior Design. Although she worked on a variety of projects over the length of her career – from private residences to institutional and commercial buildings – she developed a particular specialization in the interior design of hospitals and homes for the elderly.

Eleanor Pepper died in New York City in 1997 at the age of 93.

From the guide to the Eleanor Pepper architectural records and papers, 1891-1997, (bulk 1920-1990), (Columbia University. Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Dept. of Drawings & Archives, )