Charles Bridgham Hosmer, Jr.
Also known as Charles B. Hosmer and Charles Hosmer
As a noted author and historian, Charles Bridgham Hosmer, Jr. is widely touted as the “historian of the historic preservation movement,” and conducted many oral histories with key preservationist such as Margot Gayle and Harmon Goldstone.
Charles Bridgham Hosmer, Jr. was born in Naples, Italy, in 1932, and was raised in Washington, D.C. He attended Principia College in Elsah Illinois, and graduated with a B.A. in history in 1953. He continued on to receive a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Teachers College (1956) and a Ph.D. in history (1961), also from Columbia University. Hosmer was a faculty member at Principia College for over 30 years, where he served as the Jay P. Walker Chair in History. He retired from his teaching position at Principia College in June of 1993.1
Over the course of his life, Charles Hosmer was active in many professional associations. He was also honored with special awards for service from the Eastern National Park and Monument Association as Distinguished Associate (1981), and from the American Association for State and Local History in recognition of his co-authorship of Elsah: a Historic Guidebook (1968) with Paul O. Williams.
Charles B. Hosmer died in early August of 1993.2
Historic Elsah Foundation
President, 1971-1993
Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council
Advisor, 1972-1976
Principia College
Jay P. Walker Chair in History
Charles Bridgham Hosmer, Jr. has been widely touted as the "historian of the historic preservation movement.”3
He spent many years of his life working on two books, which document the history of historic preservation efforts in America: Presence of the Past: the History of the Historic Preservation Movement in the United States Before Williamsburg (Putnam, 1965) and Preservation Comes of Age: From Williamsburg to the National Trust, 1926-1949 (University Press of Virginia, 1981). These two texts serve as invaluable reference books and teaching tools in the preservation field.4
Hosmer's interest in preservation began in his youth through a fascination with early American houses.5 Hosmer was involved in preservation issues in his home state of Illinois. In the 1970s, he served on the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council, a panel that advised the state on matters pertaining to historic preservation and evaluated properties for National Register designation. Thanks to Hosmer's efforts, in April of 1993, Principia College was added to the National Register of Historic Places and designated as a National Historic Landmark. He also served several separate terms on the Elsah Zoning Board.6
Throughout his career, Hosmer conducted many oral history interviews with leaders in the historic preservation field. Hosmer's interviews provided him with an unprecedented wealth of knowledge and information about the field of preservation. Shortly before his death, Hosmer and his wife assembled his materials and donated them to the University of Maryland at College Park.7 Hosmer's interviewees include notable New York preservationists Giorgio Cavaglieri, Margot Gayle, Brendan Gill, Carl Feiss, and Harmon Goldstone.8
- Charles B. Hosmer Collection
National Trust for Historic Preservation Library Collection and Archives, Special Collections
University of Maryland at College Park Libraries
A complete list of Hosmer's interviewees can be accessed here.
- ”Charles Bridgham Hosmer, Jr. (1932-1993),” Maybeck and Principia College. Article retrieved 2 March 2016
- Charles B. Hosmer Collection, National Trust for Historic Preservation Library Collection and Archives, Special Collections, University of Maryland at College Park Libraries.
- Ibid.
- Charles B. Hosmer Jr., Presence of the Past: the History of the Historic Preservation Movement in the United States before Williamsburg (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1965); Charles B. Hosmer Jr., Preservation Comes of Age: From Williamsburg to the National Trust 1926-1949 (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1981).
- Biographical introduction to the finding aid.
- ”Charles Bridgham Hosmer, Jr. (1932-1993),” Maybeck and Principia College. Article retrieved 2 March 2016
- “Charles Hosmer papers,” University of Maryland: University Libraries: Digital Collections. Finder’s aid retrieved 2 March 2016
- A complete list of Hosmer’s interviewees can be accessed here.
