Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Joan Linden Young Papers must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Jean Linden Young papers , Ms1998-022, Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

The Jean Linden Young papers were donated in December 1998 by Young's daughters, Sharon Hall and Deborah Young.

Processing Information

The collection was processed in January and February 1999 by Gina Ellis, student assistant, and Laura Katz Smith, Manuscripts Curator, Special Collections Department.

Biographical Information

Jean Alice Linden was born in Detroit, Michigan, on February 15, 1922. She was educated at Wayne University (1944-1946) and the University of Illinois (B.S. Arch., 1947). She was an architectural design and illustrating instructor at the University of Kentucky (1948-1949) and a draftsperson and designer for Brock & Johnson, Architects, in Lexington, Kentucky (1948-1949). In 1948 she married Clayton Young and they moved to Seattle, Washington, in 1949. Their three children were born in 1953 (Deborah), 1954 (Lance), and 1957 (Sharon).

Jean Linden Young and her husband established a joint practice, Clayton & Jean Young and Associates Architects, in Seattle in 1954, which lasted until 1975. After their divorce in 1976 Jean Young established her own private practice. Her designs were almost all private residences, apartment buildings, and small commercial structures, in the Seattle area. She became a registered architect of Washington state in 1955.

Young was active in many architectural organizations, particularly those that promoted the place of women in the profession. As a member of the American Institute of Architects she served on the Task Force on Women in Architectural Profession (1972-1976) and the Scholarship Committee (member, 1976-1980; chair, 1980).

Young served as a member of the Board of Architectural Registration of Washington State (member 1974-1979; chair 1978-1979), and as a member of the Citizen's Advisory Committee to the [Washington] State Senate on Financial Institutions (1974-1975). Young served on the Mayor's Small business Task Force (1984) and was appointed by the Mayor to two terms on the Seattle Design Commission (1979-1980, 1981-1982). She was also appointed to the panel of Arbitrators for the American Arbitration Association (1974). From 1985 to 1989, Young served on the King County Landmarks Commission. She also did graduate studies at the University of Washington (1974-1975).

Jean Linden Young died on May 25, 1997, in Seattle.

Scope and Content

The Jean Linden Young papers consist of materials created and collected by Young during her lifetime. They include notes written as an instructor at the University of Kentucky, newspaper articles about her and her husband's architectural projects and accomplishments, information about her tenure as Secretary General of the UIFA, personal and professional correspondence, certificates of accomplishment, photographs and sketches of buildings she designed or renovated, exhibit boards, and literature about architecture in the Seattle area.

Index Terms

Subjects:

• International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA)
• Women -- History