Local History and Special Collections Branch, Alexandria Library
717 Queen StreetAlexandria, VA 22314
Business Number: 703-746-1791
lhsc@alexlibraryva.org
URL: http://alexlibraryva.org/lhsc
YC
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
[Item identification], Historic Alexandria Foundation Records, MS070, Alexandria Library, Local History and Special Collections, Alexandria, Virginia.
Biographical / Historical
The Historic Alexandria Foundation (HAF) is an organization of volunteers dedicated to preserving Alexandria's historic architecture. Initiated by members of the Alexandria Association, HAF obtained a charter from the State of Virginia in 1954.
Most of the earliest records originally belonged to Delos H. Smith, a charter member of HAF and its Board of Trustees. He also served on the Alexandria Board of Architectural Review from 1946 to 1953 and on the Old Town Civic Association Survey Committee.
Other early papers were collected by Magnum Weeks, a founding member, early president, and continuing director of HAF. Weeks also was a charter member of the Alexandria Association and a life member of the Alexandria Library Company.
Later papers in this collection relate to William Francis Smith's tenure as secretary and president of HAF. W. F. Smith is a retired banker who currently serves the community on the Alexandria Library Board, in the Alexandria Library Company, and as a local historian.
Content Description
Reports, minutes, correspondence, and surveys documenting HAF's formation, relationships to other volunteer organizations, and more than three decades of HAF's preservation projects and concerns. HAF also plaqued historic properties, sponsored the Alexandria Antique Show, and funded preservation grants. In addition, files of correspondence, programs, and publications from other historic preservation projects provide evidence for the history of preservation not only in Alexandria, but as a national movement during the late 1950's and early 1960's. Leaders in Alexandria' preservation movement appear in these records: Ethelyn Cox, Dorothy Kabler, William Kabler, J. C. Herbert Bryant, Howard Joynt, Hannon E. Norris, and Arthur J. Mourot. Among the historic sites documented are Lloyd House, Ramsey House, the McGuire House/Lyceum, Gadsby's Tavern, Carlyle House, the Alexandria Academy, and the 500 block of King Street. Other organizations mentioned include the Alexandria Association, the Gadsby's Tavern Society, the American Legion, the Alexandria Tourist Council, the Board of Architectural Review, the Alexandria Heritage Foundation, the Alexandria Historic Restoration and Preservation Commission, the Building Code Board of Appeals, and the Old Town Civic Association.
Arrangement
By function and subject, thereunder chronologically.
Related Material
Ethelyn Cox Collection (MS287)
Publications: Cox's 1976 book, Historic Alexandria, Virginia, Street by Street, also resulted from HAF's survey projects. Catalogs from the Alexandria Antique Shows (1984 to the present) document HAF's relationship with that event. Alexandria Academy Building research.
Vertical Files: Clippings and articles related to HAF as well as the HAF periodical, The Plaque, published since 1984.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
- Alexandria Academy
- Bryant, J. C. Herbert ((John Carlyle Herbert)), 1909-1983
- Carlyle House (Alexandria, Va.)
- Cox, Ethelyn, 1908-1988
- Gadsby's Tavern Museum
- Historic Alexandria Foundation
- Historic buildings -- Virginia -- Alexandria -- Conservation and restoration.
- Joynt, John Howard
- Kabler, Dorothy, 1918-2017
- Kabler, William
- Lloyd House
- Lyceum (Alexandria, Va.)
- Mourot, Arthur J., Dr. (Arthur James), 1904-1998
- Norris, Hannon E. (Hannon Edwards), 1898-1962
- The Alexandria Association
Existence and Location of Originals
These records are often copies. The Historic Alexandria Foundation has working files of its own which may include the originals.
Significant Persons Associated With the Collection
- Bryant, J. C. Herbert ((John Carlyle Herbert)), 1909-1983
- Cox, Ethelyn, 1908-1988
- Joynt, John Howard
- Kabler, Dorothy, 1918-2017
- Kabler, William
- Mourot, Arthur J., Dr. (Arthur James), 1904-1998
- Norris, Hannon E. (Hannon Edwards), 1898-1962
Container List
- Text box: 1 folder: 1
HAF Annual Reports1968-1981
- Text box: 1 folder: 2
HAF Bylaws1950-1987
- Text box: 1 folder: 3
HAF Certificate of Incorporation1950-1987
- Text box: 1 folder: 4
HAF Committee Reports - Committee on Defining Structures1955
- Text box: 1 folder: 5
HAF Committee Reports - Membership Committee1958
- Text box: 1 folder: 6
HAF Committee Reports - Planning Committee1988
- Text box: 1 folder: 7
HAF Committee Reports - Preservation Committee1954
- Text box: 1 folder: 8
HAF Committee Reports - Research Committee195?
- Text box: 1 folder: 9
HAF Committee Reports - Survey Committee1955-1961
- Text box: 1 folder: 10
HAF Correspondence1951-1955
- Text box: 1 folder: 11
HAF Correspondence1956
- Text box: 1 folder: 12
HAF Correspondence1957
- Text box: 1 folder: 13
HAF Correspondence1958
- Text box: 1 folder: 14
HAF Correspondence1959
- Text box: 1 folder: 15
HAF Correspondence1960
- Text box: 1 folder: 16
HAF Correspondence1961
- Text box: 1 folder: 17
HAF Correspondence1962-1963
- Text box: 1 folder: 18
HAF Correspondence1988
- Text box: 1 folder: 19
HAF Membership lists1957-1992
- Text box: 1 folder: 20
HAF Membership Program1956
- Text box: 1 folder: 21
HAF Memos from President to Members1958-1988
- Text box: 2 folder: 1
HAF Minutes1955-1961
- Text box: 2 folder: 2
HAF Minutes1983-1985
- Text box: 2 folder: 3
HAF Minutes1986-1987
- Text box: 2 folder: 4
HAF Minutes1988-1989
- Text box: 2 folder: 5
HAF Treasurer's Reports1982-1991
- Text box: 2 folder: 6
Historic Alexandria Antiques Show1988-1989
- Text box: 2 folder: 7
HAF on Gadsby Renewal1961-1962
- Text box: 2 folder: 8
Urban Renewal1962-1965
- Text box: 2 folder: 9
Urban Renewal - High Rise Apartments1960
- Text box: 2 folder: 10
HAF Chart1961-1962
- Text box: 2 folder: 11
HAF Plaques1982-1995
- Text box: 2 folder: 12
HAF Preservation Fund and Grants198?
- Text box: 2 folder: 13
HAF Printed Material
- Graphic Materials box: 2 folder: 14
HAF Seal
- Text box: 2 folder: 15
HAF Petitions & Resolutions1956-1961
- Text box: 2 folder: 16
HAF Statement1954?
- Text box: 2 folder: 17
HAF Statement on Generalized Land Use & Thoroughfare Plan1962
- Text box: 2 folder: 18
HAF Clippings1954-1977
- Text box: 2 folder: 19
Historic Building Inventories1949-1952
- Text box: 2 folder: 20
HAF Architectural Survey of North Washington Street1956
- Text box: 2 folder: 21
HAF Historic Building Census1958-1959
- Text box: 2 folder: 22
HAF Historic Building Inventory/Survey1959-1960
- Text box: 2 folder: 23
HAF Historic Building Survey1962
- Text box: 2 folder: 24
HAF Historic Buildings, King Street, 205-207, McGuire House, Christmas Tour
- Text box: 3 folder: 1
Notes1949-1960
- Text box: 3 folder: 2
HAF Contacts and References1951-1962
- Text box: 3 folder: 3
Scribners Magazines - Model Towns1912
- Text box: 3 folder: 4
Flyers and Clippings - Preservation1950-1962
- Text box: 3 folder: 5
National Trust Bylaws1956-1961
- Text box: 3 folder: 6
National Trust Annual Reports1957-1961
- Text box: 3 folder: 7
National Trust Meetings1957-1962
- Text box: 3 folder: 8
National Trust Press Releases1953-1958
- Text box: 3 folder: 9
National Trust Publications1958-1962
- Text box: 3 folder: 10
Preservation News1961-1962
- Text box: 3 folder: 11
Alexandria Academy Project1987-1988
- Text box: 3 folder: 12
Alexandria Association Records1954-1962
- Text box: 3 folder: 13
Alexandria City Council - Ordinances & Resolutions1957-1961
- Text box: 3 folder: 14
Alexandria Heritage Foundation Bylaws & Certificate of Incorporation
- Text box: 3 folder: 15
Alexandria Historical Restoration & Preservation Commission Records1962-1965
- Text box: 3 folder: 16
Alexandria Tourist Council1961-1964
- Text box: 3 folder: 17
Board of Architectural Review Minutes1946-1962
- Text box: 3 folder: 18
Building Code Board of Appeals
- Text box: 3 folder: 19
Carlyle House
- Text box: 3 folder: 20
Gadsby's Tavern Society1952
- Text box: 3 folder: 21
Old Town Civic Association1953-1957
- Mixed Materials Oversize Box: 4 folder: 1
HAF Records: Architecture Survey of Washington Street
- Mixed Materials Oversize Box: 4 folder: 2
Maps related to Gadsby's Urban Development Project
- Mixed Materials Oversize Box: 4 folder: 3
St. Augustine, Florida, Newspaper
- Text box: 5 folder: 1
HAF membership file1963-1970
- Text box: 6 folder: 1
Historic Alexandria Antiques Show Catalogue1988
- Text box: 6 folder: 2
Historic Alexandria Antiques Show Catalogue1989
- Text box: 6 folder: 3
Historic Alexandria Antiques Show Catalogue1990
- Text box: 6 folder: 4
Historic Alexandria Antiques Show Catalogue1991
- Text box: 6 folder: 5
Historic Alexandria Antiques Show Catalogue1992
- Text box: 6 folder: 6
Historic Alexandria Antiques Show Catalogue1993
- Text box: 6 folder: 7
Historic Alexandria Antiques Show Catalogue1994
- Text box: 6 folder: 8
Historic Alexandria Antiques Show Catalogue1995