Draftsperson, Hebbard and Gill, Architects, San Diego, CA, 1905-1906; (Waterman worked as one of Gill's two chief draftspeople.) Principal, Hazel Wood Waterman, Architect, San Diego, CA, 1906-1929. Waterman's husband, Waldo, died in 1903, leaving her with three children and an uncertain financial future; at age 39, she had to find an occupation that could provide an income for the household; she had met the San Diego architect, Irving J. Gill (1870-1936), when his firm, Hebbard and Gill, was designing an Escondido house for her family in 1900-1901. While working with Waldo and Helen, Gill gained an appreciation for her artistic skill and encouraged her interest in architecture. After Waldo's death, she followed his advice and gained learn drafting skills via correspondence coursework; Hebbard and Gill employed Waterman in 1905 to direct the design and construction of the Alice Lee House, (1905), San Diego, CA.

Coursework, University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Berkeley, CA; Waterman was trained as a landscape painter; correspondence course in architecture, c. 1904. While at UCB in 1884, she served as Vice-President of her Freshman Class (Second Term), under the President, Waldo S. Waterman.

Hazel was born in Tuskegee, AL, just as the Civil War was ending. Her family had moved to Oroville, CA, by 1880, and, by 1884, she was living in Berkeley, CA, attending the university. She married in 1889, and lived for some time in Cuyamaca, CA, near the Stonewall Jackson Mine, where Waldo worked. Waterman resided with her husband, children and brother, Willie Wood, (born c. 04/1875 in CA) at 1745 2nd Street in San Diego, CA, in 1900. From 1901 to at least 1912, she lived in a Bankers Hill house at 805 West Hawthorn Street, on the southeast corner of West Hawthorn and Albatross Streets, designed by Hebbard and Gill, Architects. While Helen was studying at UCB in 1914, Hazel resided close by at 2341 College Avenue in Berkeley. The US Census of 1920 stated that she lived in rented quarters at 2121 1st Street in San Diego, with her 80-year-old father and her daughter, Helen. She had moved to 710 West Pennsylvania Street in San Diego in 1926. She lived in her contemporary Julia Morgan's Berkeley City Women's Club when she passed away at age 83.

Her father, Jessie Wood (born c. 1880 in GA), was a minister in 1880, and mother, Alice (born c. 1836 in AL), was a homemaker for her nine children. Jessie's family had deep roots in GA, Alice's in SC.

Helen married Waldo Sprague Waterman (1860-1903) in 1889. Waldo Waterman moved from IL to CA with his family in 1873 to set up a ranch near San Bernardino. The Waterman Family also branched out from farming to operate 17 profitable silver mines near Barstow, CA. Robert Whitney Waterman (1826-1891) earned a million dollars from his mines and got into politics as a Republican; he became Lieutenant Governor in 1886 and, in 1887, due to the death of Governor Washington A. Bartlett (1824-1887), became Governor from 1887-1891. In 1886, Robert purchased the Stonewall Jackson Mine in Cuyamaca, CA, the richest gold mine in San Diego County. To assist his father's mining operations, Waldo attended the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) (graduating in 1886) and became a mining engineer. Helen was Waldo's second wife; he married Myra Benfry in 1886, but she died months after their wedding.

She and Waldo had three children all born in CA: Robert Wood Waterman (1889-1973), Helen Gardner Waterman Kincade (1891-1954), and Waldo Dean Waterman (1894-1976). Helen Waterman Kincade graduated from the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), her parents' alma mater, in 1914.

She applied for a US Passport to travel to Haiti in 1917 as the guest of Marine Corps Captain Gerard Kincade for three weeks. She planned to travel aboard the S.S. Orange Nassau from New York to Haiti on 07/15/1917. At age 52, according to her passport application, Waterman stood 5 feet 6 inches tall, had graying brown hair, straight nose and brown eyes. She had A.F. Cornell, who lived at 3155 2nd Street in San Diego, serve as a witness vouching for her character during the passport process. Cornell had known her for 20 years in 1917. The CA Death Index mistakenly indicated that Waterman was born on 05/05/1864, not 1865.

• Tuskegee, AL (Architect's Birth)
  Tuskegee, AL

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• Berkeley, CA (Architect's Death)
  Berkeley, CA

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