India Boyer was an innovator of modern architecture. She was the first woman to take and pass the Ohio Architectural Exam and the first woman in many of Ohio’s architectural organizations.
India Boyer was born in Sidney, Ohio on June 27, 1907. She excelled in her early years of education, graduating as valedictorian at her high school. She entered the Ohio State University’s Department of Architecture in 1926, the first year Ohio State allowed women to enter that program. While in school she volunteered with her local women’s civic organization, the Altrusa Club. She graduated in 1930 as the first woman to complete the program.
In 1939, she accepted the position of the head of the architectural department for the Ohio Army Corps of Engineers, where she designed non-combat supply buildings such as warehouses, airports, and hospitals. In 1941, she became the first ever woman to sit and pass Ohio’s architecture exam.
After her time with the Army Corps of Engineers, she joined colleagues to found a Cincinnati architectural firm called Vogt, Ivers, and Associates, and she eventually became the firm’s lead architect. During her time with the firm, she designed buildings including the original WCPO tv studios and the Ryerson Steel Company factory. In 1946 she became the first woman to ever join the American Institute of Architects
While working at Vogt, Ivers, and Associates, Boyer lived at 2706 Stratford Ave.
During the 1950s and 1960s, India Boyer added the Federal Building on Main and Provident Bank Building on Vine Street to her portfolio. She also designed the Elmwood Place School. She retired in 1975 but continued to consult for the Hamilton Parks Department and work with the Altrusa Club as a teacher of architecture until her death in 1998.
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