About Us...

Who is The Victorian Society in America?

The Victorian Society In America is the only national non-profit organization committed to historic preservation, protection, understanding, education, and enjoyment of our nineteenth century heritage.

The VSA was founded in 1966 as a sister organization to the Victorian Society in the U.K., by such legends of historic preservation as Brendan Gill, Henry-Russell Hitchcock, and Margot Gayle.  So outraged were they by the 1964 destruction of New York's magnificent Pennsylvania Station [McKim, Mead, & White, 1910]  that they formed the Society to ensure that other important structures did not fall to the wrecker's ball.

Since then, the VSA has fulfilled its mission through publications, symposia, architectural tours, and its famous Summer Schools in Newport, Rhode Island & London, England, and has made tremendous contributions to the preservation of many historic buildings.  Indeed, Old House Journal included the founding of the Victorian Society as one of the 25 most significant milestones in American preservation.

There are 16 registered Chapters of the Society around the country hosting a wide range of local events and lectures. There is also an active Summer Schools Alumni Association that sponsors exceptional architectural tours all over the world.

Past Presidents
2001-2005  Patricia Pixley, Omaha, NE
1994-2001  John J. Simonelli, Paterson, NJ
1990-1994  Billie S. Britz, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
1984-1990  Guy Lacy Schless, M.D., Philadelphia, PA
1980-1984  Richard Hubbard Howland, Washington, DC (d. 2006)
1974-1980  William J. Murtagh, Alexandria, VA
1969-1974  Henry-Russell Hitchcock, (d.1987)
1967-1969  J. Stewart Johnson, New York, NY (d. 2006)

Picture: Henry Russell Hitchcock (left) and Brendan Gill with Jacqueline Onassis at the Victorian Society Scholarship Fund high tea, New York, 1976.
VSA photo by Allen Rokac

The VSA Purpose Today

A. To foster public appreciation and understanding of the artistic expression of the Victorian Era in the United States.

B. To engage in and encourage the preservation and the publication of material culture of the Victorian Era, including but not limited to architecture, fine and decorative art, design, planning and technology.

C. To offer educational opportunities for the study of the Victorian heritage through schools, symposia, tours, lectures and other media.

D. To serve as a reservoir of expertise on matters pertaining to Victorian culture, including but not limited to the maintenance of archives, records and reference works concerning Victorian material culture..

From the bylaws of The Victorian Society in America, Inc.