Watch ONLINE via ZOOM from the safety and comfort of your home. A link with instructions will be provided three hours prior to this virtual lecture. 

Ed Bacon and Oskar Stonorov – Two Masters Who Found Their Inspiration in Chester County 

presented by James Garrison

Ed Bacon, the renowned city planner, and architect Oskar Stonorov, the architect who sought to realize the social promises of modern architecture, had careers and families deeply intertwined with each other.

The story begins a generation before.  Ellis Bacon, Ed’s father, was a secondary school classmate with Frank Foster, who would become the father-in-law of Oskar Stonorov.  Ed Bacon and Oskar Stonorov both wed in 1938.  The contributions of their wives to the creative milieu cannot be overstated since each had interests and activities which created the synergy between the design thinking and progressive social reforms.  

The ideas for improved workers’ housing and education, along with community and city planning spawned in Chester County the late 1930’s would go on to have international significance over the next thirty years and impacts well after that.  The strands that make up the fabric of this story are interwoven in the family stories of these two couples and their formative time in rural Chester County where the core environment is little changed over the past 80 years.  This presentation will look at the places, buildings and people in the Middle Pickering National Register Historic District who were fundamental to the story of progressive modernism.

James Garrison is an architect and author with over forty years in the profession and several books to his credit.  The majority of his professional work has been in historic preservation, adaptive re-use and new buildings designed in traditional styles.  His interest in architectural design and building technology also informs his writing and lecturing on architecture.  Recent books include a survey of early 20th century houses in the Philadelphia region and a pictorial monograph about houses of southeastern Pennsylvania designed in traditional styles.  While now working in corporate facilities real estate in suburban Philadelphia, he also continues to be active in local and regional preservation matters while writing and lecturing.

$15 | General Admission

$10 | Alliance Member 

Students with ID or individuals with financial difficulties free with email to vcheng@preservationalliance.com