Wright, Anne St. Clair, 1910-1993

Anne St. Clair Smith Wright; born 7 June 1910 in Newport News, Va.; died 18 September 1993 in Annapolis, Md. Preservationist and gardener.

Anne St. Clair Wright was born in 1910 in Newport News, Virginia. As a child of a Navy family, she spent her youth in many different countries. She first came to Annapolis in 1912 and stayed there until 1914, when the family began a long period of traveling. After high school in North Carolina, Wright attended Mary Baldwin College in Virginia and received a B.A. from the Maryland Institute of Fine Arts in Baltimore in 1932. She married Navy Captain Joseph Martin Pickett Wright in 1932 in Panama and permanently settled in Annapolis in 1953 when Captain Wright retired from the Navy.

As a leading founder of Historic Annapolis, Inc. in 1952 (now Historic Annapolis Foundation), she was the first to advocate for the preservation of an entire historic district instead of a specific historic property or site. As a result of Wright’s activism, downtown Annapolis was designated as a Historic District and a Registered National Landmark by Stewart Udall, secretary of the interior, in 1965. Under Wright’s leadership, Historic Annapolis was able to restore more than 30 buildings of all types, from the mansions of the elite to the homes and businesses of common citizens, throughout the eighteenth-century core of the city. Her work with Historic Annapolis set important precedents for other preservationists interested in saving streetscapes, towns, and historic communities.

Wright devoted much of her work with Historic Annapolis to beautifying and preserving the historic landscape of the town. Her largest garden project was the archaeological excavation and restoration of the private garden of William Paca, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. She also managed the restoration of the William Paca House, the keystone project of Historic Annapolis, which began in 1970 with the aid of state and federal funding and private monies raised by Wright. Her other historic building projects in Annapolis included Brice House, Calvert Site, Clark’s Pond, Hancock’s Resolution, Jonas Green House, Reynold’s Tavern, Shiplap House, and many others.

Wright held numerous civic volunteer offices throughout her life, including: advisor for Maryland, National Trust for Historic Preservation; commissioner, Maryland Commission on the Capital City; director, Society for the Preservation of Maryland Antiquities; chairman of the Board, Preservation Action; member, Mid-Atlantic Regional Advisory Committee of the U.S. National Park Service; member, Committee of Twenty to establish goals and programs for the National Trust for Historic Preservation; director, Nature Conservancy; trustee, Maryland Environmental Trust; director, Southern Garden History Society; member at large, Garden Club of America; and member, Governor's Maryland Scenic Beauty Commission.

Wright’s pivotal contributions to historic preservation in Annapolis earned her national recognition for her dedication and activism in the field. She received many awards during her lifetime, including a citation for service in preservation by the Maryland House of Delegates and a distinguished citizen award by Maryland Governor, J. Millard Tawes, both in 1965; the Louise DuPont Crowninshield Award in 1968; an honorary doctoral degree from Towson State University in 1975 (one of the first in the nation for Preservation); Woman of the Year award in 1975 by the Maryland Colonial Society; an honorary degree as a doctor of public service from the University of Maryland in 1985; the Phoenix Award from the American Society of Travel Writers in 1985; in 1992 Family Circle Magazine featured her as one of the “Women Who Make A Difference.” In 1997, four years after Wright’s death, the University of Maryland established a graduate scholarship in Historic Preservation in her name. Wright’s passion for historic preservation is remembered annually at the St. Clair Wright Lecture Series held in Annapolis each spring.