She was soft-spoken, barely five feet tall, and always dressed modestly. Some said she looked like a schoolteacher, others like a Quaker. But when she stepped onto a construction site, no one questioned her authority.
They called her Miss Morgan—but history remembers her as Julia Morgan, the first licensed woman architect in California.
In 1894, she graduated with a degree in civil engineering from UC Berkeley. But she had bigger dreams. She set her sights on Paris, only to be turned away by the École des Beaux-Arts—twice—because she was a woman. Undeterred, Julia persisted, and finally became the first woman to graduate in architecture from the prestigious school.
In 1904, she opened her own firm and led with brilliance, paying her staff fairly and letting her buildings do the talking. Over the next four decades, Julia designed nearly 790 structures, blending innovation with timeless beauty. Her crowning achievement? The breathtaking Hearst Castle, standing tall on a California hill.
Julia Morgan didn’t need to raise her voice. She let her work speak for itself. She built not just buildings—but a legacy that continues to inspire.