Dr. Tara Foley: “Richard Watson Gilder: Poet, Editor, Urban Reformer”

Friday, September 6

3:30-4:30pm ABL Lecture Hall

Dr. Tara Foley (English, Baylor) will present her talk “Richard Watson Gilder: Poet, Editor, Urban Reformer”:

This presentation explores the work of Richard Watson Gilder, long-time editor of The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, who served as chairman of New York City’s first Tenement House Commission and raised a clarion call for architectural preservation with his poem, “Lines on the Proposed Demolition of St. John’s Chapel.” By examining Gilder’s lengthy career as poet and editor, this talk seeks to highlight the meaningful—yet too often overlooked—role of American writers in urban planning initiatives at the end of the nineteenth century.