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VAF-New England 2025 Annual Meeting
Join the New England Chapter of the Vernacular Architecture Forum as we return to the Providence Public Library in Providence, RI on Saturday, April 5, 2025 for our Annual Meeting. The day includes paper sessions, a keynote presentation by architectural historian Abigail Van Slyck on her new book, Playhouses and Privilege: The Architecture of Elite Childhood, our annual business meeting, and a special panel on the state of cultural resource survey in New England. We look forward to sharing new research and conversing with colleagues.
Scroll below for full details on registration, program, travel, parking, and hotel information.
Market House, Providence, RI (1775) designed by Joseph Brown and Stephen Hopkins and rehabilitated in the 1930s by John Hutchins Cady. Now part of the RI School of Design Campus. Photo courtesy National Park Service.
Location
Seminar Room, Third Floor, Providence Public Library, 150 Empire Street (intersection of Washington and Empire Streets)
Registration (Click here!)
Members: $30.00
Students: $15.00
Non-Members: $40.00
Program of Speakers
Travel, Parking, and Hotel Information
Public Transit (Rail)
If arriving via Amtrak or MBTA Commuter Rail, the Providence Public Library is just under a mile or about a 20 minute walk from the train station:
- Exit the Providence station onto Gaspee Street and turn left (south) toward Francis Street (US 1).
- Turn left onto Francis Street. Go 0.3 miles on Francis to Fountain Street. Turn right.
- Walk 0.1 mile, turn left onto Snow Street (a short street that looks like a parking lot), then turn right onto Washington Street.
- Walk to the intersection with Empire Street. The Providence Public Library is at 150 Empire Street.
Parking and Driving Directions
From the South
Take 95 North to the Broadway exit (Exit 21) and merge right as you come off the exit ramp. Stay in the right lane and continue straight through the light. You will see the Providence Hilton and the Civic Center on your left. Stay in the right lane as the road curves to the right. The Library is on your right.
From the North
Take 95 South to the Atwells Avenue exit (Exit 21). Turn left off the exit at the light, and cross back over 95 and continue straight through one set of lights. The Providence Hilton is on your left. Take slight left at next set of lights, curving around to the right and then continuing straight on Empire Street to the next set of traffic lights. The Library is immediately on the right (150 Empire Street). If you have crossed the Washington Street intersection, you’ve passed us.
From the East Bay or Southeastern Massachusetts areas
Take 195 West to 95 North to Exit 21 and continue with the directions "From the South."
Nearby Parking Facilities
The closest available parking is the LAZ lot at the south corner of Broadway and Empire Street, directly adjacent to the Providence Public Library. This lot is accessible via Broadway and has a daily flat rate of $10.00.
Other Parking
LAZ, 197 Fountain Street (entrance directly across from The Hilton hotel) and other locations (LAZ Parking)
DownCity Parking, 13 locations (www.downcityparking.com), 401-273-9466
Amica Mutual Pavilion (AMP) Parking, 99 West Exchange Street, Providence
Hotel information
The Dean Hotel, 122 Fountain Street, Providence (0.1 mi from the library)
The Hotel Providence, 139 Mathewson Street, Providence (0.2 mi from the library)
Previous Annual Meetings
VAF-NE Annual Meeting 2024, Providence, RI
"Portland, Maine’s Most Popular House: The Flexible, Adaptable Side-Hall," Thomas Hubka, University of Oregon
‘Strangers and Outcasts in a Strange Land:’ The Struggle for African American Civil Rights in Rhode Island, 1652–1976, Gretchen Pineo, Public Archaeology Lab, Pawtucket, RI
"The Rural Gothic, Early Episcopalians, and Trinity Church, Wall Street," Judith Hull, Independent Scholar
"New England Immigrant Synagogues 1880–1930: A Mix of Old and New World Vernacular," Samuel Gruber, Independent Scholar
"Ghosts, Paper Chains, and Starlight: Materiality and Mysticism in the Sukkah," Hannah Muhlfelder, Boston University
"Fighting Cultural Genocide: Documenting Ukraine’s Cultural Heritage in a Time of War," Myron Stachiw, Independent Scholar
VAF-NE Annual Meeting 2020
“Framing the Old Colony: Early Plymouth Architecture in Context” James Kelleher, Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in American Material Culture
“The New England Squash Barn” Sally McMurry, Penn State University
“Marblehead Land Company, A Well-Documented Residential Subdivision of the 1880s John D Clemson, Independent Scholar
A Look Back at a WWI Housing Effort Lorna Condon, Historic New England
Introducing the Royal Barry Wills Associates Archives Lorna Condon, Historic New England
Destination “Magic Town”: Capitalism, Corporate Branding, and the Trackside Architecture of the Portland & Rumford Falls Railway, 1890-1895 C. Ian Stevenson, Independent Scholar
FORUM: Recovering Urban Vernacular Spaces in Boston and New York City
“They Persisted: Women Confront the Corporate Improvement of Boston’s Waterfront, 1790-1820” Kathryn Lasdow, Suffolk University
“Real Estate and Reimagining African American Free Space in New York City” Alexander Manevitz, New York Historical Society
VAF-NE Annual Meeting 2019
“Imaging New Netherland: Origins and Survival of Netherlandic Architecture in North America,” Jeroen Van Den Hurk, Salve Regina University
Building English Houses: Evidence from the Mashantucket Pequot and Hassanamisco Nipmuc Reservations, Myron Stachiw, Independent Scholar/Consultant in Social and Architectural History and Holly Izard, Worcester Historical Museum
VAF 2021 Conference in Plymouth, MA, J. Ritchie Garrison, University of Delaware
The Architecture of La Survivance: Creating Quebecois Community in Early Twentieth-century New Hampshire, Peter Michaud, Cultural Resources Manager, United States Navy
The World in One Square Mile: The Cultural Landscape of Central Falls, Rhode Island, Gretchen Pineo and Virginia H. Adams, Public Archaeology Laboratory
New England’s Connected Farmhouse Architecture: An Investigation for the National Historic Landmarks Program, Roger Reed, National Register and National Historic Landmarks Programs
http://www.vafweb.org/event-3291088
| VAF-NE Annual Meeting 2018 |
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Vernacular Building Science at the Gropius House David Fannon, Northeastern University The House was Demolished: The Role of Cultural Bias in the Loss of Modern American Residential Architecture Anna Marcum, Tulane University The Mid-Century Modern Lexington Center Pedestrian Promenade, 1967-1970 Virginia Adams & Gretchen Pineo, Public Archaeology Laboratory Mid-Century Mormon Modern: Creating a Mormon Cultural Landscape Among the Eastern Establishment Sam Palfreyman, Boston University Just Add Water: Midcentury Transformations of the Pondside Vernacular David Foxe, Epstein Joslin Architects Suburban Design Thinking: Home Builders and House Design in the Mid-Twentieth Century Elaine B. Stiles, Roger Williams University David Fried: Mysterious Modernist of the CCC Devin Colman, Vermont Division for Historic Preservation Lovett's Inn: A Jewelbox of Modern Design Tucked into Franconia Notch Nicole Benjamin-Ma, VHB Works-in-Progress |
| VAF-NE Annual Meeting 2017 |
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http://www.vafweb.org/event-2469706 Pedaling Vacationland: Bicycles, Architecture, and the Leisure Landscape in Maine 1878-1902 Sam Shupe Building Reform at the Connecticut Industrial School for Girls 1870-1900 Catherine Zipf Works-in-Progress State of the Chapter |
| VAF-NE Annual Meeting 2016 |
Kim Hoagland
Panel: Educating about the Vernacular
Moderator: Zachary Violette with Betsy Cromley, Kim Hoagland, Robert Russell, Myron Stachiw
Ian Stevenson, Richard E. Greenwood Young Scholar Award
A Damming Problem: The Relocation and Modern Planning of Hill, NH's New Village
Andrew Cushing
Moderator: Elizabeth Igleheart with Betsy Friedberg, Peter Michaud, Christi Mitchell, Jenny Scofield, and Laura Trieschmann
| VAF-NE Annual Meeting 2015 |
Don Cyr
The "Block," a Three-Decker Variant in Berlin, New Hampshire
Laura Driemeyer
Zachary Violette
The Career of the Double Parlor in Boston, 1800-1850
Jeffrey Klee, Richard E. Greenwood Young Scholar Award
| VAF-NE Annual Meeting 2014 |
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The Backstory of Planning: The Olmsted Firm and Brookline Landscape Keith Morgan Early Suburban Architecture in Newton, MA, 1830-1850 Milda Richardson Early African-American Meetinghouses of New England Aaron Sturgis Mapping Colonial Newport: The Challenges and Triumphs of Digital Research |
| VAF-NE Annual Meeting 2013 |
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VAF-NE meets March 16 at Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA. "...make it neer the Culler of Chelmsford meeting-house": Painted Surfaces on Early New England Houses of Worship A Duxbury Joiner’s Shop What can and can’t be said: Civil Rights and African-American History in the New New South Assessing the Cultural Significance of Stone Piles Defining New England House Types, Part 3 |
| VAF-NE Annual Meeting 2012 |
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VAF-NE meets March 31, 2012 at Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA. Chain of Tools: Supply Chains, Lumber, and Vernacular Communities in Northern California, 1850-1930 Interpreting the Shakers: Opening the Villages to the Public, 1955-1965 A New North Shore House Type 'Tenement Canyons': Methods for Managing the Data on a Common Building Type VAF 2011 - Jamaica Report Defining New England House Types |
| VAF-NE Annual Meeting 2011 |
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VAF-NE meets April 2, 2011 at Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA. Architectural Remains of the 1607-1608 Popham Colony on the Kennebec River in Maine Out of the Attic: Inventing Antiques in Twentieth-Century New England A Study of 18th-19th century Powder Houses and Their Construction on the North Shore Within the Means of All: American Consumer Culture and the Rise of the Residential Funeral Home, 1915 – 1965 The Food Axis Understanding Massachusetts House Types |
| VAF-NE Winter Meeting 2010 |
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Early New England Buildings: Reflections on the Field The Framed Houses of Northern New England: An Archaeologist's View The Broad Chamfer School: Understanding the Client-Craftsman Relationship in Early 18th Century Guilford, Connecticut Recent Observations of Late First Period Construction Details in the Connecticut River Valley Sources for Reconstructing the Built Environment in the Connecticut Valley First Period Buildings in Eastern Massachusetts: Research in Progress ROUNDTABLE: Framing the Study of Early New England Architecture |
| VAF-NE Winter Meeting 2009 |
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Building Order on Beacon Hill Picturing Freedom: Pedro Tovookan Parris' Autobiographical Landscapes Marshall Street, Watertown, MA: A Charles Brigham Showroom Architecture and the Reproduction of Privilege: A Cultural Landscape Approach to the Children’s Cottage at the Breakers Gendered Landscapes in Turn-of-the-Century San Francisco Invisible Property: the Clothes Closet as Architectural Space |
| VAF-NE Winter Meeting 2008 |
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Preservation and Profit: Wallace Nutting and the Chain of Colonial Houses Norman Isham: Rhode Island’s Early Preservation Architect The Architect as Historian: Restoration Architecture of Joseph Everett Chandler Displaying American Decorative Arts: George Francis Dow’s Period Rooms in International Context Antiquarians and Economics: The Invention of Cushing’s Island Panel Discussion with Speakers |
| VAF-NE Winter Meeting 2007 |
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Finding Meaning in New England Churches: Researching Temples of Grace: The Material Transformation of Connecticut’s Churches, 1790-1840 Exhuming Old Ship: New Evidence for Original Features at the Hingham Meetinghouse Forum: The Orientation of Houses in the Village of Deerfield: Archeological and Documentary Evidence of Change in the Eighteenth Century Where We Lived: An Experiment in Accessible History The Building Frame Trade in Coastal New Hampshire |
| VAF-NE Winter Meeting 2006 |
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How the English Farmhouse Was Redesigned in British North America God is in the Details: The Transformation of Ecclesiastical Architecture in Early 19th Century America Invitation to Vernacular Architecture: Why We Said What We Said Collaboration in the Packaging of Boston and New England: The Encyclopedia of New England and The Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston Report from the VAF Annual Meeting: Tucson Overview Forum: Learning from the Coburn House |
| VAF-NE Winter Meeting 2005 |
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A Socioarchitectural Study of Seventeenth-Century Connecticut Valley Probate Inventories City Architect and Rural Builder: the Collaboration of Richard Upjohn and George Stearns in Brattleboro, Vermont, 1853-55 Report from the VAF Annual Meeting: Pennsylvania Overview Forum: Protocols for Dendrochronology |
| VAF-NE Winter Meeting 2004 |
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Landscape, People, and Architecture of the New England Tobacco Fields 'To Create an Old-Fashioned Garden': Archaeological Perspectives on the Restoration of Newport’s Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House Architecture in Early Maine: The View from the Chadbourne Archaeology Site (ca. 1643-1690) Report from the VAF Annual Meeting St. Pierre and Michelon: An Overview Graffiti in the Candia, NH, Schoolhouse at Old Sturbridge Village: The Identification of a Regional Vernacular Symbol |