Preservation Alumni

October 2022 Newsletter

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Fill up with lots of candy and news about upcoming preservation events and opportunities. 
Share Your Feedback: 
Alumni Survey from HP Program
The Columbia Historic Preservation program has recently received funding to examine the history and legacy of the more than 150 studios undertaken by Columbia students and faculty over the past 50 years. The research project, Pedagogy, Place, Publics, involves collecting data about and analyzing the geographies, publics, narratives, collaborators, and intentions of past HP studios, with an eye toward understanding issues of racism and other forms of exclusion in preservation education, forging stronger community-engaged collaborations and co-learning opportunities, and working toward greater equity and reciprocity in future studios. The findings will be made available once the research is completed in 2023.
As a core feature of the program, HP studios represent a robust history of institutional and faculty decisions about where and how to engage existing built environments and communities. A specific goal of this work is to understand in what ways the topics, locales, and products of studios have potentially challenged or reinforced racism and other forms of bias related to gender, socio-economic status, religion, ethnicity, etc.
With the assistance of Preservation Alumni, the HP program is launching this Alumni Survey to collect information about your studio experience while studying in the program. We hope this survey will allow us to fill in the gaps in our record and provide information about the studios for which we have no record. We would be grateful if you would take the time to complete the survey by November 21, 2022, which may be done anonymously. For many of us, these studio experiences seem like a lifetime ago, but we appreciate any memories, impressions, or insights you are able to share.
Save the Date: 
Preservation Alumni’s Fall Party
Preservation Alumni is thrilled to announce that we will be hosting an in person Fall Party for the first time since 2019! The party will be held on the Upper East Side, and we invite alumni and friends to come and reconnect with Preservation Alumni and fellow preservationists! We will announce the 2022 recipient of the Fitch Writing Prize at this event.

Event Information
Thursday, November 17
6:30pm EST (in person)
Location TBA

Stay tuned for registration and location information this week.

Past Event: 
Pushing Perspectives Event 
Closing the Gap: Increasing Diversity in Library Collections
On October 25th the Anti-Racism/Equity Initiative hosted a discussion titled: Closing the Gap. Increasing Diversity in Library Collections. A number of students and alumni discussed issues and possible solutions. Thank you to all who attended! Look for a summary of ideas in upcoming newsletters as well as updates on our on-going collaboration with Avery Library.
Get More Involved!
Open Call for New Preservation Alumni Board Members
Are you interested in getting more involved with Preservation Alumni and helping forge connections across Columbia’s preservation community? Contribute to PA as a Board Member at Large! 

PA is seeking alumni from all class years to join our board. New members will be required to attend monthly virtual PA board meetings, join at least 1 PA committee, and help coordinate PA activities. We are especially looking for people interested in serving on the Anti-Racism/Equity Initiative, assisting with PA communications (including this newsletter), participating in the mentorship program, and planning events! Commitment is 2-5 hours/month.

If you are interested in joining the PA board, please send a resume and brief statement of interest to info@preservationalumni.org

Meet PA’s Newest Board Member: 
Valerie Smith
Valerie is a 2022 graduate of Columbia’s Master’s program in Historic Preservation and joined the PA Board after graduation. In 2020 she completed the New York / Paris Advanced Certificate at Columbia. Before that, she worked in finance and was the Director of Investor Relations at a real estate investment firm in Los Angeles. Valerie earned a B.A. in Studio Art with an emphasis in photography from Hope College in 2004. Her love for photography led to gallery exhibitions in Chicago and Los Angeles and, most recently, an artist residency in Paris. Valerie is currently working as an architectural historian in Los Angeles. She is also continuing her thesis research on the Small House Movement with a focus on California cities in the 1920s.
Apply Today:
Job Opportunities 

Below is a sampling of job opportunities submitted to Preservation Alumni. To see all open positions, become a Preservation Alumni member to access the Career Opportunities portal. This portal is updated as members of the Preservation Alumni community send in job opportunities. To submit an open position, please email info@preservationalumni.org. Submissions for positions outside of the New York area are welcomed and encouraged. No unpaid internships or postings without compensation information will be posted. 

Junior Associate, HPZS (Chicago)
HPZS is seeking a recently licensed architect or a non-registered graduate with 2-4 years of
experience to engage in the delivery of projects from concept to completion, with particular emphasis on the design and visualization components of the process. This requires strong organizational and presentation skills, with an emphasis on sustainable design, including both existing retrofit and new construction.

If interested please cover letter indicating your alignment with the qualifications, resume and sample portfolio to Sarah Godbee (sgodbee@hpzs.com).

Full description available here: Junior Associate – Oct 2022

Call for Submissions: 
America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is now accepting Letters of Intent for the 2023 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.

As part of the National Trust’s continued commitment to telling the full American story, the organization invites nominations that highlight a unique or overlooked aspect of American history and that expand our understanding of our shared national heritage. To that end, the National Trust welcomes nominations of historic places important to communities who are historically underrepresented within preservation, including, but not limited to, places associated with women, immigrants, Asian Americans, Black Americans, Latinx Americans, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and LGBTQIA communities.

Deadline for submissions is Friday, November 4, 2022 by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Register Today:
Upcoming Conferences
PastForward 2022 Online 
November 1-4, 2022

Celebrate the power of place and join thousands of preservationists and preservation lovers at the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s conference for those who work to save, sustain, and interpret historic places. To provide an inspiring and engaging gathering for an expansive preservation movement, PastForward Online 2022 will offer a variety of new formats to complement the cutting-edge content presented by dynamic speakers. There will also be several ways participants can network with colleagues from across the movement while having interactive experiences to deepen our understanding of current preservation practices.

Registration is still open! 

APT Detroit 2022
November 7-12, 2022 (In person)

The Association for Preservation Technology is returning its annual conference to its highly praised in-person format! Join the colleagues, peers, and friends you’ve missed in Detroit, Michigan from November 7- 12, 2022. The APT Detroit 2022 Conference offers no better place to share your ideas, insights and observations in preservation while making new connections and reinforcing old ones. APT’s annual conference draws the most informed, active, and knowledgeable experts from around the world as well as those newer to the field seeking to enhance their skills. Those committed to methods to maintain, conserve and protect historic structures and sites for continued and new uses will be engaged in presentations and discussions and we welcome you to join them.

Registration here and make sure to support Columbia’s Design-Build team at the conference! 

Promoting Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion:
Recommendations from PA’s Anti-Racism/Equity Initiative
 
The Anti-Racism/Equity Initiative is committed to engaging with DEI issues through discussions, events, and the sharing of information. As a part of this effort and in response to members’ requests that we provide relevant educational resources, check this section each month for recommendations on how to actively engage with current DEI conversations in preservation.
The City Beyond the White City: Race, Two Chicago Homes, and their Neighborhoods 
The City Beyond the White City: Race, Two Chicago Homes, and their Neighborhoods, connects the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, also called the “White City,” to the material, spatial, and social histories of two 1892 structures—the Charnley-Persky House and the Mecca Flats—located respectively on Chicago’s privileged Near North and disinvested Near South Sides. The physical exhibition, featuring archaeologically recovered artifacts, is accompanied by a virtual exhibit (launches November 3); together they frame the history of race, structures of racism, and the built environment in Chicago.
THPO Talk
THPO Talk is real talk about Indigenous Preservation. Click here for podcast episodes and blogs from indigenous voices within the preservation movement.
PA Entertainment:
What else we’re reading, listening to, touring, & attending… 

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