Gwendolyn Wright
Encyclopedia
Gwendolyn Wright is an award-winning architectural historian
, author, and co-host of the PBS
television
series "History Detectives
". She is a professor of architecture
at Columbia University
, also holding appointments in both its departments of history
and art history
. Besides "History Detectives", Dr. Wright’s specialties are US
architectural history
and urban history
from after the Civil War
to the present. She also writes about the exchange across national boundaries of architectural styles, influences, and techniques, particularly examining the colonial
and neo-colonial
attributes of both modernism
and historic preservation
.
, and in 1969 received a BA
in history and art history. She did her graduate work at the University of California, Berkeley
, and was awarded her MArch
in 1974 and her PhD
in Architecture in 1978. She published her first book in 1980.
Wright was hired by Columbia University in 1983, two years later becoming the first female to gain tenure in its prestigious Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
. She succeeded founder Robert A. M. Stern
as director of the Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture
, serving in that capacity from 1988 to 1992.
In 2002, she was hired by television producers to be part of what would ultimately become the new TV series "History Detectives
". Back then the working title for the show was “American Attic”, and the initial concept was to tell stories of history through a focus on houses, hence their interest in adding an experienced architectural historian like Wright. The concept has evolved into solving historical puzzles that use a wide variety of tangible objects to show how historians piece together various kinds of knowledge -- and conflicting evidence and diverse perspectives -- about what happened, how and why. The show has become one of the most popular and successful programs on PBS. Wright has remained one of the five hosts in front of the camera from its initial broadcast season in 2003 to the present. In the show’s publicity, she is held up as the team member most likely to suggest how to proceed when the rest are stymied.
She has authored four books, edited two others, and written numerous articles, reviews, and essays.
Gwendolyn Wright has been recognized for her achievements on numerous occasions, including a Guggenheim Foundation
Fellowship, 2004-5, a Fellowship in the Humanities from the Ford Foundation
, 1979-80; a Nina Sutton Weeks Fellowship from the Stanford Humanities Center, 1982-83; a Fellowship from the University of Michigan
Institute for the Humanities, 1991; a Getty Fellowship from the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities
, 1992-93; a Beverly Willis
Architecture Foundation Fellowship, 2005-6; and a Graham Foundation Fellowship, 2006. She was elected a fellow in the Society of American Historians in 1985, honoring literary quality in historical writing.
Wright is divorced. She has a daughter Sophia Bender Koning and a stepson, David Bender.
Architectural historian
A architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it Similar profession are known widely such as Historian, Art historian and Archaeologist. Architectural historians survey areas that are often threatened by extinction...
, author, and co-host of the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series "History Detectives
History Detectives
History Detectives is a documentary television series on PBS. A group of researchers help people to seek answers to various historical questions they have, usually centering around a family heirloom, an old house or other historic object or structure...
". She is a professor of architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, also holding appointments in both its departments of history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and art history
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
. Besides "History Detectives", Dr. Wright’s specialties are US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
architectural history
Architectural History
Architectural History is the main journal of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain .The journal is published each autumn. The architecture of the British Isles is a major theme of the journal, although it includes more general papers on the history of architecture. Member of...
and urban history
Urban History
Urban history is a field of history that examines the historical nature of cities and towns, and the process of urbanization. The approach tends to be multidisciplinary, crossing boundaries into fields like social history, architectural history, urban sociology, urban geography and archaeology.At...
from after the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
to the present. She also writes about the exchange across national boundaries of architectural styles, influences, and techniques, particularly examining the colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
and neo-colonial
Neocolonialism
Neocolonialism is the practice of using capitalism, globalization, and cultural forces to control a country in lieu of direct military or political control...
attributes of both modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
and historic preservation
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
.
Biography
Gwendolyn Wright attended New York UniversityNew York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, and in 1969 received a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in history and art history. She did her graduate work at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, and was awarded her MArch
March
March is in present time held to be the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is one of the seven months which are 31 days long....
in 1974 and her PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Architecture in 1978. She published her first book in 1980.
Wright was hired by Columbia University in 1983, two years later becoming the first female to gain tenure in its prestigious Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University in New York City, also known simply as GSAPP, is regarded as one of the most important and prestigious architecture schools in the world...
. She succeeded founder Robert A. M. Stern
Robert A. M. Stern
Robert Arthur Morton Stern, usually credited as Robert A. M. Stern, is an American architect and Dean of the Yale University School of Architecture....
as director of the Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture
Temple Hoyne Buell
Temple Hoyne Buell was an American architect.Buell was born to a prominent Chicago family and the grandson of Thomas Hoyne. He studied architecture at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and completed graduate studies at Columbia University. He served in France during World War I, where he...
, serving in that capacity from 1988 to 1992.
In 2002, she was hired by television producers to be part of what would ultimately become the new TV series "History Detectives
History Detectives
History Detectives is a documentary television series on PBS. A group of researchers help people to seek answers to various historical questions they have, usually centering around a family heirloom, an old house or other historic object or structure...
". Back then the working title for the show was “American Attic”, and the initial concept was to tell stories of history through a focus on houses, hence their interest in adding an experienced architectural historian like Wright. The concept has evolved into solving historical puzzles that use a wide variety of tangible objects to show how historians piece together various kinds of knowledge -- and conflicting evidence and diverse perspectives -- about what happened, how and why. The show has become one of the most popular and successful programs on PBS. Wright has remained one of the five hosts in front of the camera from its initial broadcast season in 2003 to the present. In the show’s publicity, she is held up as the team member most likely to suggest how to proceed when the rest are stymied.
She has authored four books, edited two others, and written numerous articles, reviews, and essays.
Gwendolyn Wright has been recognized for her achievements on numerous occasions, including a Guggenheim Foundation
Guggenheim Foundation
Guggenheim Foundation may refer to one of the following:*The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation funds the Guggenheim Museums.*The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation awards grants to scientists, scholars and artists....
Fellowship, 2004-5, a Fellowship in the Humanities from the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
, 1979-80; a Nina Sutton Weeks Fellowship from the Stanford Humanities Center, 1982-83; a Fellowship from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
Institute for the Humanities, 1991; a Getty Fellowship from the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities
Getty Research Institute
The Getty Research Institute , located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts". A program of the J...
, 1992-93; a Beverly Willis
Beverly Willis
Beverly Willis, FAIA, , is an American architect known for her design achievements, her development of new technology and her philanthropic efforts on behalf of architects, urban planning and public policy. Willis played a major role in the development of many creative and professional concepts...
Architecture Foundation Fellowship, 2005-6; and a Graham Foundation Fellowship, 2006. She was elected a fellow in the Society of American Historians in 1985, honoring literary quality in historical writing.
Wright is divorced. She has a daughter Sophia Bender Koning and a stepson, David Bender.
See also
- Iva Toguri D'AquinoIva Toguri D'AquinoIva Ikuko Toguri D'Aquino , was an American citizen who participated in English-language propaganda broadcast transmitted by Radio Tokyo to Allied soldiers in the South Pacific during World War II...
- History of Alcoholics AnonymousHistory of Alcoholics AnonymousAlcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith . Subsequently, The history of Alcoholics Anonymous has been documented in books, movies, and AA literature...
- Social situation in the French suburbsSocial situation in the French suburbsOutside of Paris are large blocks of government-built public housing, known as banlieues. The banlieues house hundreds of thousands of individuals of North African descent...
External links
- About Gwendolyn Wright, page on PBS "History Detectives" website
- PBS "History Detectives" Host/Historian Gwendolyn Wright, YouTube interview by Mark Molaro on The Alcove
- Gwendolyn Wright, Wright's own website