The Historic Preservation Education Foundation (HPEF) announces the donation of its Windows through Time exhibition materials to the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. and the National Building Arts Center in Sauget, Illinois.
The collection, which includes twenty-six historic windows and a number of exhibition-related display and mounting materials, was part of the traveling exhibition Windows through Time. The exhibition was first mounted in 1986 to accompany HPEF’s inaugural event, The Window Conference for Historic Buildings, at the Boston Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Boston, Massachusetts. Utilizing examples of windows created and installed in the United States from the 1630s to the 1950s, Windows through Time explored how changes to window production and use reflected major developments in craft, technology and aesthetic identity in the built environment throughout the United States.

Following its debut in Boston, the exhibition later traveled to Federal Hall in New York, New York, in 1989; the First Bank of the United States in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1989; the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., in 1990-1991; and the New York State Museum in Albany, New York, in 1993. It was last exhibited as part of the second HPEF-sponsored The Windows Conference and Exposition for Historic Buildings II in Washington, D.C., in 1997.

Returning to one of the exhibition’s venues, ten windows from the collection have been added to the National Building Museum’s collection in Washington, D.C. The selection includes a nineteenth-century Italianate residential double sash from St. Louis, Missouri; a hollow metal window with wire glass from the Gandy Belting Company in Baltimore, Maryland; and an early twentieth-century twenty-light steel sash from the Lippincott Press Building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "The National Building Museum was honored to receive a generous donation from the Historic Preservation Education Foundation last year, consisting of ten historic windows from the celebrated 'Windows Through Time' exhibition. This donation enriched our collection

with significant artifacts, each with a unique provenance,” said Aileen Fuchs, president and executive director of the National Building Museum. “We are particularly proud to feature two of these windows in our upcoming Visible Storage exhibition, where visitors can appreciate their historical and architectural significance firsthand."

The remaining collection, which includes many different examples of wood and metal sash for residential and commercial use, are now part of the National Building Arts Center in Sauget, Illinois. Executive Director Michael Allen remarked, “The donation of the window collection fills a major gap in the National Building Arts Center's collections, as before it arrived, we had only a handful of windows to attest to technology and style, and none from the eastern part of the United States. Our goal is to tell the full story of building arts, and that story cannot be told without including the ubiquitous—and useful—window.”

With this transfer of ownership, HPEF hopes that there will be a renewed interest in the study and appreciation of historic window production. Former HPEF President Marilyn Kaplan said, “The exhibit was created to communicate the history, development, and significance of historic windows—features that are among the most significant in defining each building’s historic character. Since the inaugural exhibit, HPEF has continued to promote the importance of retaining historic building materials and expanded our focus to support other organizations and institutions in meeting their educational and training goals.”

About HPEF:
For more than three decades, the Historic Preservation Education Foundation has provided educational opportunities and materials for the historic preservation community. As a privately funded non-profit organization, HPEF has hosted and sponsored over forty conferences, workshops, publications, and tours with local, national, and international partners to enhance public awareness and understanding of built heritage and encourage responsible historic preservation. To learn more about our organization, please visit: www.hpef.us.