In 2016, the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians will return to New Orleans for the first time since 1994. With addresses by expert speakers, multiple walking and bus tours, and of course great food, it promises to be a good time for all! Tulane University’s National Register listed campus located on majestic St. Charles Avenue will be the venue for paper sessions and addresses. Conference attendees are invited to select accommodations from one of many blocks of reserved rooms and enjoy scenic rides to and from campus on the historic streetcar line.

Poised between the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the city’s Tricentennial, New Orleans today offers a built environment in which the past, present, and future are palpable. Its culturally complex and aesthetically diverse architectural fabric engages, challenges, and charms. The 2016 SESAH conference invites new perspectives on the architecture of the city, the region, and beyond. Potential themes of interest include creolized architecture, world’s fairs, the impact of disasters on the built environment, modernism, enslavement architecture, cemeteries, schools, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and more. As always, papers on any architectural history topic are welcomed. Proposals for themed sessions are encouraged. Paper presentations are 20 minutes maximum accompanied by digital slides. Submit a paper and come be a part of the collegiality and conviviality that distinguish SESAH gatherings!

For more information and details, please visit http://sesah.org/2016/01/15/sesah-2016-call-for-papers-sessions-and-posters/

Crisis of Place: Preserving Folk and Vernacular Architecture in New York
Saturday, April 2, 2016 at The Cooper Union in New York City

• What is the folk and vernacular architecture of New York State? What makes it "folk" or "vernacular"? 
• How are the conditions of urban and rural life in 2016 challenging traditional architectural practices among various ethnic and regional communities?
• Who is sustaining vernacular design and construction in the face of globalization and gentrification, and why?

This one-day gathering of folklorists, historical preservation advocates, community members and scholars, students, museum professionals, architects, urban planners, and other cultural workers will address questions concerning the significant crisis in our understanding of everyday landscapes and built environments: where and what is the folk and vernacular architecture of 21st century America? The day-long conversation will include presentations by architects and architectural historians, a community-based advocacy panel with current advocates from both metropolitan and Upstate New York, walking tours, presentations by graduate level emerging scholars, and a closing plenary in roundtable format open to a wider community discussion. 

Our esteemed speakers include: Michael Ann Williams (President, American Folklore Society and Professor of Folklore, Western Kentucky University); Annie Polland (Senior Vice President, Education & Programs, Lower East Side Tenement Museum); Cynthia Falk (Associate Professor of Material Culture, The Cooperstown Graduate Program); Molly Garfinkel (Director, Place Matters/City Lore); Nancy Solomon (Director, Long Island Traditions); Joseph Sciorra (Director for Academic and Cultural Programs, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College); and graduate students specializing in folk and vernacular architecture, and many more!

For more information: http://www.nyfolklore.org/progs/conf2016.html

Call for Co-Editor

The Vernacular Architecture Forum is seeking nominations for a new co-editor for its acclaimed academic journal Buildings & Landscapes: The Journal of the Vernacular Architecture Forum. The new co-editor will be named roughly one year in advance of assuming the position to allow for a smooth transition.  The editor designee will be expected to follow the editorial process beginning in the summer of 2016 and begin a four-year term as co-editor in June of 2017.  

B&L’s two editors work closely with the publisher, the University of Minnesota Press.  The terms of the two co-editors are staggered so that every two years one editor rotates off.  New co-editors are appointed by the President of the Vernacular Architecture Forum with the approval of the VAF’s Board of Directors.  The co-editors hold a joint position on the Board of Directors of the Vernacular Architecture Forum.

Buildings & Landscapes appears in print twice a year as an attractive, large-format journal.  Significant attention is paid to the physical appearance of the print journal, which features abundant black-and-white illustrations and high quality paper.  Digital on-line access is available through JSTOR, as is a digital supplement that allows enhancements including color illustrations, 3D models, film, and audio.  Working with the University of Minnesota Press, the co-editors pay close attention to editing and image quality.  Future opportunities include continuing to refine and expand the digital edition of B&L available through JSTOR, which may include experimenting with new media.

B&L editors oversee all aspects of publication: soliciting scholarly contributions (through conferences, word of mouth, and other means); vetting submissions by working with peer reviewers; preparing manuscripts for publication by working closely with authors; coordinating copyediting and page proofs with the University of Minnesota Press; working closely with authors and the B&L image editor on image permissions; and arranging with the review editor for the timely submission and editing of reviews.   

The ideal editor will have a strong record of previous publications; a history of involvement with the VAF; editorial experience; and a keen interest in collaborating with other scholars. Institutional support – from the candidate’s academic institution or professional organization – would be beneficial, including funding to support travel to conferences (to solicit contributions to the journal), funding for editorial assistants (such as graduate research assistants), and flex time during the academic year to facilitate editorial work.

Nominations (including self nominations) should include a 1-2 page statement of interest that outlines the candidate’s background and preparedness for this position along with a current CV.  Please send nominations (as a single .pdf) to Anna Andrzejewski at avandrzejews@wisc.edu by June 1, 2016. Inquiries and questions are also welcome.

Submitted by Milda Richardson

This news item is based on an interview with Tim Orwig and the Sunday Gazette article by Rory Schuler, “Revisiting Shadows of the Past,” Nov. 1, 2015, pp. A1+7.

The Massachusetts Historical Commission recently approved the Berkley Common Historic District for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.  Four centuries of deceased are buried in the Berkley Common Cemetery, the heart of the proposed historic district.  

Preservationist Timothy Orwig consulted with the Berkley Historical Commission, completed the research on the district, and presented the application to Mass. Historical.   He took exceptional interest in the old burial ground and was quoted in the Taunton Sunday Gazette saying, “Given their age, number of carvers and exceptional craftsmanship, the gravestones in the Berkley Common Cemetery must be acknowledged as artistic treasures of the district.”  The cemetery was established in 1758 and contains works by early stone carvers such as the Soule family, Cyrus Deane, Deacon Ebenezer Winslow, William Stevens, rare carvings John Bull completed as an apprentice, and about 30 stones attributed to a Berkley blacksmith.  According to gravestone expert Vincent F. Luti, Winslow placed at least 30 stones and the Soule family about a dozen.  The 4.4-acre cemetery is surrounded by a true New England rock wall dating from around 1850.

The town of Berkley, founded in 1735, was the center of anti-British sentiment in 1774-1775.  Berkley Common and its cemetery, still in use today, are a rich, untapped resource for future scholarship.  

Timothy Orwig earned his Ph.D. from Boston University’s American and New England Studies Program and teaches in the Art + Design Department of Northeastern University.

Compiled by Ian Stevenson and Zachary Violette

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Daniel Bluestone. “Charlottesville’s Landscape of Prostitution, 1880–1950.” Buildings & Landscapes: Journal of the Vernacular Architecture Forum 22, no. 2 (2015): 36. doi:10.5749/buildland.22.2.0036.

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Julie Nicoletta. “Selling Spirituality and Spectacle: Religious Pavilions at the New York World’s Fair of 1964–65.” Buildings & Landscapes: Journal of the Vernacular Architecture Forum 22, no. 2 (2015): 62. doi:10.5749/buildland.22.2.0062.

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