LITERATURE + LECTURES

The Heritage Society presents the Building Arts Distinguished Lecture Series: The Historic American Buildings Survey: Then and Now, Wednesday, February 22 at 7pm. In conjunction with the opening of the exhibition The Historic American Buildings Survey: Preservation's Humble Beginnings, on view February 21 through May 20.

Paul Homeyer, AIA, Gensler, will speak on The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). HABS is a national project that was first introduced to give unemployed architects, draftsmen, and photographers work during the Great Depression, while simultaneously creating a rich record of measured drawings, archival photographs, and historic reports of America’s significant buildings.

The archive now contains over 556,900 measured drawings, large format photographs, and written histories that document over 38,600 historic structures and sites. Two of The Heritage Society’s structures—Kellum-Noble House and Nichols-Rice-Cherry House (pictured) —were documented during the early days of the program in the 1930s, and three additional structures—Old Place, 4th Ward Cottage, and Yates House—were documented from 2010-2011.

This lecture will chronicle the development of the program and its continued applicability today.

Please join us for The Historic American Buildings Survey: Preservation’s Humble Beginning opening reception at 5:30 p.m. and stay for the lecture. To r.s.v.p. contact kwolfe@heritagesociety.org.

This lecture is made possible by a generous grant from the Vivian L. Smith Foundation. The Heritage Society is funded in part by grants from the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.