Courtesy of The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York). Wright added her to the roster of Fellows so they would not forget to invite her to social functions, such as the famed “beautiful” Easter celebrations.Įaster at Taliesin West, 1947. By this time Minerva had answered a plea from Rushville to help alleviate a post-war teacher shortage (even though she had no teaching experience or training) and moved home, so she had traditional school vacation periods to see Charles. I guess I was second choice!” And so began the trips to Arizona to see Charles. Courtesy of Minerva MontoothĬharles and Minerva did not start dating until the next year after Sarah fell in love with another man when she enrolled at the University of Chicago to do post-graduate work. Minerva and Charles strolling in Phoenix during State Fair time, shortly after their honeymoon.
He was in fourth grade, one of those untouchable Greek gods! That’s my first memory of him.” Their grandparents and their parents were friends. She knew Charles from childhood (he also grew up in Rushville). After I got to Taliesin, I completely forgot about Northwestern!”Įaster at Taliesin West, 1947. It was quite a shock to go from that ambience (midtown Manhattan) to the desert and the fantastic architecture. “The beauty of the desert, the ambience of Taliesin West.
The change in scenery would lead to a change in life. Minerva was hospitalized with pneumonia in 1947, so her sister Sarah, who was dating Charles, invited her to accompany her to “recuperate in the sun” for two weeks at Taliesin West.
Their offices were on 44th Street, overlooking Fifth Avenue. Minerva graduated from Northwestern University in 1945 with a degree in English, “everybody’s copout degree.” A native of tiny Rushville, Illinois (population 2,682 in 1950), she moved to New York City to work as a specialized librarian for an advertising agency. The story of Minerva’s journey to Taliesin is as interesting as her first meeting with the Wrights. Courtesy of Minerva Montoothīut we have gotten ahead of ourselves. Minerva and Charles celebrate Mardi Gras on their honeymoon in Mexico. Wright said, ‘She is not made for that screen. “Afterwards we watched television, which was pretty new, in the loggia. It would often be followed by entertainment. As students of the Wright know, ham and eggs or not, dinner with the couple was not always just dinner. What was for dinner? Wright had ordered ham and eggs. Not only did Minerva talk to Frank Lloyd Wright, but Wright then invited her and her future husband, Charles Montooth, to dinner with them at the dining table at Taliesin. The Wrights in their Crosley Hotshot Courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society If I can talk to Frank Lloyd Wright, I can talk to anybody!” “The minute I met them it was like a thunderbolt, I lost my shyness at that moment. They had driven up in their just-delivered diminutive red Crosley Hotshot roadster. We’d have a fight when we went to the restaurant for lunch who would speak to the waitress.” Then she met Olgivanna and Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin in 1949. Minerva Montooth at the 2015 Wright birthday celebration at Taliesin.įrank Lloyd Wright not only upended the world of architecture, he also untied Minerva Jane Houston’s tongue and eventually convinced her to marry a “Greek god.” If you know Minerva, now Minerva Montooth, you would be gobsmacked that she describes herself as having once been “pathologically shy.” Let her explain, “We (she and her twin sister, Sarah) didn’t speak to anyone in grade school, high school, college who was one day older.
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