Just west of the Scott Street main entrance stood the Young Women's Christian Association Building, designed by Julia Morgan, the first woman licensed as an architect in California (Wikipedia). The Guide promised rest and recreation rooms, a lunch stand, large dining rooms with a full kitchen, a small third-floor banquet room, films of the association's work around the world, and 'home cooking' under Mrs. Frances Holroyd. The association invited all 628,000 of its members worldwide to visit.
It was one of the fair's most practical refuges. The Y.W.C.A. kept the crèche where, as Todd put it, visitors 'could check the baby,' and its cafeteria was among the cheapest places to eat on the grounds: prime roast beef, the most expensive dish, was 30 cents, and vegetables usually a nickel. It also served as a meeting hall, and its National Board held a reception there for the leaders of the Women's Congress of Missions.
At a glance
- The Official Guide lists it among the Woman's Board's notable contributions to the exposition.
- Morgan's connection with the Y.W.C.A. began when Phoebe Apperson Hearst recommended her for the Asilomar conference grounds in 1913 (Wikipedia).
- Some congress meetings were held in the Y.W.C.A. Building (Todd vol. 5).
Afterward
Not recorded in the sources consulted; demolished with the grounds.
Sources
- Official Guide of the PPIE (1915), The Young Woman's Christian Association Building; Woman's Board
- Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. 2, ch. LXIX (crèche, cafeteria)
- Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. 5, chs. I, IV
- Wikipedia: Julia Morgan, biography; Y.W.C.A. work