The Evanston History Center has announced the fall topics for its popular “Under the Buffalo” series of lectures.
The series, so named because the speaker literally stands beneath a mounted Buffalo head in the grand entrance area of the historic Dawes House at 225 Greenwood St., will feature three lectures pertaining to Evanston’s nearly 150-year history.
“A Poem in Brick & Stone,” scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 13, will be a close-up look at the preservation of the house that once was the residence of former U.S. Vice President Charles Gates Dawes.
The lecturer will be Kris Hartzell, director of facilities and visitor services at the Center. She will explore preservation projects under way and planned for the National Historic Landmark structure.
“Historic Structures & Green Technology: Renewal from the Ground Up” is the topic for the October 11 lecture by Mark E. Nussbaum, a mechanical engineer who specializes in the adaptive reuse of historic buildings.
He will examine the pitfalls and solutions for designing modern, sustainable mechanical systems, such as geo-thermal heating and cooling, while maintaining the building’s historical significance.
The final lecture in the fall series, scheduled for November 8, is titled “Bedrooms, Bathrooms & Boudoirs” by Janet C. Messmer, costume curator and professor at DePaul University in Chicago.
She will show how people’s private lives were shaped and transformed by technology, new materials, and social change, including changing sleep and hygiene habits and the introduction of modern comfort and convenience items.
All lectures will begin at 7 p.m. and are free to EHC members and $10 per event for non-members.
A reception catered by Whole Foods Market Evanston South will precede each lecture, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Reservations for the lectures are recommended by calling the Center at (847) 475-3410.