Virginia Savage McAlester (May 13, 1943 – April 9, 2020) was an American

architectural historian An architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it. Professional requirements As many architectural historians are employed at universities and other facilities ...

Research

McAlester is best known for her book ''A Field Guide to American Houses''. She first published the book in 1984 with Lee McAlester, her second husband, and published an updated and revised version in 2013. The book proposes a detailed guide to architectural styles in housing across the United States. It uses both line drawings (of structures, façades and decorations) and photos and is credited with supporting preservation efforts in several American cities. ''A Field Guide to American Houses'' was listed as one of the ten most outstanding reference books of the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

in 1984.

Activism

McAlester helped found a non-profit aimed at historic architecture preservation, first named Historic Preservation League, then Preservation Dallas. This organization was instrumental in founding the first historic district of Dallas, Swiss Avenue, in 1973. She was also a strong advocate for the conservation of the buildings in

Fair Park Fair Park is a recreational and educational complex in Dallas, Texas, United States, located immediately east of downtown. The area is registered as a Dallas Landmark and National Historic Landmark; many of the buildings were constructed for th ...

, site of the

Texas Centennial Exposition The Texas Centennial Exposition was a world's fair presented from June 6 to November 29, 1936, at Fair Park, Dallas, Texas. A celebration of the 100th anniversary of Texas's independence from Mexico in 1836, it also celebrated Texas and Western Am ...

of 1936.

Personal life

McAlester was the mother of Amy Virginia Talkington. Her father was Wallace Savage, mayor of Dallas from 1949 to 1951. She died in Dallas on April 9, 2020, at the age of 76 from complications of a 2013 stem cell transplant to treat

myelofibrosis Primary myelofibrosis (PMF) is a rare bone marrow blood cancer. It is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a type of myeloproliferative neoplasm, a group of cancers in which there is growth of abnormal cells in the bone marrow. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAlester, Virginia Savage 1943 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American architectural historians Writers from Dallas Historians from Texas