Rachel Foster Avery

13475 Proctor Road, Philadelphia, PA

1890-91 | Residence | Extant

“Minerva Parker…has on boards plans for a large stone house, for Mrs. Rachel Foster Avery, at Somerton, Pa., slate roof, three-stories high, hot air, hard wood finish, electric work, light and bells, a conservatory will be one of the features, opening from the library, open fire=places, also a stable attached, of stone and frame, to have all the conveniences.” (November 1, 1890)

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Rachel Foster Avery was a national figure in the suffrage movement in the middle decades between the 1848 convention at Seneca Falls and the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920 (which affirmed some women’s—namely, white women’s—right to vote). She was the protegee of Susan B. Anthony, and commissioned this house on the outskirts of Philadelphia to serve a dual purpose: it would be the home of her small family (which consisted of her husband and her two adopted daughters) and a host site for suffrage meetings. To fulfill these different purposes, Minerva designed the large home with interconnected spaces that could accommodate intimate family life and large organizing meetings.

I nominated the house to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. For more information about Avery and the house, see the full nomination here.