[1] When they formed the partnership of Schenck & Mead in early 1914, they were (incorrectly) hailed by the New York Times as the first firm of women architects in America; that milestone had actually been set two decades earlier by Gannon and Hands.

[2][6] They planned to work from "the feminist side" of things, giving priority to matters like closets, clothes chutes, and water pumps that they felt made a world of difference in women's lives but were often neglected by male architects.

[7] The plan was ambitious, comprising a playground, day nursery, laundry, small emergency hospital, communal kitchen, library, and club rooms, alongside 130 individual residences.

[11] One large 1917–18 project for which Mead was the lead architect was in Bridgeport, Connecticut, which had a shortage of affordable housing as a consequence of the rapid development of war-related industries like shipbuilding during World War I.

[4] In discussing her design for this community housing, Mead stressed the importance of cross-ventilation and windows for light, and she paid close attention to the structure of a housewife's day since "the work of taking care of the home falls to her lot.

"[4] During this project, for example, she managed to get the local standards for sink and washtub heights changed to be higher, using live demonstrations to convince officials that basins set too low strained women's backs.