Fall Events Announcement

Hello Latrobers!

We are excited to ring in Autumn with our program of upcoming events. Please stay tuned for more information, which we will advertise to our members as it becomes available.

• Howard University Historic Architecture & Landscape Tour (September 24)

• John DeFerrari and Peter Sefton, Lecture on Sixteenth Street Architecture (October 18, in person)

• Lisa Davidson and Catherine Lavoie, Lecture TBD (November 29, in person)

• Matthew Lasner, Lecture on Housing and Aging (December 13, virtual)

We look forward to seeing everyone again soon!

President's Letter & Spring Events

Dear Latrobers,

Happy New Year! We hope you had a festive and safe holiday with your loved ones. Latrobe is thankful to have had your support and presence throughout the year 2021 and we hope you will join us in 2022 as we host more virtual lectures and attempt to convene in person for lectures in the spring, pending infection and vaccination numbers.

This coming year, we are excited to bring to you a combination of virtual programming and in-person meetings and tours. First, we will welcome Danielle Willkens (Georgia Tech) on February 22nd over Zoom, to speak about projects from the ACCelerate festival at the Smithsonian Museum of American History, which showcases trans-disciplinary projects at the intersection of science, engineering, art, design, and technology. On March 8, we hope to meet in person for a lecture by Brian Goldstein (Swarthmore), who will present his new work on African American architect Max Bond. On April 19, Amber Wiley (Rutgers), will speak on her new research on the Afro-American Bicentennial Corporation and the National Park Service’s inclusion of Black historic landmarks. In June, we hope to bring Latrobers together for an in-person tour of Dumbarton Oaks. All in-person events will follow CDC recommendations for public gatherings. If the pandemic prevents us from meeting in person for these events, we will host them virtually over Zoom; they will continue to be free of charge and only require advanced registration.

We are also thrilled to share that in 2022, we will be supporting two emerging professionals (graduate students or recent graduates) to attend the national Society of Architectural Historians conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dijia Chen, PhD candidate in architecture at the University of Virginia and winner of our 2020 fellowship, will join the new fellow at the conference. We plan to invite the two emerging professionals to share with Latrobe their research and experiences at the conference.

In anticipation of these community activities, we invite you to renew your membership for the new year. Your contribution will support the continuation of our activities, both virtually and in person. We are grateful for the support you have offered us throughout the pandemic and are excited and hopeful to transition to a new post-pandemic life.

Best wishes in the new year and feel free to get in touch,

Vyta Pivo

President's Letter & Fall Events

Dear friends of the Latrobe Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians,

It is my pleasure to welcome you back from summer holiday. Perhaps some of you had a chance to take a break or even travel a bit locally or regionally. We hope that the brief increase in mobility whet your appetites for architectural history, particularly as we hunker down to manage the new COVID strain along with the winter season.

We have a great collection of virtual events prepared for you, which will provide insight into familiar and unfamiliar research subjects, formats, and places. From the life and work of our namesake Henry Latrobe, to maps of the built environment of Washington, DC, urban nooks and crannies in the shape of DC's alleys, and even the distant structures of Norman architecture, the fall lecture series will provoke thought and conversation. We hope you will join us in these adventures to learn, discover, as well as support researchers and topics that concern Washington, DC.

Here are the dates of the talks, all of which will take virtually over Zoom:

• Sept 21 - Jean Baker - Benjamin Henry Latrobe (7 pm)

• Oct 12 - Dick Walker and Deane Madsen - Mapping the Built Environment of Washington (6 pm)

• Nov 16 - Rebecca Summer - DC Alleys (7 pm)

• Dec 14 - Lisa Reilly - Norman architecture (7 pm)

Thanks and I look forward to raising a glass virtually with all of you in September to welcome the new academic year!

All the best,
Vyta Pivo

In Memory of Stephanie S. Foell

Stephanie S. Foell, Senior Architectural and Landscape Historian with WSP, died unexpectedly on May 6, 2021 at her home in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.  A longtime resident of Catonsville, Maryland, Stephanie had recently moved to North Carolina.

Stephanie was a well-known architectural and landscape historian in the mid-Atlantic, whose work locally and nationally has had a lasting impact in the field.  She received a dual BS degree from Towson University in History and Psychology (1992) and a Master of Science degree in Historic Preservation from the University of Georgia, Athens (1996).  Stephanie fell in love with Athens during her graduate school years and she maintained many friendships with MHP alumni and professors. She was especially interested in Athens architect Fred J. Orr and in 2008 she curated an exhibit on his work.

Stephanie’s 27 years of professional work included an internship with the Carroll County Farm Museum and consulting work with Robinson & Associates and A.D. Marble.  For the last 13 years, she was employed by WSP (formerly Parsons Brinckerhoff), where she was a principal investigator and project manager on projects throughout the United States.

Stephanie’s architectural and landscape history expertise resulted in work with nationwide impact in the field. This included interpretive work such as preparation of an historic property brochure for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and a nationwide style guide for the Department of the Navy. Stephanie also developed a groundbreaking nationwide historic context and cultural resources management book for the GSA. This publication received the prestigious National Preservation Honor award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2008.  Her work at WSP also extended nationally as she worked with their team on multiple transportation projects across the country including in Baltimore, Maryland, Los Angeles, California, Coronado California, Dallas, Texas, Detroit, Michigan, Indianapolis, Indiana, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Stephanie’s interest in historic landscapes can be seen in her work on nationally significant sites such as the Statue of Liberty, for which she prepared an amendment to the National Register nomination that included detailed and complex assessment of the landscape integrity and significance.  Stephanie also documented the historic landscape of the Washington Monument for the National Park Service.  She worked with the Arlington National Cemetery, U.S. Army, National Capital Planning Commission and Commission of Fine Arts to develop a context sensitive design for the reinstallation of a historic gate, new guardhouse, and enhanced landscape elements to improve visitor experience at this important site.  Stephanie worked with Charles Birnbaum on a number of publications and lectures he organized at the National Park Service and later The Cultural Landscape Foundation. This included seminars the two taught for the National Preservation Institute as well as  numerous presentations on historic landscapes at professional meetings.  Her work with Birnbaum was first as a contributor to “Pioneers of  American Landscape Design,” (McGraw Hill, 2000) with her biographical essay  on Nathan Franklin Barrett,  and in 2009 she co-edited with Birnbaum the follow-up publication,  “Shaping the American Landscape,”  (University of Virginia Press.)

In addition to her many professional achievements, Stephanie was also an accomplished knitter, and many of her friends and family were gifted with hand-knit hats, socks, sweaters, and blankets made in cozy yarns in colors specifically selected for the recipient. She made friends with yarn store owners wherever she went and was an enthusiastic supporter of the craft – from understanding sheep breeds to seeking out up-and-coming yarn dyers.  Stephanie loved to travel, coming home with amazing stories and wonderful restaurant recommendations – Key West and New Mexico were favorite destinations.  She also loved music, making jam (coming up with her own recipes of course!), and making jewelry. She was a lively, funny friend who will be missed by many.

President's Letter & Membership News

Dear Latrobe Members, 

I am writing to you to celebrate the end of 2020 and wish you a very happy holiday. It has been a challenging year no doubt, but we are pleased with our community coming together for national SAH events and the two virtual lectures Latrobe organized in November and December. 

In recognition of these challenging times, we are pleased to extend free membership through 2021; if you recently renewed your membership, we are happy to move it to 2022. We hope that you will continue to support our organization and engage with architectural history in Washington, DC. 

In the spring of 2021, we will offer a packed schedule of virtual events, beginning with our virtual symposium on race, ethnicity, and architecture in Washington, DC, to be held as a series of Tuesday evening lectures throughout the month of February. Please mark your calendars and register for the series here: https://www.latrobechaptersah.org/symposium-registration Registration cost is $40 per person and free to students. Please help us spread the word about this opportunity! 

In addition to the virtual symposium, we will offer virtual lectures in March, April, and May with Carla Yanni and Dell Upton, as well as a roundtable on iconic planned communities with Mary Corbin Sies, Isabelle J. Gournay, Bruce Stephenson, and Jeremy C. Wells. Depending on the state of public health, we are also planning an in-person tour of the Perry Belmont House.  

We are excited to see you in the new year and wish you all the best until then!

Cheers, 

Vyta Baselice