Agnes Addison Gilchrist was born on December 25, 1907 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended Wellesley College where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Art in 1930, and the University of Pennsylvania where she earned a master’s degree in Medieval History in 1933 and a doctorate in Modern History in 1938.

Gilchrist was the recipient of two Carnegie Scholarships: one for study at the Sorbonne in 1935 and one for study at Harvard University in 1940. She earned a Brevet d’Art de la Sorbonne at the Institute d’Art et d’Archeologie in Paris (1934), as well as a Certificate of Art from the Courtauld Institute in London (1936) for her study of Medieval Art.¹

Gilchrist was an Instructor at the School of Fine Arts from 1934-1941, and later an assistant instructor in the History Department at the University of Pennsylvania. She also served as an adjunct professor of art history at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in Virginia and as a lecturer in art history at New York University from 1948-1949.² Following her career in academia, Gilchrist was the first architectural historian employed by the National Parks Service (1957-1958), hired to revive the Historic American Buildings Newsletter. From 1959-1960, she was hired by Sleepy Hollow Restorations in Tarrytown, New York as an architectural researcher in the Netherlands.³

From 1962-1964, Gilchrist was a researcher for the newly-formed New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. After this venture, she founded and presided over the Mount Vernon Landmarks and Historical Society in 1964 in Mount Vernon, New York. Finally, in 1966, she was hired as a researcher by the National Portrait Gallery where she worked until 1967, when she retired.⁴

Gilchrist was one of the founding members of the Society of Architectural Historians in 1940, and throughout the next two decades she held a variety of offices there.⁵ She was equally involved in New York City’s Municipal Art Society and held many positions during her tenure, most notably Chairman of the Committee on Historic Architecture from 1953 to 1955, and Chairman of the Architectural Research Committee from late 1955 to 1956.⁶

Some of Gilchrist’s academic publications include: Romanticism and the Gothic Revival (1938 and 1967), Catalogue of Portraits in the University of Pennsylvania (1940), William Strickland, Architect and Engineer, 1788 – 1854 (1950), as well as articles for the Journal for the Society of Architectural Historians, the American Journal of Archeology, The New York Times, Arts in Philadelphia, Paranassus, The American-German Review, and the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography.⁷ Gilchrist was also the author of a one-act comedy entitled “A Dish of Tea” in 1953, and “The Love Doctor” in 1954.⁸ Gilchrist is listed in the Dictionary of American Scholars, Who’s Who in American Art, and Who’s Who of American Women.⁹

Gilchrist was active in the 1950s and early 1960s movement to take stock of New York City’s historic structures and garner support for their preservation. Her expertise and innovation were essential to the process that enabled the protection of the City’s landmarks to become a reality.¹⁰

Gilchrist was frequently vocal for what she saw as New York City’s need for legislation to protect its historic architecture and often advocated for more public support. In a letter to the editor of The New York Times from 1955, Gilchrist writes:

“Why do we pay no attention to our architectural heritage until some particular building is about to be pulled down and then make a great fuss when it is too late? . . . This is a plea to New Yorkers that they assess their buildings of merit and make sure that they will not be destroyed.”¹¹

Gilchrist’s research for the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, beginning in 1962, provided the intellectual foundation that led to the Commission’s earliest official designations and secured her beloved buildings a permanent place in the City’s cultural patrimony.¹²

After dedicating many years to documenting and advocating for the preservation of New York City’s architectural legacy, Gilchrist died in 1976 at her home in Woods Hole, Massachusetts at the age of 68.¹³

Society of Architectural Historians
Founding Member, 1940
Secretary-Treasurer, New York Chapter, 1944-1949
Secretary-Treasurer, 1950-1951
Vice-President, 1952-1953
President, 1954
Director, 1955-1961

Municipal Art Society
Director, 1951-1957
Chairman of the Committee on Historic Architecture, 1953-1955
Chairman of the Architectural Research Committee, 1955-1956

New York Advisory Committee of the Archives of American Art
Secretary, 1958-1961

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
Architectural Researcher, 1962-1964

One of the first preservation-related efforts that Gilchrist was involved in was the process to create New York Landmarks: An Index of Architecturally Historic Structures in New York City. In 1953, Gilchrist was elected Chair of the Municipal Art Society's Committee on Historic Architecture following Edward Steese, who began work on the "Index of Historic Buildings in New York City" nearly two years earlier. Although Steese and his committee's list had greatly expanded on Talbot Hamlin's 1942 Tentative List of Old Buildings of Manhattan Built in 1865 or Earlier, and Worthy of Preservation, Annotated by Talbot Hamlin, the "Index" was far from complete and largely unavailable to the public. Hundreds of suggestions for structures worthy of preservation had been compiled, yet information was inconsistent and research spotty.¹⁴

Gilchrist propelled the "Index" project to the next level. Further research and documentation became regulated, resulting in a uniform and comprehensive list "impressive in both quality and quantity."¹⁵ Gilchrist initiated regular monthly meetings and enlisted the help of fellow architectural historians to authenticate the committee's research. She also engaged photographers to document the current state of individual structures. Until then, photo documentation had progressed in a piecemeal fashion.¹⁶ Also, under Gilchrist's leadership, structures included in the "Index" were filed with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Park Service, the American Institute of Architects, and the Historic American Buildings Survey.¹⁷

In January 1957, a second edition of the list, New York Landmarks: Index of Architecturally Historic Structures in New York City, was published by the Municipal Art Society and made available to the public. The committee's "Index" underwent many subsequent editions, resulting in Alan Burnham's popular New York Landmarks: A Study & Index of Architecturally Notable Structures in Greater New York, published under the Municipal Art Society in 1963.

Walking tours were another preservation-related effort spearheaded by Gilchrist. At a Director's meeting of the Municipal Art Society in September 1955, Gilchrist suggested the Society conduct an architectural "walking tour" patterned on a tour previously arranged by Talbot Hamlin, which went from Chelsea to Washington Square, including a visit to St. Peter's Church and the Rectory and proceeding through 20^th Street to Gramercy Park.¹⁸ Following this a research committee was formed and Gilchrist was appointed its Chair. Working alongside Henry Hope Reed, E. Powis Jones, and other committee members, Gilchrist mapped out a route for a walking tour of Madison, Gramercy, and Stuyvesant Squares.¹⁹

On April 8, 1956, 36 New Yorkers converged in Madison Square under Augustus Saint-Gauden's statue of Admiral Farragut for the very first of the Society's walking tours. Narrated by Henry Hope Reed and E. Powis Jones, the tour progressed through the streets and ended at Pete's Tavern at Irving Place and 18^th Street, once a favorite hangout of O. Henry.²⁰ Among those that paid the $1 fare for the inaugural tour were Whitney North Seymour, Giorgio Cavalgieri, Brendan Gill, and Harmon Goldstone. This tour was the first in a series of walking tours planned by the Municipal Art Society in cooperation with the Society of Architectural Historians with the intent to engage and educate the public. The tours proved to be a powerful advocacy tool, giving New Yorkers the opportunity to see their City's architectural heritage through fresh eyes, while at the same time giving enthusiastic preservationists the opportunity to ally the public with their cause.²¹ Gilchrist and her colleagues at the Municipal Art Society launched what would become a greatly expanded New York City tradition that continues to this day. The Society still offers its "First-Walk" annually, meeting in front of the Admiral Farragut Monument and retracing the steps of that intrepid band of New Yorkers.²²

Gilchrist was also involved with the New York Community Trust Plaque Program. Using the "Index" as a starting point, the Municipal Art Society in conjunction with the New York Community Trust, marked New York City buildings of particular historic or architectural significance. Gilchrist, as chair of the committee working on the index, served as a consultant for this endeavor, supplying data and text for plaques.²³

Gilchrist was also an architectural researcher for the newly-formed New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) under Executive Director James Grote VanDerpool. As a researcher, Gilchrist was responsible for surveying the architecture of the City's five boroughs and recommending structures for landmark status.²⁴ In making recommendations, the Commission sought to select representative examples that would illustrate the City's growth from a Dutch trading settlement to an international metropolis.²⁵ By the time Gilchrist retired from the Commission in 1964, the LPC had tentatively designated over 4,000 buildings as well as a number of monuments and bridges throughout the five boroughs.²⁶ The Landmarks Law, however, was not officially enacted until 1965.

• Wellesley College Archives
  Margaret Clapp Library
  Wellesley College
  106 Central Street
  Wellesley, MA 02481
• 
  University Archives and Record Center
  University of Pennsylvania
  3401 Market Street, Suite 210
  Philadelphia, PA 19104
• 
  Albert S. Bard Papers
  Manuscripts and Archives Division, Room 328
  Humanities and Social Sciences Library
  The New York Public Library
  Fifth Avenue at 42^nd Street
  New York, NY 10018
  
  James Grote VanDerpool Papers
  Drawings and Archives Department
  Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library
  Columbia University
  1172 Amsterdam Avenue
  New York, NY 10027
  
  Anthony C. Wood Archives
  New York Preservation Archive Project
  174 East 80^th Street
  New York, NY 10075