Mary Alice Molloy

Architectural historian and author, Mary Alice Molloy, died peacefully Sunday, February 11, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois.  Born on April 19, 1939, Ms. Molloy was the eldest child of Brian J. Molloy and Therese Mahoney Molloy of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan. Mary Alice is survived by her four siblings, Brian J. Molloy, Jr. (Catherine), Thomas C. Molloy (Camille), Constance M. Kinnear (Thomas), and Stephen P. Molloy (Teresa) and many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews. Ms. Molloy was a graduate of the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan and Newton College of the Sacred Heart (now part of Boston College) in Newton, Massachusetts. Ms. Molloy authored and co-authored several articles on Chicago architecture including “Richardson’s Web: A Client’s Assessment of the Architect’s Home and Studio” published in the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians.  She was a contributing author and editor for the American Institute of Architects 3rd Edition of the AIA Guide to Chicago, “Chicago since the Sears Tower: a Guide to New Downtown Buildings” published by Inland Architect Press, and “A Guide to Chicago’s Public Sculpture” published by the University of Chicago Press. For many years, Ms. Molloy was greatly involved with the Glessner House Museum on Prairie Avenue in Chicago.  In 1976, she trained and was certified as a docent during the period when the house was owned and operated by the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF).  Through the years, Ms. Molloy gave hundreds of tours of Glessner House, Prairie Avenue, and various downtown walking tours for CAF. In addition, Ms. Molloy wrote several scholarly articles on various aspects of Glessner House and its collections.  She gave numerous lectures and presentations at Glessner House and at conferences around the country for several architectural organizations.  Ms. Molloy spent hundreds of hours organizing and interpreting the museum archives as items came back to the museum from the Glessner family. In 1994, Ms. Molloy wrote the chapter "Prairie Avenue" for the book The Grand American Avenue: 1850-1920, which served as the catalog for an exhibit that traveled to Washington D.C., New Orleans, New York, and Chicago between April 1994 and July 1995. Ms. Molloy authored Prairie Avenue Servants: Behind the Scenes in Chicago’s Mansions, 1870-1920, published by Palindrome Press in 1995. Services pending.

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