Ramsey County History – Fall 2017: “Emma F. Brunson: The First Woman Registered as an Architect in Minnesota”

Emma F. Brunson: The First Woman Registered as an Architect in Minnesota
Author: Diane Trout-Oertel

Shortly after the Minnesota Board of Registration for Architects, Engineers and Land Surveyors was organized in 1921, Emma F. Gruetzke Brunson registered and thereby became Minnesota’s first woman to hold this professional credential. From 1905 to 1921, Brunson was employed preparing drawings and specifications for another registered architect, Augustus F. Gauger, who is widely considered today to have been one of the state’s leaders in the field. Born in Stillwater in 1887, Brunson’s family relocated to St. Paul shortly thereafter. She was educated in the local public schools and graduated from a St. Paul business college. Registration in hand, Brunson left Gauger’s firm and struck out on her own. Although her self-employment began slowly, Brunson worked hard and between 1924 and 1940, she designed nearly twenty homes in St. Paul. Of these, documentation has been located for seventeen houses. Today these houses reflect the warm character and practical floor plans that were trademarks of Brunson’s designs. Married to Harry S. Brunson in 1912, the couple had no children of their own, but they did adopt two youngsters. Harry died in 1958, and she retired as a professional architect ten years later. Brunson died in St. Paul in 1980.
PDF of Trout-Oertel article