Riverside Houses (unconfirmed)

Brooklyn, NY

post-1896 | Low-income apartments | Extant (Minerva’s contributions undetermined)

Private family papers allude to Minerva completing work on the Riverside Houses project for Alfred T. White, a philanthropist and early affordable-housing advocate in Brooklyn. Minerva was not the primary designer for the Riverside Houses, as they were constructed before Minerva’s family moved from Philadelphia to Brooklyn in 1896. However, Minerva and her husband did apparently know Alfred T. White through William I. Nichols’ role with the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities, so the professional connection is plausible; she may have designed alterations to the project after its initial construction, or conducted housing studies on White’s behalf.

We are working to corroborate this possibility, as it would be a significant working relationship in Minerva’s life—particularly since it likely formed after her most productive years of solo practice in Philadelphia.