“Grand Dames, Artists, Activists, and Professionals: A History of Women in Historic Preservation in Mobile, Alabama” - with Cart Blackwell

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Thursday May 16, 2024

6pm

Historic Oakleigh House 

$10, free for members

 

 

While the impactful role women have played in the historic preservation movement in the United States is very well documented, the subject more than warrants continued study. From the creation of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association in 1853 to the present, women have championed “why this place matters” long before that expression became a slogan. Women spearheaded historic preservation in Mobile, Alabama, from the movement’s beginning and play a leading role to this very day. Highlighting over one-hundred-and-sixty years of historic preservation in one of the oldest cities in United States through a study of nineteen preservation-minded ladies, this presentation examines how a discipline of international scope played out on the local level. Themes animating this narrative embrace, but are not limited to the broad range of roles within the field of historic preservation, varying responses to urban renewal, and the professionalization of a passion. In no way a succession of women who were the “woman behind the man,” this account celebrates women who established a field and bettered a community.