Tatum, George B., 1917-2008

George B. Tatum (1917-2008) was a nationally recognized architectural historian with special interest in the history of gardens and American architecture, particularly in the Philadelphia area.

From the description of George B. Tatum papers. 1900-1940. (University of Delaware Library). WorldCat record id: 316230283

George B. Tatum (1917–2008) was a nationally recognized architectural historian with special interest in the history of gardens and American architecture, particularly in the Philadelphia area.

Tatum attended Princeton University before and after World War II, receiving his Ph.D. in Art History in 1950. As professor of the History of Art, Tatum taught at the University of Pennsylvania from 1948 to 1966, where he served as Vice-Dean of the School of Fine Arts and Chair of the Department of the History of Art. In 1966, Tatum joined the Art History faculty at the University of Delaware, where he was named H. Rodney Sharp Professor of Art History. Tatum remained at the University of Delaware until his retirement in 1978. After relocating to Chester, Connecticut, Tatum became an adjunct professor at Columbia University from 1979 to 1982. During the 1960s and 1970s, he chaired the advisory board of the Historic American Building Survey and served as President of the Society of Architectural Historians. Among his many accomplishments, Tatum wrote or co-authored several important books on Philadelphia architecture and landscape design, including Penn's Great Town: Two Hundred Fifty Years of Philadelphia Architecture in Prints and Drawings (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1961), and Philadelphia Georgian: the City House of Samuel Powel and Some of Its Eighteenth-Century Neighbors (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1976). Biographical information supplied by the University of Delaware, University Archives.

From the guide to the George B. Tatum papers, 1900–1940, (University of Delaware Library - Special Collections)