February 6, 2021 SAH MDR News

Dear SAH MDR membership,

Everything feels just around the corner these days as evening light sweetens, spring flowers promise to emerge, and vaccines seem just a reach away. You will find this newsletter bulging with news, a sign, I think, of the deluge of interesting things occurring despite (or perhaps because) of the pandemic.

First and foremost:

• The board-comprised elections nominating committee—Chris Bell, Jenni Pace, and Ahsha Miranda—has drafted an exciting slate of board members for us to vote on in coming days – stay tuned!

• SAH MDR will host a papers session this summer 2021! It will be virtual and conversations are underway regarding theme; the board will be moving swiftly in the coming days as we work on this. If one thing has become surprisingly clear from our sister SAH chapters, it is that such virtual meetings generally have high attendance and wide reach. Exciting ventures!

• Our hoped-for, in-person 2021 annual meeting planned for Forest Grove, Oregon, will be delayed until 2022. Based on the pre-planning I’ve seen, it will be worth the wait!

Sending my best,
Amanda Roth Clark, SAH MDR President
amandaclark@whitworth.edu

In Recognition

We would like to recognize long-time SAH MDR member Don Peting for being awarded an Oregon Heritage Award in 2020 for his role in founding the Oregon Field School and other preservation activities in the PNW over time.

Preservationists in King County and the City of Tacoma put together an outstanding virtual conference for the National Alliance for Preservation Commissioners (NAPC) from August 3 – 9, 2020. Conference sessions are still available at: FORUM 2020 ~ at Home Recordings. The conference will be held in situ in Tacoma next year. One of the key organizers of this conference, J. Todd Scott,  also helped organize our 2018 SAHMDR conference in Astoria.

Members in the News:

• Diana Painter, former long-time president of SAH MDR, has been recently appointed president of the Spokane Preservation Advocates in Spokane, a voluntary advocacy group.

Diana Painter, second from right, on tour at the 2019 Coeur d'Alene SAH MDR annual meeting.

• Soon to be out-going SAH MDR president, Amanda Roth Clark, has been elected as an ex officio member of the SAH Board of Directors as SAH Chapter Liaison to the 20-some chapters of the international SAH.

• Phil Gruen published a thoughtful piece reflecting on the loss of a significant structure in Whitman County during the summer fires: “Embers of Collective Memory: The Manning-Rye Bridge,” Bunchgrass Historian 46, no. 3 (2020): 21-5.

Manning-Rye Covered Bridge after fire, 2020. Photographed by Phil Gruen.

University of Oregon Preservation Program Receives Research Funds to Work
with African American Community in Portland (January 14, 2021)

The University of Oregon Historic Preservation program has received a 3-year research grant of approximately $400,000 to explore the history of Portland’s African American community as part of a major grant to the University from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The funds will support a digital mapping project that uses existing historical archives and residents’ oral histories to promote the history of the historically Black community of Albina. The project will be part UO’s Pacific Northwest Just Futures Institute for Racial and Climate Justice, a multidisciplinary collaboration between scholars in the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Design.

Funds for the historic preservation work are part of a $4.52 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support a new initiative envisioning a transformative research platform for racial and climate justice. Program Director James Buckley has been working with members of the Albina community and local preservation advocates to develop innovative ways to tell the story of Portland’s African Americans from wartime boom to urban renewal bust to the rapid gentrification of the neighborhood in the 21st century.

For more information:
Jim Buckley, Director
Historic Preservation Program
University of Oregon, Portland
jbuckley@uoregon.edu

Community members join students and faculty from the University of Oregon for discussion of African American history at the historic Billy Webb Elks Lodge in Portland's Albina neighborhood (June 2018). Photograph by University of Oregon.

University of Oregon students and faculty join representative of the National Trust for Historic
Preservation at the Sons of Haiti Masonic Lodge on Mississippi Street in Portland
(June 2018). Photograph by Kim Moreland.

In the Media:

The SAH MDR Facebook page offers recent postings regarding resources for researching the history of African Americans in the PNW – check it out! https://www.facebook.com/groups/sahmdr

Upcoming Talks and Events:

Larry Kreisman, who served as program director at Historic Seattle for many years, has been offering several engaging talks:  

• “Seattle Historic Theaters”—February 17: https://seattlearchitecture.strangertickets.com/events/110189615/another-opening-another-show-seattle-theater-history

• “The City Beautiful Movement in the PNW”—12 noon, February 19 (free): http://www.womanscenturyclub.org/meetings-events/events/

• “Kirtland Cutter and the C.D. Stimson House”—March 20: (see the Historic Seattle website)

And on YouTube:

• "Seattle's Stained Glass Legacy" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNAwzWCyO0c&feature=youtu.be

• "Collecting 1900 Modern" https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=cMHwCgVzaKo

• "Arts and Crafts Movement in the Pacific Northwest" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zW4KRGwxik&feature=youtu.be

Conference Update:

We anticipate holding our next in-person conference in the city and surrounding communities of Forest Grove, Oregon, in 2022. The Forest Grove Downtown Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in October 2020, based on a nomination written by former SAH MDR president Diana Painter. The preliminary historic resource survey and historic context for the nomination was prepared by long-time board members Dave Pinyard and Bernadette Niederer of Historic Preservation Northwest. Bernadette Niederer and Dave Pinyerd were awarded the Marion Dean Ross Award for their contributions to the chapter in 2017.

SAH MDR Board of Directors

 Amanda C. Roth Clark (Spokane, President)
 Chris Bell (Salem, Vice President)
 Kathryn Burk-Hise (Worley, Secretary)
 Mimi Sheridan (Monterey, Treasurer)
 Diana Painter (Spokane, Past President)
 Phil Gruen (Pullman, Washington Regional Delegate)
 Phillip Mead (Moscow, Idaho Regional Delegate)
 Jim Buckley (Portland, Oregon Regional Delegate)
 Jenni Pace (Vancouver, British Columbia Regional Delegate)
 Ahsha Miranda (Portland, Membership Coordinator)

Copyright © 2021 SAHMDR all rights reserved.
February 14, 2021

Our mailing address is:
645 Laurel Avenue, No. 3
Pacific Grove, CA 93950

October 29, 2020 SAH MDR News

Hello SAH MDR membership,

After rain, autumn leaves press their intense colors onto sidewalks in the Pacific Northwest during this time of year. Welcome to the October newsletter!

Sending my best, always,
Amanda Roth Clark, SAH MDR President
amandaclark@whitworth.edu

Kenneth Guzowski, past Chapter Treasurer, and Shirley Courtois, Treasurer, accept Marion Dean Ross Outstanding Service Awards during the annual conference in Corvallis in 2007.

Remembering Shirley Courtois

by Elisabeth Potter and Mimi Sheridan

The Marion Dean Ross/Pacific Northwest Chapter, Society of Architectural Historians, lost one of its most stalwart members with the recent passing of Shirley Courtois, at her home in Seattle, on August 16, 2020, after a brief illness. Among her survivors in the region are Erika Courtois, her daughter, and her nephew Gavin Younie.

Shirley was the face of SAH/MDR to many while she graciously fulfilled leadership roles continuously for fifteen years. She was coordinator of scholarly papers for the 1996 conference before advancing to become coordinator of publications, vice president, and acting president. From 2002 to 2011, as chapter treasurer, she was integrally involved in annual conference planning. In 2007, the chapter honored Shirley with the Marion Dean Ross Award for Outstanding Service in recognition of her stellar management of financial affairs and venue planning details. It was Shirley, who in 2001, produced the chapter’s essential operating manual for officers, a pamphlet including by-laws, duties, and protocols for conducting annual meetings.

Shirley earned her Master’s degree in architectural history. Following her student years at the University of Chicago, she became an assistant professor of architecture at the University of Illinois. After relocating to the West Coast, she organized her consulting firm, Courtois & Associates, in Seattle. She served on the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board and was appointed to the Washington State Advisory Council on Historic Preservation in 1998. During the 1970s, she had been engaged in contract work for the Seattle Office of Urban Conservation headed by Earl Layman, a long-time SAH member and officer. On such projects as the city-wide survey and inventory of historic properties and identification of historic resources that would be affected by construction of the METRO Transit Tunnel, she worked collaboratively with colleagues who became good friends and fellow members of the SAH regional chapter. Succeeding preservationists are accustomed to seeing her name on the numerous landmark nominations, environmental assessment documents, and focused studies she produced.

Dennis Andersen remembers with pleasure the celebratory gatherings Shirley hosted in her home and noted that she was proud of her Luxembourgeois heritage. Lawrence Kreisman observed that Shirley “was always modest about her role, but we in the preservation world certainly appreciated her thoroughness, her critical eye, and her curiosity.” It was to Mimi Sheridan that Shirley, retiring from her role, passed the treasurer’s check book during the annual meeting in Boise in 2011. Shirley was noted for her generosity and for sharing her time and professional expertise to help others. Mimi points out that Shirley donated funds to the chapter to establish a Young Professionals research grant that is now named to honor her memory.

Memorial contributions to the Shirley Courtois Fund for Young Professionals are welcome. Please contact Mimi Sheridan: mimisheridan@msn.com

In the Media

• Former SAH MDR conference paper presenter, Harley Cowan, describes his first large format photograph in this short 2.25 min video: https://vimeo.com/471970969
  

• Design in Mind, a PBS series, includes an episode that features director James Ivory, who credits Marion Dean Ross with his understanding of architecture and explains how important architecture and art have been to his developing films like Remains of the Day and The Golden Bowl. https://www.pbs.org/video/on-location-with-james-ivory-o8qddu/
  

• September fires were devastating for Oregon this year.

Burned chevron; September 2020; image taken by Oregon Department of Transportation, courtesy of Wikimedia commons.


One tragic loss—Belluschi’s Thetford Lodge—reminds us of what we had.

Annemarie van Roessel, Assistant Curator at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, wrote to me on September 14th to share some memories:

I write to share the sad news that Thetford Lodge, the weekend home that my great-grandparents Charles and Blanche Sprague commissioned from Pietro Belluschi in 1947, was destroyed last week in the Santiam Canyon fire in Oregon. Thetford Lodge was a very modest entry in Belluschi's job book, but it has been deeply significant for four generations of my family, as well as for the students, faculty, and staff at Willamette University after Charles and Blanche donated the property in 1963. Countless wonderful relationships and memories are rooted in that place. Our thoughts are very much with everyone in Oregon, Washington, and California who have lost family and property and who are enduring devastating hardships because of these fires. Although the Lodge is now gone, several years ago I helped my grandmother Martha Sprague, Charles and Blanche's daughter, donate the working drawings, correspondence, and photos to Belluschi's papers at Syracuse. Additional documentation for the commission exists in the Belluschi collection held by the Oregon Historical Society.

On a personal note, the stories I heard growing up about Belluschi and my grandparents (who were friends and collaborators on other projects) certainly influenced me to follow my own career as an architectural historian. I was fortunate to visit Thetford several times with my family to appreciate Belluschi's modern vernacular design and his sensitivity to the forest and river landscape and to my great-grandparents' needs. Belluschi certainly created a retreat that served my Sprague family and the WU community tremendously well for over seven decades.

Read more on this here: https://willamette.edu/news/library/2020/10/thetford-lodge.html and https://gaietyhollow.com/2020/09/18/a-week-of-devastation/.

Opportunities

The 2021 Pacific Northwest Preservation Field School will be located in Concrete, WA, nestled in the foothills of the North Cascades. The Field School is intended for anyone who is interested in historic preservation or seeking hands-on experience working with skilled craftspeople and professionals in the Pacific Northwest. Our curriculum covers archaeology, architecture, cultural resource management, history, landscape architecture, public history, and hands-on building maintenance as it addresses historic preservation. Work on preservation projects will be interspersed with tours and lectures from a variety of experts from within the field. This program is open to both novices and practicing cultural resource professionals. Undergraduate and graduate credit is also available.

Image from Pacific Northwest Preservation Field School, "Hands-on Experience" video.

Concrete, WA is a small town that once produced and supplied Portland cement to the greater Northwest. The Field School will focus on the Baker Club House, an early cast-in-place concrete building, constructed in 1914. This building first served as the laboratory for Washington Portland Cement Company and later as the social center for the Puget Sound Power & Light Company. This year we will offer three different week-long sessions in September. Projects will include wood window and door restoration, cast concrete repair work, and cultural landscape investigation. While each session has a specific theme, all include hands-on work and documentation at a variety of skill levels. Come join us for the first Field School to work with historic concrete!

Please note that the 2021 Field School is contingent upon the opening and operating status of the University of Oregon, the States of Oregon and Washington, and our host, Puget Sound Energy. Please check the field school website for updates.

Applications for the University of Oregon's 2021 Pacific Northwest Preservation Field School will open in the spring of 2021. For more information, visit archenvironment.uoregon.edu/PNWFS or email pnwfs@uoregon.edu. Join our online community: www.facebook.com/PNWFS.

Public Live-Streamed Lecture

You are invited to attend, via Live Stream, Whitworth University Bruner-Welch annual lecture, delivered by Amanda C. Roth Clark.

Title: “Commodity, Firmness, and Delight: A Theology of Beauty in Architecture.”

Time: Monday, November 2nd, 7:00 p.m.

Livestream Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWJ7y-h3AejJ9Ul5bO8GdxQ?reload=9
Description: Always in search of the good, the true, and the beautiful, it is sometimes hard to discern what beauty is and why it matters. The ancient Roman architect, Vitruvius, offered an answer that remains poignant today. In this lecture, librarian and architectural historian Amanda C. Roth Clark will explore the theological intertwining of firmitas, utilitas, and venustas, as persuasive principles to those in search of beauty and truth today.

The SAH MDR will hold its annual voting virtually via email in the coming months.

• A nominating committee is being formed that will seek to fill the positions of SAH MDR Treasurer, Secretary, and Vice President; these terms will commence in June 2021.

SAH MDR Board of Directors

 Amanda C. Roth Clark (Spokane, President)
 Chris Bell (Salem, Vice President)
 Kathryn Burk-Hise (Worley, Secretary)
 Mimi Sheridan (Monterey, Treasurer)
 Diana Painter (Spokane, Past President)
 Phil Gruen (Pullman, Washington Regional Delegate)
 Phillip Mead (Moscow, Idaho Regional Delegate)
 Jim Buckley (Portland, Oregon Regional Delegate)
 Jenni Pace (Vancouver, British Columbia Regional Delegate)
 Ahsha Miranda (Portland, Membership Coordinator)

Copyright © 2020 SAHMDR all rights reserved.
October 29, 2020

Our mailing address is:
645 Laurel Avenue, No. 3
Pacific Grove, CA 93950

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August 25, 2020 SAH MDR News

Photograph of the longhouse at the Huronia Museum & Ouendat Village, Midland, Ontario (photographed by MDR president Amanda Roth Clark, 2018).

23 August 2020

Hello SAH MDR membership,

Summer has slipped by and we enter again another autumn. This newsletter includes a suite of material and will be followed in short order by a call for an electronic vote, so keep your eyes open for that!

The SAH MDR will hold its annual voting virtually via email in the coming weeks.

• We are seeking to fill the positions of SAH MDR Treasurer and SAH MDR Vice President; these are both two year terms starting in June 2021.

Wishing you all my very warmest,
Amanda Clark, SAH MDR President
amandaclark@whitworth.edu

SAH MDR Launches a YouTube Channel

As part of our mission to promote the love of architecture, SAH MDR has launched a YouTube channel; this channel contains two short interviews with Professor Leland M. Roth and seven two-part lectures by Professor Marion Dean Ross. Ross's popular course on the history of Oregon architecture was filmed in its entirety in 1990 and was just digitized in 2019. The course lectures were filmed while Professor Leland M. Roth was the chair of the department of art history at the University of Oregon and are now available in their entirety at:
 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOigu4WShKQ2PdmDQDhenUg/featured
 
More videos are forthcoming, and we are open to suggestions and requests for future postings.

Report from the Grants Committee – 16 August 2020
by Diana Painter

Every year the Marion Dean Ross chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians gives out a research grant named after our long-time member and chapter historian/advisor, Elisabeth Walton Potter (EWP). This year we made the unusual decision to give out two grants, to two individuals writing books about the same architect, Paul Hayden Kirk!

Magnolia Library, Seattle, designed by Paul Hayden Kirk, image courtesy of Grant Hildebrand.

Kirk (1914-1995), a Seattle area architect, was prolific in the mid-twentieth century and became known for his residences, medical clinics, religious facilities, and public buildings. One of his most widely recognized buildings is the post-and-beam Magnolia Branch Library (1962-64), which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Although his work was published in about sixty articles in national architectural journals between 1945 and 1970, no one has written a monograph on him. Two individuals are about to change that! Some background on our two authors follows.

Grant Hildebrand
Grant Hildebrand actually needs no introduction to our chapter! He and his wife Miriam Sutermeister are long-time chapter supporters and champions. Grant is the author of seven books on regionally significant architects from the Pacific Northwest, the most recent being A Poetic Architecture, on the work of Gordon Walker (Gordon was our keynote speaker at our annual meeting in Sandpoint, Idaho in 2019). Other monographs have been on the work of Phillip Jacobson, Gene Zema, Wendell Lovett and Arne Bystrom, and George Suyama. Additional works by Hildebrand include studies of the work of the industrial architect Albert Kahn, for whom he worked as a young designer, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Hildebrand also worked early in his career for Detroit-based Minoru Yamasaki, who was born in Seattle and studied at the University of Washington but made a name for himself nationally with his design of the World Trade Center (on which Grant worked), among other Modern masterpieces (Yamasaki is likely best known in Seattle for his design of the Pacific Science Center on the grounds of the Seattle Center).

Grant retired from his long teaching career at the University of Washington—which he began in 1964—in 2000 but continues to write, his latest work being the monograph on Paul Hayden Kirk, which will be published by the University of Washington Press. Other topics have captured his interest over the years as well, such as aesthetic theory, explored in his book entitled, Origins of Architectural Pleasure, which received the Washington Governor’s Writers’ Award for “work of literary merit and lasting value.” He also received a Distinguished Faculty Award for Lifetime Achievement from the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments, one of only ten conferred on past college faculty.

Grant has been twice recognized for his service to the Marion Dean Ross chapter. In 2003 Grant received a Distinguished Service Award and in 2009 he and his wife Miriam received the Marion Dean Ross award, which is given "for longstanding commitment to the Chapter's mission, outstanding support of recurring and singular activities, and exemplary dedication to the continued growth and improvement of the Chapter." Grant and Miriam signed the copyright of their book, A Greek Temple in French Prairie, the story of the pre-Civil War William Case house in the Willamette Valley, over to the chapter in 2007 to assist with fundraising. Chapter historian Elisabeth Walton Potter credits Grant and Miriam with “saving” the chapter in the mid-1990s, at a chapter low point. She also credits Grant with raising and maintaining the scholarly quality of papers presented at our chapter meetings and with attracting regionally renowned professionals to make keynote presentations at our annual conferences. Grant himself has also been a featured keynote speaker. In 2004, he presented on Rem Koolhaas’s design for the Seattle Public Library, which had been recently completed.

These are only a sampling of Grant Hildebrand’s accomplishments and his and Miriam’s contributions to our chapter. In his forthcoming book Grant will be able to place Paul Hayden Kirk’s work in a regional perspective, which he wrote about in his 2014 book, Little Wooden Buildings, The Puget Sound School. Here is the link to Grant’s video on the Paul Hayden Kirk monograph: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoReBCdJ3Gw

Dale Kutzera
Dale Kutzera is our second author to receive an EWP award this year. Dale is a screen writer and novelist, and fan of Regional Modernism. His compendium on the work of Paul Hayden Kirk, entitled Paul Hayden Kirk and the Rise of Northwest Modern, will feature photos and drawings of Kirk houses and buildings that are not widely available. While the University of Washington Special Collections houses Kirk’s papers and many photographs and drawings of his work, not all of it is digitized. This award will assist Kutzera in getting more of Kirk’s work digitized and published.

Kutzera attended the University of Washington, graduating with a degree in communications. He worked as a screenwriter for many years, and now writes for the technology and entertainment industries. The video Kutzera created for his Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the book gives a glimpse into the high production values we can expect from his publication. It can be viewed here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kutzera/paul-hayden-kirk-book.

Grant Hildebrand appeals for donations to enable publication of Paul Hayden Kirk and the Puget Sound School. Kirk and a group of his colleagues produced, from 1951 through the mid-1970s, an architecture of a quality unsurpassed in America, perhaps in the world. It was an architecture of smaller buildings that could be made of wood and, with one exception, were. Almost all of those buildings lie within a few dozen miles of Puget Sound. They have been folded into what is called the Northwest Style or Northwest Modernism, but they exhibit characteristics that distinguish them, and unite them. It seems reasonable to call their architects the Puget Sound School. The story of Kirk and that School is a significant chapter in the history of American architecture, yet this is the first book to tell this story. Hildebrand discusses forty key buildings in depth, describing and diagramming their distinctive features, with over a hundred color photographs, most of them taken specifically for this book.

The book must be of a quality commensurate with its subject; therefore, its design must be to the highest standard. Approximately half of the funds necessary to publish the book have been procured. Hildebrand seeks donors who would find pleasure in supporting this important chronicle. Pledges should be made to Grant at granth34@gmail.com or Scot Carr at casacarr@me.com.

In the News

As noted in the previous newsletter, longtime MDR member Professor Leland M. Roth, was named a 2020 SAH Fellow. I was honored to write the citation for this honor, which can be read here—https://www.sah.org/conferences-and-programs/award-programs/sah-fellows—it is a rare joy to be able to recount this life of one’s father for such an occasion.

2020 SAH Fellow, Leland M. Roth, seen here in the late 1960s. Photograph courtesy of Amanda Roth Clark.

Minor Amendment to our Bylaws

At our 2019 conference, the Board present discussed the need to make some minor changes to our bylaws in order that they align better with our fiscal year. According to our bylaws, to make an amendment we need to notify members 30 days prior to voting; it will be amended by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of those members at the meeting. The proposed amendment to our bylaws is available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cC3rgNcO0u1SKuqk1j7pnhcm1KgFQvQx/view?usp=sharing.

SAH MDR Board of Directors

 Amanda C. Roth Clark (Spokane, President)
 Chris Bell (Salem, Vice President)
 Kathryn Burk-Hise (Worley, Secretary)
 Mimi Sheridan (Monterey, Treasurer)
 Diana Painter (Spokane, Past President)
 Phil Gruen (Pullman, Washington Regional Delegate)
 Phillip Mead (Moscow, Idaho Regional Delegate)
 Jim Buckley (Portland, Oregon Regional Delegate)
 Jenni Pace (Vancouver, British Columbia Regional Delegate)
 Ahsha Miranda (Portland, Membership Coordinator)

Copyright © 2020 SAHMDR all rights reserved.
August 25, 2020

Our mailing address is:
645 Laurel Avenue, No. 3
Pacific Grove, CA 93950

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

April 21, 2020 SAH MDR Important Update

The parliament buildings, Victoria, BC, where the 2017 SAH MDR meeting was held.21 April 2020

Hello SAH MDR membership,

Please note that the registration for the 2020 SAH Virtual Conference closes April 22 (tomorrow!).  The virtual conference will be held April 30th to May 1st, online.
 
Here is a message from the SAH:
“Registration for the Society of Architectural Historians' 2020 Virtual Conference closes on Wednesday, April 22nd. Registration will not be available after April 22nd, and we are not offering same-day registration. Registration is $100 and is open to all. Membership is not required to participate.
 
SAH will present 36 paper sessions on Thursday, April 30, and Friday, May 1. All times in the conference program are US Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). As a registered attendee, you will have access to recorded paper presentations for up to 30 days to watch at your convenience. Please join us for SAH's first-ever virtual conference!” 
You will note that the SAH MDR-sponsored panel, “Sites Unseen: Other Cultural Landscapes of the Pacific Northwest,” chaired by SAH MDR Board members Jim Buckley and Phil Gruen, will be held April 30th from 3:00 pm - 5:10 pm—hope to “see” you there!
 
---
 
The SAH MDR will hold its annual business meeting in the coming months in a virtual capacity to discuss the 2021 meeting location and vote on various items. You can expect more communication in the coming weeks regarding how to remotely attend that meeting.

• We will be seeking nominations for the position of SAH MDR Treasurer, a two year term starting in 2021—a huge thank you is in order to Mimi Sheridan for her near-decade-long service in this position!

Wishing you all my very best,
Amanda Clark, SAH MDR President

In the News
 
The Society of Architectural Historians names Leland M. Roth, Marion Dean Ross Distinguished Professor Emeritus, a 2020 Fellow.  Read the excellent write-up on this at https://design.uoregon.edu/society-architectural-historians-names-leland-roth-2020-fellow; “this is the society’s—and the field’s­—highest honor,” writes UO’s Keith Eggener, editor of the JSAH.

The Vernacular Architecture Forum also moves online
Although the VAF postponed its full 2020 conference, the paper and poster sessions scheduled for Saturday, May 9th will be presented as virtual Zoom meetings. The conference will run from 8 am to 3 pm Pacific Daylight Time (PDT).
You can find a list of the presentations at http://www.vafweb.org/2020-Schedule-at-a-Glance (note Central Time zone designations). The registration fee is only $20.00 ($10.00 for students).  Registration is open to all, and non-members can register here: http://www.vafweb.org/2020guest. 

Minor Amendment to our Bylaws 

At our 2019 conference, the Board present discussed the need to make some minor changes to our bylaws in order that they align better with our fiscal year. According to our bylaws, to make an amendment we need to notify members 30 days prior to our meeting, and it will be amended by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of those members at the meeting. The proposed amendment to our bylaws is available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cC3rgNcO0u1SKuqk1j7pnhcm1KgFQvQx/view?usp=sharing.

The Boston Building, 1890, designed by the firm Andrews, Jacques and Rantoul, Denver, CO, 2019.

Call for the Elisabeth Walton Potter Research Award

The goal of this award is to further awareness and knowledge of architectural heritages in the Pacific Northwest. The chapter will provide limited funds for focused projects that increase understanding of the region’s built environment and produce tangible results that can be made available for scholars and students.

Application deadline for the award has been extended to May 14, 2020. The call is available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OYYaW0GBdK8PDI9us9vu-phbxk96YMvN/view?usp=sharing.

Photo of Arthur A. Hart.

The Society of Architectural Historians
Marion Dean Ross/Pacific Northwest Chapter
takes pleasure in greeting with heartiest wishes on his 99th birthday, Feb.13, 2020,
 
Arthur A. Hart
 
Emeritus Director of the Idaho State Historical Society.
 
Long-running weekly columnist for the Boise Idaho Statesman and author of nearly two dozen books on topics relating to the built environment and social history of the Idaho capital and environs.
 
⸎
 
Past president of the regional chapter of SAH 1974-1976.
Regional delegate from Idaho advisory to the chapter’s governing board 2002-2005.
 
Presenter of ten scholarly papers and two featured addresses to SAH conferees
 throughout the region from British Columbia to California 1971-1998. 
 
Contributor of four essays on Idaho architecture in the two-volume compilation, Space, Style and Structure: Building in Northwest America published by the
Oregon Historical Society in 1974.
 
Recognized by the American Institute of Architects as an honorary member for  promoting awareness of the region’s historic buildings, places, and exemplary design. 
 
Remembered with deepest gratitude and affection for the hospitality he and his
wife, Novella, extended to fellow members of the Society of Architectural Historians as organizer, tour guide, and overview presenter during three memorable conferences in Boise at the Idaho State Historical Museum and Basque Museum/Cultural Center.

-Elisabeth Potter, SAH MDR Chapter Historian

 SAH MDR Board of Directors    
                   
          Amanda C. Roth Clark (Spokane, President)
          Chris Bell (Salem, Vice President)
          Kathryn Burk-Hise (Worley, Secretary)
          Mimi Sheridan (Monterey, Treasurer)
          Diana Painter (Spokane, Past President)
          Phil Gruen (Pullman, Washington Regional Delegate)
          Phillip Mead (Moscow, Idaho Regional Delegate)
          Jim Buckley (Portland, Oregon Regional Delegate)
          Jenni Pace (Vancouver, British Columbia Regional Delegate)
          Ahsha Miranda (Portland, Membership Coordinator)

Copyright © 2020 SAHMDR all rights reserved.
April 21, 2020

SAHMDR Important Conference 2020 Update!

Mar 11, 2020, 8:11 PM

March 11, 2020 SAH MDR Important Update

Aerial image from the 2017 Mid-Century Modern Energy Conservation Symposium.

SAH MDR to Hold Virtual Annual Business Meeting
and
Face-to-Face SAH 2020 Meeting in Seattle Cancelled
11 March 2020
 
Dear SAH MDR membership,
 
Along with our SAH leadership I am saddened by the cancelation of the face-to-face SAH meeting that had been planned for Seattle this spring.
 
SAH MDR had planned for a fantastic banquet and presentation on Friday, May 1st, and, alas, we too must cancel that event.
 
In discussion with the SAH MDR Board, I intend to continue to hold our annual business meeting in a virtual capacity to discuss our 2021 meeting location and vote on various items. You can expect more communication in the coming weeks regarding how to attend that meeting remotely. We hope to offer that meeting during the window when the SAH would have gathered in Seattle, though we have not yet settled on a precise date and time.
 
Information regarding a virtual presentation of our sponsored panel and roundtable remain forthcoming.
 
Let me know if you have any questions.
 
Best,
Amanda Clark, SAH MDR President

SAH 1st Vice President, Dr. Victoria Young, has extended her appreciation to our chapter for the many excellent things we had planned in conjunction with the Seattle conference.

Below is the official correspondence from the SAH yesterday:
---
March 10, 2020
 
Dear SAH Community,
 
It is with deep regret that we inform you that the SAH Board of Directors has decided to cancel the SAH 73rd Annual International Conference in Seattle, Washington, April 29–May 3, 2020. This difficult decision was made after careful review of the public health information and recommendations released by government agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Public Health of Seattle and King County about the coronavirus. We have also taken into consideration the growing number of institutions placing travel restrictions on staff, faculty, and students, as well as CDC recommendations for people at risk for serious illness from COVID-19. The health and safety of our conference attendees and staff is of paramount importance to us.
 
We sincerely thank the chair of the conference, Victoria Young, and local co-chairs Ann Huppert and Thaisa Way, for organizing paper sessions, roundtables, tours, receptions, and programs that highlight all the best that SAH and Seattle have to offer.
 
The good news is that we still have the foundation for a great conference, so SAH staff and leadership are actively working on providing a virtual solution to deliver conference content to our members. Our aim is to organize a virtual conference that will provide our session chairs and speakers with a platform for sharing their scholarship, while also allowing for greater participation and accessibility.
 
We are working on revising our refund policy for conference registrations considering these extraordinary circumstances. Please take steps now to cancel or change your hotel reservation and travel arrangements if you are not going to travel to Seattle. Many airlines have updated their cancellation and change fees in response to the outbreak of COVID-19.
 
In the coming weeks you’ll find we’re all in this together as we move from an in-person to a virtual conference. If we call upon you for help, we hope you’ll respond with your time, expertise or encouragement. We appreciate the feedback and support we have received, and we will continue to update you on our plans as soon as they are finalized.
 
Sincerely,
 
Sandy Isenstadt, SAH President
Pauline Saliga, SAH Executive Director

E. Fay Jones chapel, Arkansas, photo by Whitworth student, Peter Duell.

  SAH MDR Board of Directors            

    Amanda C. Roth Clark (Spokane, President) 
    Chris Bell (Salem, Vice President)
    Kathryn Burk-Hise (Worley, Secretary)
    Mimi Sheridan (Monterey, Treasurer)
    Diana Painter (Spokane, Past President)
    Phil Gruen (Pullman, Washington Regional Delegate)
    Phillip Mead (Moscow, Idaho Regional Delegate)
    Jim Buckley (Portland, Oregon Regional Delegate)
    Jenni Pace (Vancouver, British Columbia Regional Delegate)
    Ahsha Miranda (Portland, Membership Coordinator)

Photo of Japanese Garden at Manito Park in Spokane, WA, by Amanda C. Roth Clark.

Copyright © 2020 SAHMDR all rights reserved.
March 11, 2020

Our mailing address is:
645 Laurel Avenue, No. 3
Pacific Grove, CA 93950

SAHMDR August 2019 Newsletter!

Aug 6, 2019, 7:21 PM

August 2019 SAHMDR Newsletter

Diana Painter, long-time president of SAHMDR, receives an appreciation from new president Amanda C. Roth Clark.

Welcome to the new board!
Congratulations to our new board! President - Amanda C. Roth Clark (left in photo); Vice President - Chris Bell; Secretary - Kathryn Burk-Hise; Treasurer - Mimi Sheridan; Immediate Past President - Diana Painter (right in photo); Regional Reps: British Columbia - Jenni Pace; Idaho - Phil Mead; Oregon - Jim Buckley; Washington - Phil Gruen. Here's to the next two years!

New board president welcome!



Amanda C. Roth Clark and her father, Leland M. Roth, photographed in 2013 at Johnson Hall at the University of Oregon.

Hello from your new Chapter President, Amanda C. Roth Clark
I am thrilled to be the Chapter President for the Marion Dean Ross Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians. I knew Marion when I was a child and grew up surrounded by the congenial members of this unique group. The SAH/MDR has its own special charm, a character I hope to preserve and celebrate, taking the presidential reigns from Diana Painter after her dedicated leadership for more than a decade. 

In addition to continuing the legacy of this organization, I seek to further bolster our mission, as stated in our bylaws, to further the objectives of the SAH, hold meetings, and increase awareness and knowledge of our architectural heritage. As an educator, I have a particular passion for increasing our student membership and furthering their engagement with our regional chapter – they are the future of preserving our architectural past.

As your president I embrace my stated responsibilities of liaising with our parent SAH organization and preparing our annual meetings within my time of service. I am particularly enthusiastic about working with our current leadership slate in the SAH/MDR, and anticipate the exciting years ahead of us. Plans regarding our chapter’s intersection with the 2020 SAH national meeting in Seattle are actively underway—stay tuned for more details regarding that in the weeks and months to come.

Feel free to reach out to me anytime, as I care deeply about you, our members.
-Amanda C. Roth Clark

2019 SAHMDR Conference pics!

Photos from the SAHMDR 2019 Conference in Coeur d'Alene: at top left, Idaho representative Phil Mead discusses a historic map with Robert Singletary on our tour of Fort Sherman, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; top right, Treasurer Mimi Sherman leading the tour of the North Idaho College campus in Coeur d’Alene

Conference presenter and long-time member, Bill Hawkins, discusses the concept of “arrested decay” with guest speaker Leslie Gilmore; and bottom left, Conference attendees tour the Granary redevelopment project in Sandpoint.

Synopsis of May 2019 Conference
SAH MDR held our annual conference this year in Northern Idaho’s Silver Valley, exploring the theme Extraction and Recreation: Sensitive Redevelopments and Faustian Bargains. Coeur d’Alene was home base where we began the conference with Robert Singletary of the Museum of North Idaho leading us on a tour of Fort Sherman. Our Friday evening kick-off event was held at the NRHP-registered Roosevelt Inn and included Bill Hawkins’ presentation about his family’s local history with building the Northern Pacific Railroad.

Saturday, our paper sessions, lunch, and annual general meeting were held at North Idaho College’s Edminster Student Union. Then we were off to Sandpoint for tours of the rehabilitated Granary district buildings and the Larch House, which was designed by Katie Egland Cox. We headed back to Coeur d’Alene where the evening’s banquet and keynote were held at the Greenbriar Inn. Participants were thrilled to hear Seattle architect, Gordon Walker, talk about his work. The conference wrapped up on Sunday with a tour of the mining town, Wallace, and lunch at City Limits Brew Pub.

Next year’s conference
The 73rd Annual Conference in Seattle will be held from April 29th to May 3rd, 2020. Our new board is working away on coordinating next year’s conference with SAH International, as well as planning our own SAHMDR events! The targeted date at this time is May 1, 2020. Please stay tuned!

Copyright © 2019 SAHMDR rights reserved.
August 6, 2019

Our mailing address is:
645 Laurel Avenue, No. 3
Pacific Grove, CA 93950

SAHMDR Conference Registration Reminder!

SAHMDR Conference Registration Reminder!

May 30, 2019, 9:13 AM

Remember that the last day to register for our June 21-23, 2019 conference in Coeur d'Alene-Sandpoint-Wallace, Idaho and avoid a late fee is May 31, 2019!

For those of you that were having trouble with the EventBrite log-in, here is an updated PDF of the program that has a "refreshed" Eventbrite link (click here for the PDF). You can also search the Eventbrite site as an alternative. The conference is called, "Society of Architectural Historians/MDR Annual Conference." See you there!

Also, remember that abstracts for the session that SAHMDR is sponsoring at the national SAH meeting in Seattle in 2020 are due June 5th! Refer to the May digital newsletter or see https://www.sah.org/2020/call-for-papers#25 for more information.

The 73rd Annual Conference in Seattle will be held from April 29th to May 3rd, 2020. 

Copyright © 2019 SAHMDR rights reserved.
May 20, 2019

Our mailing address is:
645 Laurel Avenue, No. 3
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
 

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SAH/MDR Digital Newsletter

Welcome to our Inaugural Digital Newsletter!
The SAHMDR board has decided to switch from a blog to a periodic digital newsletter to keep in touch with the membership. Note that our website will still be current with such information as conference announcements, calls for papers, and grants announcements. “Like” us on Facebook to get the latest news quickly! See our Facebook link below. We will be soliciting news items from the membership as well, making the newsletter a more interactive way of communicating.

New Student Travel Scholarship
SAHMDR will be giving away four student travel scholarships worth up to $400 to attend our forthcoming conference in Coeur d’Alene-Sandpoint-Wallace, Idaho on June 21-23! It’s easy, just fill out the application and send it in! Awards are made on a first-come, first-serve basis for students enrolled in a historic preservation, architectural history, or related program. See www.sahmdr.org for the application form.

Registration is Now Open!
Registration is open for our June 21-23, 2019 conference in Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint and Wallace, Idaho! You can register electronically via Eventbrite or fill out the form on the last page of the program and mail in your registration to the address on the form. We are particularly excited about this year’s keynote speakers. Renowned Seattle-area architect Gordon Walker will be our keynote speaker on Saturday night, June 22nd, in Coeur d’Alene. Gordon’s work is the subject of a forthcoming monograph by long-time SAHMDR member and supporter Grant Hildebrand, due out in July from the University of Washington Press. Our keynote speaker for Friday night will be Portland architect William Hawkins III, who will talk about his family’s role in opening up Northern Idaho; specifically about the Chinese and their work for the Northern Pacific Railroad. This is particularly timely, given the recent acknowledgement in Promontory, Utah of the role that the Chinese played in building the first Transcontinental Railroad, which was completed on May 10, 1869. More information on the conference can be found in the program, available on our website at www.sahmdr.org. (Image is Rogers House by Gordon Walker, Lopez Island)

New Endowment for the Young Professionals Travel Grant
We are incredibly grateful to long-time member and treasurer Shirley Courtois for her generous endowment of the new Shirley L. Courtois Young Professionals Travel Grant. Recognizing that those who have recently completed graduate studies are often short on funds, we initiated this grant in 2019. This will give newcomers to the field an opportunity to present their graduate theses and dissertations and other research, from which the membership will greatly benefit. Thank you Shirley!

Call for Papers for SAH 2020 Meeting in Seattle
The Call for Papers is open for the 73rd Annual International Society of Architectural Historians Conference, which will be held in Seattle from April 29th to May 3rd, 2020. Our chapter is sponsoring a session and is actively seeking abstracts. The session is entitled, “Sites Unseen: Other Cultural Landscapes of the Pacific Northwest” and is described as follows:

The built environment of the Pacific Northwest reflects a diversity of traditions, yet the full range of its architecture remains understudied. This session will examine Northwestern cultural landscapes that lie outside of the dominant culture, such as those of Indigenous peoples, African Americans, Latin Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, women, LGBTQAA+, European ethnic groups, religious sects and other specific populations. Papers might examine physical structures these groups designed on their own, their reuse of existing buildings for their own purposes, or spaces they occupied intentionally or involuntarily (including agricultural landscapes, internment camps, and reservations).

Board members J. Phillip Gruen, Washington State University, and James Buckley, University of Oregon, are organizing and chairing the session. Abstracts are due June 5th! See https://www.sah.org/2020/call-for-papers#25 for more details.

Two Elisabeth Walton Potter Research Grants Awarded

Two recipients will be awarded the EWP Research Award this year. An announcement of the recipients will be forthcoming at our 2019 conference. Stay tuned!

Copyright © 2019 SAHMDR rights reserved.
May 20, 2019