Two Reviews of False Architect: The Mary Colter Hoax by Fred Shaw
The first review of Fred Shaw's book False Architect is by Haley Johnson. Haley is Past President of the Grand Canyon Historical Society. In 2021 she presented a discussion of some of the facts showing Coulter was a designer, not an architect. You can see her presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHTQk82QPys
Johnson wrote the following review on the False Architect Amazon page:
Amazing how we think we know everything about a time before many of us were born yet new technology is constantly allowing us to uncover long hidden secrets. I have gone through dozens of Shaw's sources, most which are all available to the public, and I am surprised how easy it is to find what he found! Even without a direct link (which he DOES provide) it was simple to find many of the newspaper articles.
I absolutely love that ZANE GREY basically called Colter unbalanced.! Love this read, fascinating history. I for one am absolutely open to changes in History. We weren't there, we only have evidence to read. I love to learn more and dig more into what was or could have been. We are learning new things all the time thanks to advances in technology.
If what Shaw has found is actual fact nothing needs to change except it's another page in the history of Colter and these amazing buildings associated with her.
An interpretive Ranger could easily interpret Mary Colter as we have been doing for as long as any of us can remember and then at the end of the program can add in this new evidence and let the audience come to their own conclusion. it can open up discussion, it's a facilitated dialogue opportunity.
This can be a new experience and a new learning opportunity for all of us it doesn't have to mean Mary Colter is bad or that we should all hate her 🤷🏽♀️ whatever happened back then for Colter to have gotten in the books as she did is amazing! She's still going to be a powerful historic figure no matter what.
Fred Shaw uncovered this fascinating evidence and has recently uncovered even more, why push against it when we can all dig deeper into it and try to learn more?
You can read Johnson’s and other reviews here: https://www.amazon.com/False-Architect-Mary-Colter-Hoax-ebook/dp/B07CJRX2F5/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
The second review of Fred Shaw's False Architect is by Doug Sherman. Doug is a retired Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the College of Lake County, Illinois. His review was originally posted September 19, 2018 at https://www.facebook.com/groups/GrandCanyonHistory. You can read more about Doug here: https://www.blurb.ca/user/Dougsherman
Review of Fred Shaw's False Architect by Doug Sherman
I am a former geology professor and a professional photographer who has spent hundreds of hours teaching field courses and photographing the Grand Canyon. Like everyone else, I thought Mary Colter was the architect of many of the buildings at the Grand Canyon. After all, that is what the literature available from the Grand Canyon Natural History Association and the National Park Service purports. So, when a friend suggested that I read this book I was more than intrigued to see what the author had to say.
As a scientist, I approach things from a skeptical point of view. I always check to see if sources are viable and if there is any bias in the evaluation of information presented or in the way it was assembled. It is apparent, based on the information presented in this book, that the previous literature describing Mary Colter as the architect of numerous buildings at the Grand Canyon and elsewhere along the Santa Fe Railroad system violated these fundamental principles. Few if any primary sources were used by authors of the previous literature and much of the information utilized in those books was provided to the writers by either people Colter had befriended, by Colter herself, from other books whose authors didn’t do proper research, or from her grossly embellished autobiography.
Fred Shaw did not set out to refute Mary Colter’s claims. He only decided to investigate her based on contradictions he discovered while doing research for a book on Louis Curtis, a prominent architect who worked for Fred Harvey and the Santa Fe Railroad during that same time.
He began by researching Mary Colter’s early history including where she lived, her educational background, and her job background. Most importantly, he discovered that she had no architectural training whatsoever. In fact, the California School of Design, which she attended for three years after high school, offered no architectural classes. Her courses there consisted of drawing and fine arts.
Although Colter claimed in her autobiography that she taught architecture courses while employed at Stout Manual Training School in Menomonie, WI and Mechanic Arts High School in St. Paul, MN, Shaw provides definitive proof that the former school did not offer architecture classes and that at the latter her duties were teaching literature and drawing classes. These lies might be considered unimportant embellishments used to impress her friends and family. However, Shaw proves this was only the beginning of a life of deceit on a grand scale.
After she was hired by Fred Harvey to be a decorator during the heyday of construction at Grand Canyon National Park and along the Santa Fe Railroad the depth of her prevarication increased. This position gave her access to the blueprints/plans for these structures and because these plans were the property of the Fred Harvey and Santa Fe architectural departments they did not contain the names of the actual architects. As a result, Mary Colter wrote her initials M. E. J. C. on many of the plans thus, claiming them as her own or she simply asserted to others that she was the architect. She didn’t expect that someone as astute in investigative techniques as Fred Shaw would eventually uncover the truth.
Shaw compared the writing of Colter on those plans with the writing on the legends of those plans and that of known architects working for the Santa Fe Railroad and Fred Harvey at those times. By doing this he discerned who the actual architects were. In addition, by reviewing the known works of these architects it was apparent that distinctive elements they had used before were incorporated into many of these buildings which Colter claimed to be her own.
Colter also blatantly usurped an idea originating with Louisa Wetherill that Navajo Sand Paintings should be used to decorate the walls of El Navajo Hotel in Gallup, NM. An article crediting Colter with the idea appeared in the New Mexico Times Tribune. None other than Zane Grey wrote a letter to the editor of that paper asking that the article be retracted and that Wetherill, who had shared her idea with Colter, be given the proper credit. Grey knew the truth because he had been friends with Wetherill for many years and had seen the correspondence between the two affirming his allegation.
Based on the information presented in this book, it is well past time to give the actual architects of the buildings along the Santa Fe Railway system and at the Grand Canyon their rightful due. Shaw proves conclusively that Colter was not the architect of any of the buildings at the Grand Canyon or along the Santa Fe Railway system.
Shaw’s exhaustive research yields the following results:
Louis S. Curtiss: El Ortiz Hotel, Lamy, NM; Phantom Ranch buildings (First Phase), Grand Canyon National Park; El Navajo Hotel, Gallup, NM; Santa Fe San Diego Station, San Diego, CA; Hermits Rest, Grand Canyon National Park; Lookout Studio, Grand Canyon National Park; Indian Gardens (proposed), Grand Canyon National Park.
Robert J. Raney: Desert View Watch Tower, Grand Canyon National Park; Bright Angel Lodge, Grand Canyon National Park; La Posada Hotel, Winslow, AZ; Auto Camp Lodge, Grand Canyon National Park; Phantom Ranch buildings (Second Phase), Grand Canyon National Park; Fred Harvey facilities at Chicago Union Station, Chicago, IL.
Charles F. Whittlesey: The Alvarado Hotel, Albuquerque, NM; Santa Fe ticket office in Los Angeles, CA; Santa Fe Depots in Bakersfield, CA, Trinidad, CO, and Raton, NM; El Tovar Hotel, Grand Canyon National Park.
W.H. Mohr: Hopi House, Grand Canyon National Park (Initial drawings by Mohr refined by Charles F. Whittlesey).
John Gaw Meem: The La Fonda Hotel Addition, Santa Fe, NM (with help from Robert Raney)
The chapter speculating why Colter made these false claims is unnecessary. The evidence gathered over a three- and one-half year period, which is contained in the end notes of the book, conclusively proves that she was not the architect of record for these buildings.
Fred Shaw should receive kudos for his tenacity and courage in completing this monumental work. Correcting the illegitimate claims of Mary Colter that have stood for six decades was not an easy task.
Doug Sherman is a retired professor of geology, nationally recognized photographer and Cottonwood, AZ, resident.