Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer (February 21, 1851 – January 20, 1934), usually known as Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer, was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 author, born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

Life

In 1868, she moved with her family to Dresden, Germany, where she remained for five years.
In 1873, she married Schuyler and lived in New Brunswick, New Jersey

New Brunswick, New Jersey

New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA. It is the county seat and the home of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the population of...

, and they had one child, born in February 1875. She began writing in 1876. The first woman architectural critic, she grew in influence in the 1880s.

She was president of the Public Education Association of New York.

In 1893, she wrote "Fifth Avenue", in The Century Magazine

The Century Magazine

The Century Magazine was first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City as a successor to Scribner's Monthly Magazine...

, which examined the new development around Central Park.

Awards

She was elected an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects

American Institute of Architects

The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

. In 1910, she received the degree of D. Litt. from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, the accomplishment being an extraordinary one for a woman at that time.

She was awarded the 1924 American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medals

American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medals

Two American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medals are awarded each year by the academy for distinguished achievement. The two awards are taken in rotation from these categories:*Belles Lettres and Criticism, and Painting;*Biography and Music;...

.

Works

Her writings include:

• Henry Hobson Richardson
  Henry Hobson Richardson
  Henry Hobson Richardson was a prominent American architect who designed buildings in Albany, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and other cities. The style he popularized is named for him: Richardsonian Romanesque...
  
  and his Works (1888)
• English Cathedrals (1892; fourth edition, 1892)
• Art out of Doors (1893)
• Should We Ask for the Suffrage? (1894)
• One Man Who was Content (1896)
• Niagara, a Description (1901)
• History of the City of New York in the Seventeenth Century (1909)
• Poems (1910)

External links

• Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907), Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer (Mariana Griswold), 1888; this cast, 1890