posting
03-31-2008, 06:48 PM
Who Did What When? Researching Our Architectural Past
All are welcome to an illustrated talk on TUESDAY, APRIL 8 at 7:30PM in KINGSTON CITY HALL by architectural historian JENNIFER McKENDRY who will use selected historic properties as examples of how to research dates, trace owners and identify architects in the city and county. She will explain the pitfalls of finding information about the past – as well as helpful hints speaking, for example, about the relationship between style and building date. Myth-busting is a tough path to explore in regional architecture but sometimes necessary: for example how did a small frame house once on Queen Street (and now in Upper Canada Village) go from being characterized as part of Government House dating from the 1780s to a labourer’s rental house dating from the 1840s? What difference does it make whether the Gildersleeve House was built in 1830 instead of the published date of 1825 or Bellevue House in 1843 instead of 1840 or Elizabeth Cottage in 1846 instead of 1841? Did a misreading of documents result in attributing Roselawn to architect William Coverdale? Are these “splitting hairs” or of fundamental importance to our understanding of history of architectural development and events, which effected the original owners, as well as our understanding of who was the designer? The relative ease of dating buildings from the late 1800s will be contrasted with the difficulty of dating those built in the early 1800s.
Dr. McKendry is the author of With Our Past before Us: Nineteenth-Century Architecture in the Kingston Area, An Illustrated History of Portsmouth Village and Into the Silent Land: Historic Cemeteries & Graveyards in Ontario. Editor of the Frontenac Heritage Foundation’s newsletter from 2002 to early 2007, she is a consultant with numerous heritage organizations on the history of built structures and archaeological sites. Her website www.mckendry.net (http://www.mckendry.net/) or www.kingstonarchitecture.com (http://www.kingstonarchitecture.com/) has articles on researching and identifying styles of architecture in the Kingston area.
This is a public lecture sponsored by the Frontenac Heritage Foundation in MEMORIAL HALL, KINGSTON CITY HALL. Free admission.
All are welcome to an illustrated talk on TUESDAY, APRIL 8 at 7:30PM in KINGSTON CITY HALL by architectural historian JENNIFER McKENDRY who will use selected historic properties as examples of how to research dates, trace owners and identify architects in the city and county. She will explain the pitfalls of finding information about the past – as well as helpful hints speaking, for example, about the relationship between style and building date. Myth-busting is a tough path to explore in regional architecture but sometimes necessary: for example how did a small frame house once on Queen Street (and now in Upper Canada Village) go from being characterized as part of Government House dating from the 1780s to a labourer’s rental house dating from the 1840s? What difference does it make whether the Gildersleeve House was built in 1830 instead of the published date of 1825 or Bellevue House in 1843 instead of 1840 or Elizabeth Cottage in 1846 instead of 1841? Did a misreading of documents result in attributing Roselawn to architect William Coverdale? Are these “splitting hairs” or of fundamental importance to our understanding of history of architectural development and events, which effected the original owners, as well as our understanding of who was the designer? The relative ease of dating buildings from the late 1800s will be contrasted with the difficulty of dating those built in the early 1800s.
Dr. McKendry is the author of With Our Past before Us: Nineteenth-Century Architecture in the Kingston Area, An Illustrated History of Portsmouth Village and Into the Silent Land: Historic Cemeteries & Graveyards in Ontario. Editor of the Frontenac Heritage Foundation’s newsletter from 2002 to early 2007, she is a consultant with numerous heritage organizations on the history of built structures and archaeological sites. Her website www.mckendry.net (http://www.mckendry.net/) or www.kingstonarchitecture.com (http://www.kingstonarchitecture.com/) has articles on researching and identifying styles of architecture in the Kingston area.
This is a public lecture sponsored by the Frontenac Heritage Foundation in MEMORIAL HALL, KINGSTON CITY HALL. Free admission.