Goodman, Jennifer B.
Goodman, Jennifer B.
(Jennifer Goodman)
PERSONAL: Female.
ADDRESSES: Office—New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, 87 N. State St., 2nd Fl., P.O. Box 268, Concord, NH 03302-0268. E-mail—admin@nhpreservation.org.
CAREER: New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, Concord, NH, executive director.
AWARDS, HONORS: Antoinette Forrester Downing Book Award (with Gail Lee Dubrow), Society of Architectural Historians, 2004, for Restoring Women's History through Historic Preservation.
WRITINGS:
(Editor, with Gail Lee Dubrow) Restoring Women's History through Historic Preservation, Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD), 2003.
SIDELIGHTS: As executive director of the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, Jennifer B. Goodman has been involved in historic preservation projects that protect and maintain buildings and other community resources that represent the traditions of that state. Goodman also addressed the more specific role of women in historic preservation as editor, with Gail Lee Dubrow, of Restoring Women's History through Historic Preservation. The volume is a collection of essays that originated with several National Conferences on Women and Historic Preservation that were held between 1994 and 2000. Goodman and Dubrow, who teaches at the University of Washington, organized the essays by theme, including, in the first section, "Documenting the History of Women in Preservation," the participation of women in historic preservation. Noted are Ann Pamela Cunningham's efforts to save Mount Vernon and the activities of the Garden Club of America in preserving important sites. The second section, "Revisiting Women's Lives at Historic Houses and Museums," examines the lives of the women who lived and, in the case of servants, worked in historic homes and other buildings.
Charlene Mires noted in Winterthur Portfolio that 'in the book's third section, cases of historical detection work are presented under the heading 'Claiming New Space for Women in the Built Environment and Cultural Landscape,' with the authors discerning previously underappreciated women's histories in physical environments." "Exemplary Projects" contains progress reports on various projects, and "Toward an Inclusive Agenda for Preservation Policy and Practice" puts forth the initiatives that should be pursued in order to meet the collective goals of those historians who focus on women's history. Women's Review of Books critic Martha Norkunas wrote that "most of the essays are concerned with rethinking the interpretation at historic sites and museums so that women's roles become central to the story. At the heart of the book is the argument that placing women's experiences at the core of the historical record will redefine the basic narrative of American history."
BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
Choice, December, 2003, review of Restoring Women's History through Historic Preservation, p. 774.
Journal of the American Planning Association, spring, 2004, Daphne Spain, review of Restoring Women's History through Historic Preservation, p. 243.
Planning, October, 2003, Harold Henderson, review of Restoring Women's History through Historic Preservation, p. 49.
Public Historian, fall, 2004, Anne M. Valk, review of Restoring Women's History through Historic Preservation, p. 119.
Winterthur Portfolio, winter, 2003, Charlene Mires, review of Restoring Women's History through Historic Preservation, p. 263.
ONLINE
History Cooperative Web site, http://www.historycooperative.org/ (January 5, 2006), Bonnie Stepenoff, review of Restoring Women's History through Historic Preservation.
New Hampshire Preservation Alliance Web site, http://www.nhpreservation.org/ (January 5, 2006).
Women's Review of Books Online, http://www.wellesley.edu/ (February 7, 2006), Martha Norkunas, review of Restoring Women's History through Historic Preservation.