Indiana Preservationist 1991

              ~Wf
Carolyn Pitts:
preservation's
caped crusader
Mark Dollase, Director
Southern Regional Office
In the beginning, Carolyn Pitts wasn't
sure she wanted to work for the
National Park Service. After all, it was
nice to be freelancing after a rewarding
20-year career as a professor with St.
Joseph's College and Temple University
in Philadelphia. Did she really want to
become a federal bureaucrat?
Sixteen years later, it is clear that
Carolyn Pitts made the right decision.
Her honest dedication to preservation
and unorthodox methods recently
earned her a feature article in TIME
magazine. The article painted her as a
preservation rebel who sometimes
champions buildings that others see as
dilapidated lost causes, one who pleads
the case of structures more traditional
preservationists might raise their
eyebrows at—like "Lucy" the Margate
Elephant, an elephant-shaped hotel in
New Jersey constructed during the era
of Victorian folly.
As the National Park Service's
architectural historian, her job is to
nominate nationally significant sites and
structures to the exclusive list of
National Historic Landmarks (NHL).
Only seventeen of Indiana's National
Register-listed properties are NHLs.
However, after a recent visit by Pitts to
the Hoosier state, there may be three
more properties soon added to that list.
A local group, Historic Cannelton,
initially contacted Pitts. As owners of
the Cannelton Cotton Mill, the group
feels that, both architecturally and historically, the Mill merits the most
Lanier's vision
of grandeur on
the Ohio River
Richard A. Gante, Director
Indiana Division of State Museums & Historic Sites
In Madison, a city renowned for fine
expressions of nineteenth-century
architecture, the James F. D. Lanier
Mansion is one of the finest examples
of the Greek Revival style of architecture in the Midwest.
Placed on a ridge looking toward the
Ohio River, the Greek temple facade is
topped with a cupola. Architect Francis
Costigan's attention to the classical
details make the Lanier Mansion an
especially fine example of that design.
Lanier originally came with his
parents from North Carolina to Madison
in 1817. He became an important figure
in local business and politics. The grand
scale of his house when it was completed in 1844 affirmed his standing in
the community. Although Lanier lived in
the house only seven years before
moving to New York, he maintained an
interest in Indiana. In 1863, when it
INDIANA
#1     fanuary-February 1991
▲ Designed by prominent architect
Thomas Tefft and completed in 1849,
the Lombard Romanesque mill's design
was obviously influenced by Tefft's
travels through Italy. The twin spires
and severe symmetry give this early industrial building an aesthetic appeal
lacking in most of today's factories.
'What I cherish the most about my
job is the contact I have with preservationists that are making a difference on
the local level every day, " says Pitts
(right). (Photo: Daniel Levy)
elevated landmark status. The twin-
towered Ohio River building has been
listed in the National Register since
1975.
Historic Cannelton and Historic
Landmarks Foundation of Indiana
arranged a site visit by Pitts to have a
look at the Mill's NHL eligibility. "The
quality of the building really surprised
me," she commented later. "It is very
sophisticated. We have to remember
that in the late 1840s, Indiana was still
somewhat of a frontier state."
One of the most interesting and
challenging facets of her job, Pitts says,
is offering some assistance to a local
group when a NHL-eligible building is
facing a "preservation emergency." She
told Historic Cannelton members, "You
just have to get as tenacious as the devil
and generate publicity that this isn't a
dead whale, but that it's a useful
community building."
It remains to be seen whether or not
Pitts' belief in the Mill's value will make
the difference. The people of Cannelton
are keeping their fingers crossed,
anxiously waiting for the Mill's NHL
recommendation to make its way
through the channels of bureacracy.
Pitts also traveled to Madison during
her visit to Indiana, and plans to
nominate two of Madison's finest Greek
Revival style homes as NHLs:   the 1846
Shrewsbury House, and the 1844 Lanier
Mansion State Historic Site.
So how has Pitts fared as part of the
bureaucracy?  "By the skin of my
teeth," she says laughingly. "Sometimes
my unorthodox methods to see that
buildings are preserved don't sit too
well with others, but, if it gets the job
done..." Unorthodox at times, maybe,
but Carolyn Pitts is unquestionbly a
preservationist. She is a rebel with a
cause.
appeared that a power struggle between the Democratic General Assembly and Republican Governor Oliver P.
Morton threatened Indiana's continued
participation in the Civil War, he
advanced Morton over a half a million
dollars so that the state could continue
to operate.
M Noted for its Greek Revival exterior,
the Lanier Mansion has much to offer
inside, too. One of the most outstanding
interior features is a circular stair that
curves up through the mansion's three
stories. (Photo courtesy of Indiana State
Museum)
After Lanier left Indiana for New
York, ownership of the property passed
to his son Alexander, and remained in
the family until 1925, when the Lanier
family donated the property to the State
of Indiana. It is now operated by the
Indiana Division of State Museums and
Historic Sites and is open to the public.
People who have not visited the
mansion in the last five years may be
surprised to see several changes. The
most noticeable change may be the
exterior. When the state acquired the
property, the house was painted white.
Historic photographs indicated that the
structure was originally painted in
shades of grey, which now color the
house's exterior. Other projects, like
ongoing interior restorations and the
recreation of a recently discovered
long-vanished garden, will ensure that
the mansion continues to reflect Lanier's
vision of grandeur.
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