Fitch, James Marston.

James Marston Fitch developed the academic field of historic preservation through his prolific career as a writer, architectural scholar, activist, and educator. Fitch was born in Washington, D.C., in 1909. He grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and attended the University of Alabama and Tulane in New Orleans. During the Depression he worked as a researcher at the Tennessee Planning Commission and as a low-cost housing analyst at the Federal Housing Authority. In 1936 he moved to New York City and began his career as an editor at Architectural Record, where he worked until joining the Air Force as a meteorologist in 1941. Following World War II, Fitch became an early proponent of the importance of the environment in architectural design while continuing his career in publishing at Architectural Forum (1945-1949) and House Beautiful (1949-1953). At House Beautiful he oversaw the Climate Control Research Project, which investigated environmental criteria for residential architecture.

From 1954 to 1977, Fitch served as a professor of architecture at the Graduate School of Architecture and Planning at Columbia University. At Columbia, Fitch founded the graduate program in restoration and preservation, which later became the masters program for historic preservation. He maintained close correspondence with many graduates of the program who went on to direct programs throughout the world to promote the preservation and study of historic architecture.

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