Fitch, James Marston

Fitch, James Marston (1909–  ) architectural preservationist, historian; born in Washington, D.C. Trained as an architect at Tulane, he moved to New York City, where, working as an architectural editor (1936–53), he embraced modernism but developed an interest in the social concerns of architecture. His early support of "progressive" urban renewal gave way in the late 1940s to a commitment to historical preservation. He taught at Columbia University (1954–77), where in 1964 he founded the nation's first historic preservation program. At the same time Fitch published widely and influentially on historic preservation and American buildings; his works included American Building: The Environmental Forces that Shape It (1947) and Architecture and the Aesthetics of Plenty (1961). After his retirement from Columbia he became director of historic preservation at the architectural firm of Beyer Blinder Belle, New York (1979), where recent projects have included the renovation of Ellis Island.