President's Letter on Upcoming Events

9-28-2020

Dear SAH Latrobe Community, 

I am thrilled to usher in a new season of Latrobe events, the vast majority of which will take place virtually, at least for now. While we acknowledge the continuing challenges of the pandemic, we are also excited to offer programs that might reach a broader membership beyond our Washington, DC community. This will be especially meaningful for our symposium on race, ethnicity, and architecture in the nation’s capital, which we have rescheduled for the month of February, 2021. Rather than holding all the panels over the course of a few days, the symposium will be spread out across four Tuesday evenings. We will be sending more information on the symposium soon, along with posting information on our website. 

In addition to the virtual symposium, Latrobe will be offering lectures in fall 2020 and spring 2021 on topics like resilient communities (November 17) and radical suburbs (December 8). We will also offer a socially distanced in-person tour. Please mark your calendars and keep an eye out for additional information. 

Sincerely, 

Vyta Baselice  

Message from the Latrobe Chapter: Black Lives Matter

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 

President's Letter on Symposium

Dear SAH Latrobe Community, 

The past weeks have been incredibly difficult for the Washington, DC metropolitan area, our country, and the world at large. COVID-19 has ravaged our communities, generating a long string of cancellations and shortages. The Society of Architectural Historians has cancelled its in-person conference in Seattle and instead has gone virtual; the Vernacular Architecture Forum too has cancelled its meeting in San Antonio. It is with great sadness that Latrobe joins this group by postponing the biennial symposium on Race, Ethnicity, and Architecture in the Nation’s Capital. We were thrilled about this year’s meeting and the great number of presenters that enthusiastically agreed to share their discipline-shaking research. The Catholic University of America has likewise been a generous and supportive partner in helping us plan the symposium. We thank the many Latrobe members and non-members who registered to attend the meeting - we have and continue to appreciate your support. 

On a lighter note, we are pleased to announce that our hope is not to cancel the symposium, but to reconvene at a later date, hopefully in the fall and, if necessary, in the spring of 2021. We believe that the symposium topic and ensuing panels remain critically important, especially given the unprecedented crisis our communities are experiencing at the moment. We hope that you will join us! If you would like, you may transfer your registration payment or if you prefer, you may request a refund. Please email info@latrobechaptersah.org with your requests and we will do our best to take care of it in a timely fashion. 

Please stay safe and more soon!

Vyta Baselice
SAH Latrobe President 

President's Letter and Membership Renewal

Dear Latrobe Chapter Members, 

Happy New Year! It is a pleasure to introduce myself to you as the incoming president of the chapter. Many of you know me by my curious obsession with concrete - the topic of my PhD dissertation at the George Washington University. Others might recognize my strange Lithuanian name, which is no doubt challenging to pronounce (fyi, it’s vee-ta bass-uh-leece). I joined the SAH Latrobe Board of Directors in 2019, chairing the planning committee for the 2020 symposium on race, ethnicity, and architecture in the nation’s capital. Starting in 2020, I will also serve on the national boards of the Society of Architectural Historians and the Vernacular Architecture Forum. I am confident that my exposure to conversations about architectural history as a field on the national and international scales will help me lead our local chapter in new and exciting directions. 

Before highlighting plans for the new year, I would like to take the time to recognize our outgoing president, Lauren Oswalt McHale, who has led the organization with great creativity, enthusiasm, and grace. She has been principal for organizing and coordinating the many wonderful events we experienced this year, ranging from lectures on TIKI architecture and warehouses to a tour of Mount Vernon. I can only hope to match her (very tall) stature. Likewise, it is critical to highlight the continuous commitment of many of our board members who have taken time out of their busy schedules to keep the fire burning. And last but not least, thanks to our members who have been enthusiastically attending our events. We are excited and grateful to receive your continued support.

Get ready, because 2020 will be a year replete with exciting activities! Just to note a few upcoming lectures and events: 

• January 28th, Charles Duff, “Washington and Her Sisters: The World’s Great Row House Cities”

• February 25th, Prof. Sun-Young Park of George Mason University will deliver the lecture “Architecture of the Senses: Disability and Education in Nineteenth-Century Paris” 

Three updates are especially notable: for 2020, we have revamped our conference travel fellowship to be more inclusive and focused on the theme of politics and architecture; in April, we will be running our biennial symposium “Race, Ethnicity, and Architecture in the Nation’s Capital,” which will include engaging lectures and tours - make sure to register here; last but not least, we are moving to donate our archival materials to the DC Historical Society, which maintains a special collection on the chapter’s activities. 

As you can see, we have continued to make Washington, DC a central hub for activities related to architectural history. Show your support by becoming a member today or renewing your membership! And you can accomplish this more effortlessly than ever with our new online renewal system. Hope to see you at our next event and happy New Year!

Vyta Baselice