Anne St. Clair Wright (1910 – 1993) was an American historic preservationist. A central figure in the foundation, in 1952, of Historic Annapolis Incorporated (currentl
Historic Annapolis Foundation
, she served four terms as president and as chairman emeritus of the board. She was responsible for the preservation of the historic center of the city of

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

. Her preservation work, advocacy and achievements inspired many preservation movements around the United States. She is considered a leading 20th-century American preservationist. Among many civic offices, she served as the director of the Society for the Preservation of Maryland Antiquities; chairman of the board of

Preservation Action Preservation Action is an American 501(c)4 non-profit historic preservation advocacy organization. Preservation Action was created in 1974 to serve as the national grassroots lobby for historic preservation. The organization seeks to make historic ...

; was a member of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Advisory Committee of the

U.S. National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properties ...

; director of the Southern Garden History Society; and a director of the Nature Conservancy.

Preservation of Annapolis

Under her leadership, and using an innovative

revolving fund A revolving fund is a fund or account that remains available to finance an organization's continuing operations without any fiscal year limitation, because the organization replenishes the fund by repaying money used from the account. Revolving fu ...

approach, Historic Annapolis Inc. was able to restore more than 30 buildings of all types from the mansions of the elite to the homes and businesses of common citizens throughout the 18th-century core of the city of Annapolis as well as working to restore and preserve the historic street-scapes of the city. Rescued and restored buildings include the house of

Charles Carroll the Barrister Charles Carroll (22 March 1723 – 23 March 1783) was an American statesman from Annapolis, Maryland. He was the builder of the Baltimore Colonial home Mount Clare (Maryland), Mount Clare (1760), and a delegate to the Second Continental Con ...

which was moved to the campus of St. Johns College in 1955; the Shiplap house restored starting in 1957, Reynolds Tavern, 163 Duke of Gloucester Street, Pinkney Street, and the house of William Paca, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, whose house and garden stood on Prince George Street in Annapolis. The house was returned to its 18th-century state and the garden were restored using archeological evidence as well as Paca’s contemporary writings. The Paca House and Garden are now open to the public. She was instrumental in saving the Annapolis Market House from demolition in 1969. In 1965, Stuart Udall, the US Secretary of the Interior, designated the downtown Annapolis a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

as a Registered National Historic Landmark In 1982 she help initiate the 'Archaeology in Annapolis' program. The papers related to her work with Historic Annapolis are held in the University of Maryland Archives.

Biography

Wright was born in 1910 in

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

, the daughter of U.S. naval officer Arthur St. Clair Smith and Anna Lena Salley. She lived in Annapolis, France, China, Panama, and Japan during her childhood. While living in Beijing as a girl, she attended the Peking American School as a member of the class of 1928. She was a graduate of Mary Baldwin College (

Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities a ...

) and the Maryland Institute College of Art (Baltimore, Maryland), where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1932. In 1932 she married Joseph Martin Pickett Wright, U.S. naval officer, in Panama. During the 1930s she worked as a muralist and ceramicist in Maryland and Washington D.C. Her family settled in Annapolis just prior to the Second World War. She raised three sons, two of whom became officers in the United States Navy, and one of whom is Henry Tutwiler Wright, a professor of anthropology. Throughout her life she was a passionate gardener. At the time of her death in 1993, she was still engaged in preservation action in Annapolis and the United States.

Awards

* Maryland Woman's Hall of Fame, 2009 * James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation’s first grant award, 1990 * Honorary Degree of Doctor of Public Service from the University of Maryland, 1985 * The Phoenix Award from the Society of American Travel Writers, 1985 * Garden Club of America Historic Preservation Medal, 1983 * Citation from the Maryland House of Delegates for Outstanding Service in the Field of Preservation, 1979 * Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Towson State University, 1975 * Calvert Award from the Maryland Historical Trust, 1975 * Historic Preservation Award from the Federated Garden Clubs of America, 1970
Louise duPont Crowninshield
Award from the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...

, 1968 * American Institute of Architects, Chesapeake Bay Chapter, Award for Distinguished Work in Historic Preservation, 1968 * Certificate of Distinguished Citizenship, Maryland, 1965.

References

External links

St. Clair Wright Official Website

'The Unsinkable St.Clair Wright', What's Up Annapolis' December 2015 profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Anne St Clair 1910 births 1993 deaths Maryland Institute College of Art alumni Mary Baldwin University alumni People from Newport News, Virginia American ceramists American muralists American activists People from Annapolis, Maryland 20th-century American painters 20th-century ceramists