Gutheim, Frederick Albert, 1908-1993

Frederick Albert Gutheim (1908-1993) was a city planner, urban historian and architectural critic, and professor at The George Washington University from 1971-79, and director of the University's graduate program in historic preservation from 1976-79. Mr. Guthheim was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on March 3, 1908. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1931 from the University of Wisconsin. He continued his studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Urbaines, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the University of Heidelberg. From 1933 to 1936 he studied at the University of Chicago. Gutheim was a junior staff member of the Institute for Government Research at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. He became an adjunct professor of American History and Civilization, urban and regional planning at George Washington University in 1971. He served on the U.S. Capitol Master Plan Group, the President's Commission, the AIA Interior Department Task Force on the Potomac and as a member of many federal and local planning bodies concerned with the city and the region.He attended the third conference of the Planning History Group in Dublin, Ireland in 1982, and participated in a traveling seminar at the invitation of the Architecture Society of the People's Republic of China. In addition, he gave the Honor's Day Address to the Clemson University School of Architecture on April 10, 1983, and received an award of merit from the American Association for State and Local History for his achievement as initiator and chairman of the Sugarloaf Regional Trails. Gutheim's writing career began in 1931 when he became a contributing editor for the American Magazine of Art. In 1948, he became the first architectural writer for the New York Herald Tribune. He later became an architectural critic for The Washington Post and advisory editor for Washingtonian magazine. His articles have appeared in numerous national magazines, such as Nation, Harper's, and Saturday Review. He received a decoration from the President of Finland in 1974 for bringing that country's new town of Tapiola to the attention of the American public. Dr. Fritz, as he was sometimes called, wrote extensively on architectural subjects and "Washington History: Housing As Environment" (1953); "The Potomac" (1949); "Planning Washington: 1924-1976" (1976); and "Worthy of the Nation: The History of Planning for the National Capital" (1977), to name a few. Gutheim married Mary Pardon on June 8, 1935 and they had one son. Dr. Gutheim died October 2, 1993 in Washington, D.C. There are no copyright or literary rights restrictions on it. Note also that an oral history done with Mr. Gutheim in 1977 can be found in MS0371, and other papers of his reside in the Special Collections Department. Other manuscripts can be found at the University of Wyoming. See also an article in "Washington History" magazine (call number F191.C72; v.10:1)N.B. This history note was written in 2005

Frederick Albert Gutheim (1908-1993) was a writer and consultant on conservation, urban planning, and historic preservation. He was a staff writer on the New York Herald Tribune, the executive director of the American Institute of Architects, and founder of the Washington Center for Metropolitan Studies. Gutheim served the U.S. Army in the National Housing Agency in World War II and worked with Catherine Bauer at the U.S. Housing Authority as the assistant director of the Division of Research and Information, where he wrote portions of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act. Under the auspices of several private consulting businesses, among them Galaxy, Inc., and Gutheim, Seelig, Erickson, Gutheim advised organizations like the United Nations, the Canadian government, and the city of Newport, Rhode Island. As an activist, Gutheim established Sugarloaf Regional Trails in 1974 as a non-profit organization dedicated to historic preservation and land conservation. He served as a trustee of the Accokeek Foundation and was instrumental in the opening of the National Colonial Farm, which was active in preserving native agricultural practices. He served on an array of historic preservation and planning boards from 1950 to his death in 1993.

Frederick Gutheim was born on March 3, 1908, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was raised in Washington, D.C., where he attended Sidwell Friends School and later Dr. Devitt’s Preparatory School. He earned a degree from the Experimental College of the University of Wisconsin in 1931 and pursued graduate study at the University of Chicago. His early association with mentors like John Gaus and Lewis Mumford lead him to the study of urban and regional planning. Gutheim pursued this interest as a bureaucrat, a writer and academic, a practitioner, and as an activist.

Gutheim became professionally acquainted with housing and planning policy while a staff member at the Brookings Institution. Between 1933 and 1947, he worked for federal agencies involved with housing and planning, serving the U.S. Army in the National Housing Agency during World War II. During this period, he also married Mary “Polly” Purdon, in 1935. He worked closely with Catherine Bauer at the U.S. Housing Authority as the assistant director of the Division of Research and Information. In 1933, he wrote portions of the TVA Act concerning planning.

Gutheim may be best known as a writer and a teacher. He was a staff writer on architecture and planning for the New York Herald Tribune between 1947 and 1949. He published The Potomac in 1949, a classic example of regionally-focussed environmental history. Over the course of his career, Gutheim wrote and edited for numerous magazines and journals including the Magazine of Art and the journal of the American Institute of Architects. He founded the Washington Center for Metropolitan Studies as well as the historic preservation program at George Washington University. He advised and taught at the university from 1975, when he established the program, up to the time of his death.

Gutheim used his knowledge of bureaucracy and his academic prowess in a series of private consulting businesses, among them Galaxy, Inc., and Gutheim, Seelig, Erickson. Under the auspices of these firms, he advised organizations like the United Nations, the Canadian government, and the city of Newport, Rhode Island.

As an activist, Gutheim sought to protect the integrity of the landscape surrounding his home in Montgomery County, Maryland. In 1974, he established Sugarloaf Regional Trails, a non-profit organization dedicated to historic preservation and land conservation. He served as a trustee of the Accokeek foundation and was instrumental in the opening of the National Colonial Farm, which was active in preserving native agricultural practices. He served on an array of historic preservation and planning boards from 1950 until his death in 1993. Gutheim perceived himself to be a catalyst for change, whose work in the background made the more apparent success of others possible.