President's Letter & Spring Announcements

Dear Latrobe Chapter Members:

For nearly 60 years, The Latrobe Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians has served as a forum for local academic and professional historians, architectural historians, historic preservationists, and all those interested in the built environment here in the Nation’s Capital and beyond. 2024 marked another incredible year of events for the Chapter, including our successful 14th Biennial Symposium, The Architecture of Food, hosted by the School of Architecture & Planning at Catholic University of America last April.

Before I introduce the preliminary 2025 calendar of events, I would like to thank all of our members for their continued support and interest in our programs. Without members like you, the Chapter’s educational tours and events would not be possible. I would also like to recognize our outgoing president, Elizabeth Milnarik, who has been integral to the success of the Latrobe Chapter through her many years of leadership and passion for architectural history. Thank you, Elizabeth, and to all of our devoted board members!

Here are some highlights of this year’s program calendar:

• February 12th - Jacqueline Taylor, “Complicating the Canon: Modern Architecture and the Black Middle Class.”

• February 13th - Michelangelo Sabatino, The Edith Farnsworth House: Architecture, Preservation, Culture. Hosted by the National Building Museum.

• Spring 2025 - Stephanie Rufino, book talk and tour on the architecture of Georgetown University.

• June 7th - Williamsport, MD and the Conococheague Aqueduct tour & picnic. Co-hosted with APT-DC.

• Fall 2025 - Caroline Mesrobian Hickman, lecture on the work and legacy of DC architect, Mihran Mesrobian.

Your membership is vital to continuing our exceptional programming. Please show your support by becoming a member today or renewing your membership online at latrobechaptersah.org. Our website and Facebook page “Latrobe Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians” are great ways to get information about our activities or last-minute updates. We hope to see you at our next event!

With kindest regards,

Lauren McHale

President

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