Steedman/SAH lectures for 2016 are announced

We are thrilled to announce a second year of architectural talks jointly sponsored by the Steedman Library and the local chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians.  All will be held at the Central Library of the St. Louis Public Library on Tuesday nights.  At 6:00 pm, the Steedman Room will be open for viewing, and at 6:30 pm the talks will begin.  Here is a brief schedule -- keep tuning in for more details as the date for each one draws closer.

Tuesday, February 23
Propping up the Past:  Restoring Early Midwest Structures

Jesse Francis, Museum Curator, St. Louis County Parks & Recreation with Marie Taylor, Preservation Technician with the National Archives in St. Louis

Tuesday, March 22
St. Louis Modern:  A Thematic Survey of Modern Residential Architecture, 1945 - 1975, in St. Louis City
Betsy Bradley, Director, Cultural Resources Office of the Planning & Urban Design Agency of the City of St. Louis

Tuesday, April 26
St. Louis Flounder Houses
Jan Cameron,  Preservation Administrator, Cultural Resources Office of the Planning & Urban Design Agency of the City of St. Louis

Tuesday, September 27
Historic Cemeteries:  Maintenance, Documentation, Restoration, Funding
Amanda Burke, Preservation Specialist, Missouri State Historic Preservation Office

Tuesday, October 25
The Architecture of Scotland, Part Two
Esley Hamilton, Preservation Historian, St. Louis County Parks

Tuesday, November 15
The Architecture of Norway
John Guenther, FAIA, LEED AP

This year's final architecture talk, November 19

UPDATE:  The final talk of the 2015 SAH/Steedman lecture series featured Dr. Eric Mumford, speaking on "Josep Lluís Sert and Urban Design".  Books by Mumford and Sert, and other books on urban planning, were available for attendees to peruse and check out.  Watch This Space, because plans are underway to organize next year's series; please plan to join us! 

Please join us for the final event of the 2015 Society of Architectural Historians / Steedman Library architecture lecture series.  



Dr. Eric Mumford, author, architect, and Professor of Architecture at Washington University, will discuss "Josep Lluís Sert and Urban Design" at 6:30 pm in the Carnegie Room at Central Library.

The Steedman Room will be open for viewing from 6:00 pm to 6:30 pm.

Steedman Open House and Scottish architecture talk, 10/22/15

SAH Chapter President John Guenther introduces Esley Hamilton

Esley Hamilton spoke to a standing room only crowd about architecture in Scotland.  The talk was preceded by an Open House in the Steedman Room.

Don't miss the next SAH lecture on October 22!

Please join us for the 5th in our series of talks co-sponsored by the  Society of Architectural Historians, "Architecture Around the World".  

Architectural historian Esley Hamilton will speak on "The Architecture of Scotland" at 6:30 pm on Thursday, October 22 in the Second Floor Training Room of Central Library.

The Steedman Room will be open for viewing from 6:00 to 6:30, as well!

Steedman Open House and SAH lecture, 9/16/15

John Guenther discusses  Saarinen

Central Library's Second Floor Training Room was packed for September's installment of the Society of Architectural Historians/Steedman Library lecture series.  John Guenther addressed a full house with knowledge and enthusiasm on the life and works of Eero Saarinen. 

Next up:  Esley Hamilton on Scottish architecture on October 22.

Attendees enjoy the Steedman Open House before the talk

Books were available for checkout

The SAH lectures resume this month!

We begin the second half of our lecture series, "Architecture Around the World", this month.  This series is a partnership between the St. Louis Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians and the Steedman Architectural Library of SLPL.  First up will be John Guenther speaking on "The Works of Eero Saarinen", sure to be a popular topic here in St. Louis.  

It will be held on Wednesday , September 16th.  Starting at 6:00 pm, the Steedman Room will be open for viewing; the talk will be at 6:30.  NOTE:  Because of our Maurice Sendak exhibit in the Carnegie Room, this talk will be held in the "Training Room", a room that is on the same (second) floor as the Steedman Room. 

Steedman Treasure: The Wainwright Tomb drawings

In 1892 St. Louis businessman Ellis Wainwright commissioned Louis Sullivan to design a family mausoleum in historic Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.  The groundbreaking architectural masterpiece Wainwright Building was nearing completion in downtown St. Louis when Wainwright's young wife died suddenly.  The tomb's design, a domed cube simply decorated with Sullivan's signature vegetal patterns, was a marked departure from those of its elaborate revivalist neighbors.

The Steedman Collection owns the 18 original tracings for the tomb. They are executed primarily in black ink, with red ink details and graphite notations.  They vary in size, but average about 22 by 27 inches. Each bears the initials G. G. E., indicating that they were drawn by George Grant Elmslie.  Elmslie was Sullivan's chief draftsman at the time and went on to have a stellar career of his own. 

The entire set was generously donated in 1977 by its previous owner, St. Louis architect Albert C. Maack.

All can be seen within the Steedman's online exhibit:   http://exhibits.slpl.org/steedman/index.asp.  Just enter the word "Wainwright" in the Search Box.