26 Facts About Adah Robinson

Adah Matilda Robinson was an American artist, designer and teacher, who influenced many other artists, especially architects, during the first half of the 20th century.

Adah Robinson moved to Tulsa and became the first art teacher at Tulsa High School.

Adah Robinson never claimed to be an architect, nor did she have any formal training in the subject.

Adah Robinson was primarily a painter and a printmaker, as well as an art teacher.

Adah Robinson retired from Trinity in 1959 and moved back to Tulsa, where she continued to work privately.

Adah Robinson was born to Francis Wills and Catherine Robinson on July 13,1882, in Richmond, Indiana, where she attended Earlham College.

Adah Robinson then studied at the Chicago Art Institute, then with artists Charles Hawthorne, George Elmer Browne, and John Carlson.

Adah Robinson had been selected as valedictorian of her high school class in Richmond, but an attack of rheumatoid arthritis forced her to miss the event.

Adah Robinson stopped her activities in Chicago and joined the family in the move to Oklahoma City.

Adah Robinson's brother died and she was left permanently weakened.

Adah Robinson began teaching art privately after moving to Oklahoma City.

In 1928, Adah Robinson was hired as the founder and chairperson of the Art Department at the University of Tulsa.

Adah Robinson was one of the founders of the Alpha Rho Tau art fraternity, and the Tulsa Art Association.

Adah Robinson resigned this position in 1948 to accept a similar position at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Adah Robinson added a sunroom and a carport in 1983.

Adah Robinson had the original stucco exterior sandblasted, applied sealant to the stucco, and covered with a cream-colored paint.

Adah Robinson had to replace the roof in 1987, after a tree limb fell on the original roof during an ice storm.

Adah Robinson was probably best known for her design contributions to the Boston Avenue Methodist Church.

Adah Robinson submitted her drawings for a radically different church design to Audrey Cole in 1926, who asked her to personally explain them to the committee.

Adah Robinson then recommended that the board consider hiring her friend and former student, Bruce Goff, then working for Rush, Endacott and Rush.

Adah Robinson would receive $5,000," Rush, Endacott and Rush were to "furnish preliminary sketches, contract and working drawings, detail drawings and specifications, and provide general supervision of the building operations.

Adah Robinson was working there as a draftsman when the contracts were signed with the church, and was not associated with the design process before then.

Adah Robinson later claimed to be the primary designer of the church, and the company supported his claim.

Adah Robinson is credited with redesigning the interiors of two other downtown Tulsa churches: First Church of Christ, Scientist and Second Church of Christ, Scientist.

In 1945, Adah Robinson resigned from the University of Tulsa and moved to San Antonio, Texas, where she began developing Trinity University's Art Department.

Adah Robinson retired from Trinity and returned to Tulsa in 1959, and continued to work until her death.