Agnes Addison Gilchrist was born on December 25, 1907 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended Wellesley College where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Art in 1930, and the University of Pennsylvania where she earned a master’s degree in Medieval History in 1933 and a doctorate in Modern History in 1938.
Gilchrist was the recipient of two Carnegie Scholarships: one for study at the Sorbonne in 1935 and one for study at Harvard University in 1940. She earned a Brevet d’Art de la Sorbonne at the Institute d’Art et d’Archeologie in Paris (1934), as well as a Certificate of Art from the Courtauld Institute in London (1936) for her study of Medieval Art.
Gilchrist was an Instructor at the School of Fine Arts from 1934-1941, and later an assistant instructor in the History Department at the University of Pennsylvania. She also served as an adjunct professor of art history at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in Virginia and as a lecturer in art history at New York University from 1948-1949. Following her career in academia, Gilchrist was the first architectural historian employed by the National Parks Service (1957-1958), hired to revive the Historic American Buildings Newsletter. From 1959-1960, she was hired by Sleepy Hollow Restorations in Tarrytown, New York as an architectural researcher in the Netherlands.
From 1962-1964, Gilchrist was a researcher for the newly-formed New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. After this venture, she founded and presided over the Mount Vernon Landmarks and Historical Society in 1964 in Mount Vernon, New York. Finally, in 1966, she was hired as a researcher by the National Portrait Gallery where she worked until 1967, when she retired.
Gilchrist was one of the founding members of the Society of Architectural Historians in 1940, and throughout the next two decades she held a variety of offices there. She was equally involved in New York City’s Municipal Art Society and held many positions during her tenure, most notably Chairman of the Committee on Historic Architecture from 1953 to 1955, and Chairman of the Architectural Research Committee from late 1955 to 1956.
Some of Gilchrist’s academic publications include: Romanticism and the Gothic Revival (1938 and 1967), Catalogue of Portraits in the University of Pennsylvania (1940), William Strickland, Architect and Engineer, 1788 – 1854 (1950), as well as articles for the Journal for the Society of Architectural Historians, the American Journal of Archeology, The New York Times, Arts in Philadelphia, Paranassus, The American-German Review, and the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Gilchrist was also the author of a one-act comedy entitled “A Dish of Tea” in 1953, and “The Love Doctor” in 1954. Gilchrist is listed in the Dictionary of American Scholars, Who’s Who in American Art, and Who’s Who of American Women.
Gilchrist was active in the 1950s and early 1960s movement to take stock of New York City’s historic structures and garner support for their preservation. Her expertise and innovation were essential to the process that enabled the protection of the City’s landmarks to become a reality.
Gilchrist was frequently vocal for what she saw as New York City’s need for legislation to protect its historic architecture and often advocated for more public support. In a letter to the editor of The New York Times from 1955, Gilchrist writes:
“Why do we pay no attention to our architectural heritage until some particular building is about to be pulled down and then make a great fuss when it is too late? . . . This is a plea to New Yorkers that they assess their buildings of merit and make sure that they will not be destroyed.”
Gilchrist’s research for the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, beginning in 1962, provided the intellectual foundation that led to the Commission’s earliest official designations and secured her beloved buildings a permanent place in the City’s cultural patrimony.
After dedicating many years to documenting and advocating for the preservation of New York City’s architectural legacy, Gilchrist died in 1976 at her home in Woods Hole, Massachusetts at the age of 68.
https://www.nypap.org/preservation-history/agnes-addison-gilchrist/