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Charles E. Peterson, F.A.I.A., architectural historian, restorationist, and planner, launched his professional career with the National Park Service in 1929. He began work as a restoration architect in 1931 at the Moore House in Yorktown, Virginia. In 1933, Mr. Peterson originated the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). Today the HABS program of the National Park Service continues to produce measured drawings, large-format photographs, and written histories of historic sites, structures and objects that are significant to the architectural heritage of the United States. Mr. Peterson has contributed to the historic preservation field in myriad ways. He has lectured on architectural history and preservation before professional, academic and lay audiences across North America, Europe and the British Isles, and has published numerous papers and monographs. He has devoted many years to the study of colonial architect Robert Smith, and has amassed a superb body of information on Smith's work in the mid-Atlantic colonies. He was a charter member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and a founding member of the Association for Preservation Technology. Mr. Peterson has supervised countless restoration projects throughout the United States. His leadership in the 1950s of the revitalization of the Society Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia, and his role during the same period as Resident Architect of Independence National Historical Park, have become legendary.
Charles Peterson has received many life achievement awards, including the National Trust's coveted Crowninshield Award (1966). He was advanced to fellowship in the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1962. In 1979 he received an AIA medal for his "vision and determination" in having established HABS, "a priceless archive in our architectural history." He was awarded the AIA Presidential Citation in 1990. The AIA joined with HABS in 1983 to create the Charles E. Peterson Prize, awarded annually for the best set of measured drawings of a historic building created by a student and deposited in the HABS collection.
Charles Peterson is a native of Madison, Minnesota, and a 1928 graduate of the University of Minnesota. He holds the rank of Commander, Civil Engineer Corps, USNR (ret.). He served on the Nimitz staff in World War II and was cited for his work in planning the Pacific Campaign from Guam to Honshu.
Charles E. Peterson has donated his books and papers to the University of Maryland. These materials constitute an abundant source of information on Mr. Peterson's career and on the areas of research he has pursued over the past 60 years. His library of more than 3,000 volumes contains material on early American architecture and building; American and British building materials; Pennsylvania and Philadelphia architecture; the architectural history of Hawaii; and the lives and works of American architects. In addition, there is a significant body of material on Scottish architectural history from the 18th century, assembled in connection with Mr. Peterson's study of the Scottish-American architect-builder Robert Smith (1722-1777).
Mr. Peterson's archival files include, among other items, the correspondence of his consulting office, 1962 to present, with a particular focus on the status of the HABS program over the years. Also in the archive are materials covering Mr. Peterson's career in the National Park Service; course syllabi related to Mr. Peterson's teaching in the Columbia University School of Architecture; and documentation of a two-summer HABS program in Hawaii. Mr. Peterson's awards and trophies, as well as original photographs, drawings, and his freehand sketches made in the West between 1927 and 1941, are special highlights of the collection.
Through Mr.Peterson's generous gift of his Archive and Library, along with financial support for cataloging these materials, the University Libraries will be able to enhance its growing collection of historic preservation documentation. The Peterson Archive and Library provides a rich resource for students and scholars interested in Charles Peterson's life-long contribution to the preservation movement in the 20th century.
For more information on this collection, please contact the National Trust Library
