Preservation Pioneers: Willie Graham

Join APT DC for our new Preservation Pioneers Lecture Series. Each quarter, we will bring a late-career professional to share stories from their career, the ways preservation has changed in their time, and their vision for the future of the field. GW's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences will host this lecture series at Smith Hall. Our inaugural speaker  is Willie Graham (bio below photo). If you'd like to nominate a speaker for our Preservation Pioneers Lecture Series, please email events@aptdc.org and put "Preservation Pioneers" in the subject line.

Willie Graham spent 35 years as curator of architecture for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. He now serves as a consultant on a variety of public and private historic building projects. He undertakes and advises on the research, design, administration and interpretation of traditional buildings, archaeological sites and museums in America, the British Caribbean, Bermuda and Great Britain. Willie specializes in building analysis and recording, restoration and reconstruction of structures and landscapes, and consults on some of the nation’s most important historic sites. These projects range from work on the statehouses in Maryland and South Carolina; established museum sites, including Mount Vernon, Monticello, Highland, and Montpelier; and National Historic Landmarks across the South and Mid-Atlantic States. His international portfolio includes work at a World Heritage site in Barbados; National Trust houses in Bermuda; Grade 1 listed buildings in England, Wales and Ireland; and court theaters in Western and Central Europe. 

An Associate Research Scholar at UMD, his Alma Mater, Willie has always sought improvement of professional standards in his chosen field and related disciplines. To that end, he created a new model of building analysis now adopted by many museums for historic structure report inquiry. He also convened a conference to establish standards for dendrochronological analysis of historic buildings; has proposed protocols for architectural finish analysis to an international body of architectural paint researchers; and developed new procedures for applying mortar and plaster analysis to building investigations. He is an accomplished architectural photographer. Willie has written extensively, including four recent pivotal essays on traditional building construction in the book, The Chesapeake House, on timber framing techniques, interior and exterior joinery and plasterwork, and an essay co-written with paint analyst Susan Buck on historic finishes.

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Parking in the area is limited, but the Foggy Bottom Metro Station is just a few blocks away! Follow the map and look for the signs once you're in the building. Light refreshments will be provided after the lecture. AIA/PDH credit (1) available.