The University of Mary Washington Center for Historic Preservation engages UMW Historic Preservation students and the preservation community in a number of ways. Below are listed some of the Center’s current and past projects, events, and initiatives.
2016 Preservation Lecture Series
During the 2016 fall semester the UMW Center for Historic Preservation sponsored its second lecture series entitled “Re-imagining Ruins”. The series consisted of four speakers who presented on how they are working to interpret vanished cultural landscapes and buildings.
- “The Menokin Glass Project”, Calder Loth
- “Landscape, Preservation, and Reconstruction…Why can’t We be Friends?”, David Muraca
- “Reconstructing the Spatial Footprint of Richmond: Connecting the Past and Present”, Justin Madron
- “Returning Slavery to the Plantation Landscape: The South Yard at James Madison’s Montpelier”, Jennifer Glass
2017 Student Choice Lecture
In its second year, the student choice lecture, sponsored by the Center, provides students with the opportunity to invite someone that they feel is making a positive impact in the field of Historic Preservation. This year their choice was Joseph McGill, founder of the Slave Dwelling Project.
Preservation Club President (2016-17), Sarah Rogers and President Elect (2017-18), Gracie Hardy stand with Joseph McGill.
Center for Historic Preservation Book Prize (2017)
Established by the Center in 1988, the Historic Preservation Book Prize is awarded annually by a jury of preservation academics and professionals to the book with the most potential for positively impacting the discipline of historic preservation in the United States. The book prize was awarded this year (2017) to Catherine Fleming Bruce for her book, The Sustainers: Being, Building and Doing Good through Activism in the Sacred Spaces of Civil Rights, Human Rights and Social Movements.
Catherine Fleming Bruce’s Book “The Sustainers”, winner of the 2017 UMW Center for Historic Preservation Book Prize.
Historic Structures Inventory and Integrity Assessment of the Blue Ridge Parkway (2014-2015-17)
The UMW Center for Historic Preservation received $13,670 in funding from the National Park Service to assist in the processing of data collected as part of a National Historic Landmark nomination for the Blue Ridge Parkway. During the process two UMW students, Linda Komp and Heather Kennedy, entered survey information from the Virginia portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway into the Virginia Department of Historic Resources VCRIS system. The project was led by Assistant Professor Michael Spencer.
Pope-Leighey House Wood Conservation Workshop (2015)
Students participated in the conservation of the wood siding of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Pope-Leighey House in the spring of 2015 by sensitively removing years of dirt and grime. The workshop was facilitated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the UMW Center for Historic Preservation.
