Charlotte Partridge


Charlotte Partridge and her life partner Miriam Frink founded the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1920. The two women worked for over 30 years to build the Layton School, which started in the basement of the Frederick Layton Gallery and later moved to a building on Milwaukee's east side.
Partridge was the head of curriculum and instruction and the more public face, while the quieter and more reserved Miriam Frink, who also taught, headed the business side of the school and took care of any disciplinary issues. During Great Depression years both women made great sacrifices like forgoing their own salaries to do so. They built a house together in what was then rural Mequon. Partridge was also involved in the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and was also actively involved in the Wisconsin activities of the Work Progress Administration.
The Partridge and Frink archives are housed at the Golda Meir Library in Special Collections at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.