VSA e-newsletter

THE 2005 VSA BOOK AWARDS Presented at the Annual Meeting in Puerto Rico, May 8th, 2005. THE HENRY-RUSSELL HITCHCOCK AWARD Named to honor one of the early presidents of the Society for a book on architecture or the decorative arts. John Simonelli presents to Kathleen Curran The Romanesque Revival: Religion, Politics, and Transnational Exchange by Kathleen Curran "For thorough coverage, extensive research and beautiful design, which will likely make this book the standard reference on its subject matter for years to come." RELATED STORIES: □ Penn State Live □ Trinity College Press Release
THE RUTH EMERY AWARD Named to honor one of the founders of the Society for a book dealing with a regional topic. John Simonelli presents to Ed Gordon Victorian Boston Today: Twelve Walking Tours by Edward W. Gordon (Foreword), Mary Melvin Petronella (Editor) "For its innovative approach, distinguished assemblage of authors, clever design and generous illustrations, offering a fresh update on the walking-tour genre." RELATED STORY: VSA members and co-contributors Mary Melvin Petronella and Edward Gordon presented an illustrated talk, "Victorian Boston Today," on Thursday, May 19 at the Waltham Public Library sponsored by The Friends of the Waltham Public Library.
Award photos: Bruce Davies
EVENTS
Fall Study Tour: Mid-Hudson Valley October 14, 15 and 16, 2005 The Victorian Society in America’s Fall 2005 study tour – co-sponsored with Wilderstein Preservation – focuses on the Mid-Hudson Valley. Click: Symposium This advance notice is for information only at this stage. Registrations will not be taken until after the printed brochure mailing.
VSA GALLERY I Dorothy Cooper A selection from Dorothy Cooper's photographic record of the 2005 Annual Meeting in Puerto Rico.	VSA GALLERY II Harry Lowe A selection from Harry Lowe's photographic record of the 2005 Annual Meeting in Puerto Rico.

MEMBERS
MEET THE NEW PRESIDENT The new VSA President is Bruce Davies of Victoria, British Columbia. Bruce is a long time board member, former VSA vice-president and curator of Craigdarroch Castle, a historic Victorian-era museum mansion in Victoria, BC. The Society expresses its profound gratitude to outgoing leader Patricia Pixley for her service and dedication as president from 2001-2005. Other board changes The VSA also thanks Wilson Stiles and Robert Furhoff, who are stepping down from the board, for their service over many years; and welcomes Susan Hertel and David Buchta as new board members.
PRESIDENT'S AWARDS President's Awards are given periodically by the society's president to honor distinguished service. At the Annual Meeting in San Juan, PR, two awards were given by the outgoing president, Pat Pixley, to two long-standing members, noted below.
William (Bill) Dane accepting the award Awarded to William Dane: "Who from the earliest days of the founding of the VSA in Margot Gayle’s kitchen right down to the present day has been consistently involved with and actively supported many aspects of the Society, including serving on the Summer Schools Committee for many years as both member and co-chair, serving as president of the NY Metro Chapter, and serving as an officer of the Summer Schools Alumni Association."	C. Dudley Brown hearing the announcement Awarded to Dudley Brown: "Who from our earliest days has worked selflessly to promote and further the aims of the Society, serving nationally as Director, Secretary and Historian on the Board of Directors as well as locally as President of the Washington, DC Chapter, who helped initiate the silent auction, licensing and endowment programs to ensure the Society’s survival, and who consistently has promoted preservation of and education about our Victorian heritage."
Do you recall past President's Awards? If so, please contact us as with recipients' names and the years of award, if possible.
Kathleen Curran We welcome Kathleen Curran to the Victorian Society in America. Dr. Curran is Associate Professor of Fine Arts at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and recipient of the 2005 Henry-Russell Hitchcock Award for her book The Romanesque Revival: Religion, Politics, and Transnational Exchange.
Gersil N. Kay VSA member and preservationist Gersil N. Kay has been elected to the board of directors of IESNA, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (The Lighting Authority). She is offering custom programs in lighting historic buildings to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of IESNA, which is in 2006.
MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
The Washington Metropolitan Chapter Invites its members and Falls Church Chapter members to a special celebration of Queen Victoria’s Birthday. This year their annual salute to the Queen will be an afternoon tea held at The Brewmaster’s Castle (Christian Heurich House Museum) near Dupont Circle in Washington. The mansion was completed in 1894 and occupied by the Heurich family until 1956 when it was given to the Columbia Historical Society. When the Historical Society (now Historical Society of Washington, DC) left the house in 2003, grandchildren of the original owners created a foundation to buy the house and preserve it. The house is particularly noteworthy for its intact original interiors and modern (1890s) technology. In the Metropolitan Chapter’s early years the Heurich house served as their home base. Event Flyer: Queen's Birthday Heurich House
The Greater Chicago Chapter The Greater Chicago Chapter is planning a day trip and luncheon in Milwaukee to visit the Pabst Mansion and the privately owned Frank Lloyd Wright 1916 Frederick C. Bogk House. Interested parties please contact chapter president Vanessa Forry.
MISCELLANY
As a result of European craftsmen traveling to America, elaborate ornamentation became a possibility for many. With them they brought the type of Victorian elements represented in Focal Point's Victorian Society in America collection – heavy ornamentation featuring flowers, plants and vegetables. VSA Licensing partner, Focal Point Architectural Products Inc., is a leading provider of distinguished polyurethane architectural mouldings and architectural elements. They offer something to meet everyone's needs: crown mouldings, medallions, domes, wall niches, niche caps, panel mouldings, rosettes, door systems, stair brackets, corbels, chair rails, casings, baseboards, and more. Focal Point products are virtually maintenance free, have deep, crisp, impeccable detail and add market value to any home. Web site
BOOKS The Publications Committee commends recently published books as recommended reading. We continue to feature several of these each month in the email newsletter: The Colonial Revival House by Richard Guy Wilson, Noah Sheldon (Photographer) In this beautiful volume, Director of the Summer Schools Richard Guy Wilson, the foremost expert on the Colonial Revival, leads the reader on a tour of 40 of the finest examples illustrating its evolution from its earliest sources, as well as its regional variations. Including exquisite, antique-filled houses by many of America's greatest domestic architects, from McKim, Mead & White to Robert A.M. Stern, this landmark survey is filled with 275 gorgeous photographs that capture the elegance of this much-loved style. The only book of its kind, The Colonial Revival House is a must-have for design professionals, architecture enthusiasts, and Americana buffs. Richard Guy Wilson holds the Commonwealth Professor's Chair in Architectural History at the University of Virginia. He has served as an adviser and commentator for a number of television programs on PBS and A&E, most recently more than 65 segments of America's Castles. Historic Houses of the Hudson River Valley by Gregory Long Overlooking the majestic Hudson River, the Hudson Valley has long been a favored place to live. From the homes of the early settlers of the seventeenth century to the estates of the landed gentry of the eighteenth century and the baronial mansions of the captains of industry of the nineteenth century, the valley boasts some of the finest houses in America. Historic Houses of the Hudson River Valley is a sumptuous presentation of 33 houses in the region, ranging from the earliest Dutch cottages still extant to the grand Gothic and Italianate revival, stately Georgian, Federal, and beaux-arts country homes of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Historic Houses of the Hudson River Valley features a stunning array of newly photographed homes that date from over three centuries and are distinctive examples of the architecture of the region; from the Dutch vernacular cottage to Georgian country homes and later grand estates. Faces of the Civil War: An Album of Union Soldiers and Their Stories by Ronald S. Coddington Before going off to fight in the Civil War, many soldiers on both sides of the conflict posed for a "carte de visite", or visiting card, to give to their families, friends, or sweethearts. Invented in 1854 by a French photographer, the "carte de visite" was a small photographic print roughly the size of a modern trading card. The format arrived in America on the eve of the Civil War, which fueled intense demand for the convenient and affordable keepsakes. Considerable numbers of these portrait cards of Civil War soldiers survive today, but the experiences—and often the names—of the individuals portrayed have been lost to time. A passionate collector of Civil War–era photography, Ron Coddington became intrigued by these anonymous faces and began to research the history behind them in military records, pension files, and other public and personal documents.
Books or ANY purchase at Amazon made within 24 hours of visiting their web site via the Amazon logo here or on our website will benefit the VSA.	If you're off to Scotland.. Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh Our Highland Home: Victoria and Albert in Scotland Friday, until Sunday, 5 June, 2005 This exhibition explores Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert’s love affair with Scotland. Their early journeys to Scotland, including visits to Dalkeith Palace, Taymouth Castle and Dumbarton will be examined as well as their time spent at Balmoral, to which they formed a deep attachment. James Cassie, Balmoral Castle
Historic New England presents The Program in New England Studies www.SPNEA.org. Historic New England presents The Program in New England Studies, an intensive, week-long learning experience with lectures by specialists in many fields, supplemented by workshops and behind-the-scenes tours to study the buildings and collections of Historic New England and other museums and private houses in the region. The program runs June 20 - 25, 2005.
President Harrison Home Hosts 11^th Annual “Wicket World of Croquet®” Event The President Benjamin Harrison Home will host its 11^th annual “Wicket World of Croquet®” event Saturday, June 11 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the lawn of the Presidential site at 1230 North Delaware Street in Indianapolis. Teams of men and women dressed in traditional white will compete on the south lawn in the spirited Victorian sport for the first-place team prize. The White River Jazz Band will provide music, and a lunch will be served. More information is available on the home’s web site: www.pbhh.org.
Family history buffs in the U.K. are to be given a taste of Victorian life with the release of the 1861 census. Made available by the National Archives and now online, it sees notables such as Queen Victoria and Thomas Hardy. The census gives a insight into history. Hardy was listed as an "articled clerk" while the Queen was rare for the time being described as 'head of the household'. However the status of others was less flattering, being variously described by a mean-spirited census taker as: a kept "paramour", a "pauper, syphilitic" and the occasional "absconding bankrupt". BBC story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4560059.stm
WEBSITE OF THE MONTH National Museum of American History The National Museum of American History has recently added an excellent interactive timeline to its website. It consists of items from the Museum's various online collections, exhibitions and programs, such as Plymouth Rock, a charred timber from the 1814 White House blaze and a world map from 1511, all of which link to in-depth sections and online exhibits. Visitors can zoom in and out through the timeline and its objects and also elect to toggle on or off various themes, such as "Arts and Culture", "Peopling America", and "Politics and Reform". PREVIOUS WEB SITES OF THE MONTH

Honoring founders photo: Dorothy Cooper Two of the earliest members of the Victorian Society in America were life members F. Clason Kyle (left) and Robert B. Rettig. Here they are pictured at the Annual Meeting in Puerto Rico where they and several other members, including Billie Britz and Dudley Brown met again after many years.
Bob and G.G. And finally, your staff of one at the email newsletter has a heartwarming footnote from proceedings at the Annual Meeting. It started when Robert Rettig noticed from the list of participants an unusual yet familiar name: that of Ghislaine Grenier. Although Robert had no idea that his old friend with this name was a member of the society, could it possibly be, he asked, the same person who once lived in his apartment building over 40 years ago? Well indeed it was! As was discovered when your Business Manager re-acquainted the friends in a happy reunion. And I am assured that -- apart from their looks -- neither of them has changed a bit.
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Let us know what you think of the e-newsletter and what you like to see in it. UNTIL NEXT TIME visit us on the web at www.victoriansociety.org The Victorian Society in America 205 S. Camac Street Philadelphia, PA 19107 info@victoriansociety.org Copyright 2005. Victorian Society in America. All rights reserved. Third party material used for scholarly purposes only.