Did California’s first female architect Julia Morgan design a reinforced concrete tower in 1904 that survived a 1906 San Francisco earthquake? Yes, that’s true: The “El Campanil” bell tower on the Mills College campus in Oakland was undamaged by the magnitude 7.9 quake that devastated the area. The success of Morgan’s pioneering use of concrete reinforced by steel was key to propelling her architectural career. The image illustrating a meme making the claim, however, is made by an AI tool and does not accurately depict Morgan or the tower after the quake.
The meme appeared in a post (archived here) published on Facebook by History Vault on May 25, 2025 under the title “#WomenInArchitecture #Trailblazer #HistoryMakers”. It read:
Many doubted her, Julia Morgan’s tower uniquely survived 1906’s quake. Ca’s 1st female architect (1904), she pioneered reinforced concrete for building safety…