A Guide to the Roy Graham Photographs and Publications

Finding aid created by Matt Kruse

University of Florida Smathers Libraries - Special and Area Studies Collections

November 2020

Biographical/Historical Note

Roy E. Graham was born on August 20, 1936 in Shreveport, Louisiana and grew up in Natchitoches, Louisiana. He graduated from Louisiana State University in 1961 with a degree in Architectural Engineering. In 1966 he attended the University of Virginia where he received a Master's Degree in Architectural History in 1968. He later pursued a doctorate in art history at the University of Texas in Austin.

Graham was a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve until 1968 when he began a teaching career at the University of Texas, teaching architectural history and design and developed the first historic preservation courses as part of an advanced design studio. He went on leave for a decade in 1979 to become the Resident Architect of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

In 1979, Graham led a team of American preservation experts to the Soviet Union as part of the Nixon-Brezhnev cultural exchange created in 1973 and he was president of the ICOMOS General Assembly in Rome. In 1975, Graham became the first full time director of the Historic Preservation Program at the University of Virginia. He returned to Austin in 1982 to begin the restoration of the Texas Capitol and to pursue architectural projects in his own firm.

Five years later, he joined the faculty of the Catholic University of America in Washington, where he established an architectural conservation program and began working with the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), as well as the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Property of the Church. Projects of note included a conservation plan for the World Heritage Town of Lunenburg, Canada, and an inventory of cultural properties belonging to the Catholic Church in the US. Through ICCROM, he was a consultant on a conservation project at the Taj Mahal and the earthquake damaged St. Francis of Assisi Basilica in Italy. As a spokesman for ICCROM, he participated in meetings and gave talks around the world Including the UK, Spain, Finland, Bulgaria, Italy, Lithuania and Latvia. In the latter, he was the US and ICCROM voice in developing the Riga Charter on reconstructing historic sites. He became a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and US/ ICOMOS. In 1991, Graham was awarded a Senior Fulbright Professorship at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, which led to further Fulbright funding in order for him to establish the Consortium for Urban Conservation between Slovenia, ICCROM and CUA. After assisting in its formation, he became a member of the board of the National Center for Preservation Technology, serving as chair and remained active on the board until his death.

In 2003, Graham became director of the historic preservation program at the University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning. As the Beinecke-Reeves Distinguished Professor, he helped create the Master of Historic Preservation in 2008 and developed the Ph.D. historic preservation concentration. His students produced neighborhood conservation plans for a number of historic Florida neighborhoods, as Graham became active on the board of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation. That organization awarded him The Carl Weinhardt Lifetime Achievement award in 2011 and named a preservation education award for him in 2014.

He was also instrumental in the University of Florida taking management of state-owned properties in St. Augustine and helping establish Historic St. Augustine, Inc. and Preservation Institute St. Augustine.

He passed away on May 29, 2018.

Sources:

Dignity Memorial. 2018. Obituary - Roy Graham. [online] Available at: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/dallas-tx/roy-graham-7869445 [Accessed 23 November 2020].

UF College of Design, Construction and Planning. 2018. Saying Goodbye To A Colleague And Friend. [online] Available at: https://dcp.ufl.edu/blog/spotlights/saying-goodbye-to-a-colleague-and-friend/ [Accessed 23 November 2020].

Scope and Content

Architecture slides used by Roy E. Graham in his Historic Preservation courses at the University of Florida as well as for other various projects he worked on in his career. Also includes some of his writings and publications.

Access or Use Restrictions

Access

The collection is open for research.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Roy Graham Photographs and Publications, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Garrett Graham (grandson).

Selected Subjects and Access Terms

Architecture.
Historic preservation.

For further information, please contact: Special Collections Access Services.

Staff Web | Staff Directory | Departments | Privacy Policy