Dear Latrobe Chapter community,

I am writing to you to acknowledge the pain that our city and nation are feeling and recognize the pain that Black Americans are experiencing in particular. The killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and Ahmaud Arbery are a reminder that anti-blackness sentiments continue to shape our national cultures, institutional structures, and individual behaviors. As both a symbol and a city, Washington has been at the center of public protests both historically and contemporaneously; as a Southern city, it has also facilitated the exploitation of African American labor (as Mabel O. Wilson discussed in her 2020 Sekler Talk for SAH), residential segregation, and, now, gentrification. As an organization, Latrobe has aspired to recognize this no doubt complex yet crucial history through our programs, including the spring 2020 symposium on Race, Ethnicity, and Architecture in the Nation's Capital, which has been postponed due to COVID-19. As a community, we are committed to continuing to uncover the racial history of our city and its rootedness in place.

The national Society of Architectural Historians has likewise pursued efforts to address its institutional history and interrogate the role that the built environment plays in affecting black and other minority communities. Most recently, it has amplified the work of minority scholars and fostered community through the establishment of affiliate groups, Asian American Diasporic Architectural History, Minority Scholars, and Race and Architectural History. Collectively, they have authored statements regarding racial justice and how architectural historians play a role in these conversations:

SAH’s Commitment to Racial Justice by the Officers of the Society of Architectural Historians

A Statement of Solidarity for Racial Justice at SAH by Charles Davis, Maura Lucking, Sean McPherson, Lynne Horiuchi, Itohan Osayimwese, and Gail Dubrow

In solidarity,

Vyta Baselice