![[logo]](http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/logos/APLlogo.jpg)
Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History
Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History© 2019 Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History
Heather Crocetto
The collection is open for research.
There are no restrictions.
Gail Baker Collected Materials, Collection # RG 346, Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History
Donated by Gail Baker between 1994 and 2018.
Gail Baker was born and raised in Arlington, Virginia. She grew up in Dominion Hills, attending McKinley Elementary School, Kenmore Middle School, and Washington-Lee High School. In 1994, Baker received a degree in Historic Preservation from Mary Washington College. Baker served on the Arlington County Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board from 1986-1996, serving as chairman for her final two terms. She helped establish Arlington County's first preservation advocacy group, the Arlington Heritage Alliance, and served as Chairman from 1998-2000. Baker successfully lobbied for the Arlington County Board to institute a Neighborhood Historic District program leading to the designation of Maywood, the county's first multi-property, multi-owner historic district. She wrote numerous guides, outreach pamphlets, and articles on preservation and planned and ran preservation training workshops for Arlington's Architectural Review Board. In addition, Baker prepared successful National Register nominations for Carlin Hall, Fairlington, Holmes Run Acres, and Lost River General Store.
The Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB) was created under the Zoning Ordinance in 1976 to advise the Arlington County Board on historic preservation matters. HALRB consists of a 15-member board appointed for four-year terms by the Arlington County Board. The board nominates properties for local and national historic designation and reviews construction and development plans for locally designated Arlington historic districts.
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)was created by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA) and is the United States' official list of buildings, sites, districts, structures, and objects worthy of preservation. Designation to the NRHP is evaluated under four categories of historical significance: event, person, architecture, and information potential-the majority of properties are considered significant under one or more of the first three categories. Designation on the National Register does not legally protect a site, but it does provide property owners tax incentives and the opportunity to apply for various grants. As of October 2018, Arlington County has 65 properties listed on the National Register.
RG 346 is a collection of Gail Baker's papers relating to her activities with the Arlington County preservation community. Materials date 1938-2002, with the bulk of the materials dating 1980-2000. The collection is 15.22 linear feet, not including oversize material.
Series 1 holds materials related to historical buildings in Arlington County. These materials include newspaper articles, historical maps and research, and HALRB official documentation and correspondence. Some files in this collection hold only one or two items, while others contain a swath of materials. Files on Arna Valley, Brown-Crossman, Doubleday, Lomax A.M.E. Zion Church, and Walker Chapel contain photographs.
In addition to Historic Landmark and National Register official forms and correspondence, Subseries 1, Carlin Hall , holds photographs and photo negatives of Carlin Hall, as well as extensive research into the history of Carlin Hall. Gail Baker researched and wrote the National Register nomination for Carlin Hall as part of a preservation course at Mary Washington University (then Mary Washington College), which likely accounts for the expanded records on Carlin Hall in comparison to the other historical buildings in this collection, which are found in Subseries 2, Other Historic Buildings .
Series 2 holds materials related to two historic districts: Columbia Pike and Buckingham Village. Subseries 1, Columbia Pike primarily holds studies of the district and revitalization plans, while Subseries 2, Buckingham Village primarily holds correspondence about renovation plans and architectural plans.
Series 3, Historical Sites Surveys and Reports contains surveys and reports on various Arlington County neighborhoods and historic sites. The surveys and reports relate to the land use, history, and archeology of the sites.
Series 4, County Development and Preservation Plans contains surveys and reports on County-wide development plans and initiatives. The reports either originate from an official Arlington County office or a County Task Force. Most materials in this series relate to County development projects and reports, but two County-wide preservation plans are also included.
Series 5, Administrative Materials and Regulations , contains a wide variety of materials related to the Historic Landmark Review Board's work. There are materials that relate to HALRB's outreach including events and pamphlets, as well as materials related to policies that affect historic preservation efforts such as zoning codes and demolition penalties. This series holds HALRB Annual Reports between 1986 and 1992, as well as materials related to the organizations budget, by-laws, and hiring. File 27, Photographic Records of Development Sites, 1985, 1988-1990, does not contain any photographs. Instead, the file holds Arlington County correspondence regarding County photo-documentation of development sites. File 12 contains a photo from the National Historic Preservation Week and a photo from the Boundary Stones Proclamation and File 15 contains three photographs of garden apartments form across the County.
Series 6, Newspapers , contains various newspaper clippings related to preservation and history in Arlington County. There are a few clippings on preservation and history in surrounding areas, as well. S eries 7, Neighborhood Historic District Program , contains Neighborhood Historic District documentation.
Series 8, Robert McAtee Research , contains newspaper clippings, photographs, and articles related to Robert McAtee's research into Arlington's history and particularly his research on Maywood and Cherrydale. These materials were given to Gail Baker by Robert McAtee for her own research.
This collection has five series, with the first two series each split into two subseries. Series 1 holds materials related to historical buildings in Arlington County. Subseries 1, Carlin Hall , is arranged chronologically with undated material at the end arranged by subject matter. All folder titles were created by the archivist. Subseries 2, Other Historic Buildings , is arranged alphabetically and labeled in the manner it was received; portions of folder titles in brackets ([]) have been added by the archivist for clarification.
Series 2, Historical Districts and Neighborhoods , is split into two subseries: Subseries 1, Columbia Pike , and Subseries 2, Buckingham Village . Both are arranged chronologically and any folders labeled by Gail Baker are put into quotes (""); otherwise, the archivist created folder titles for this series.
Series 3 is arranged alphabetically by folder title and Series 4 is arranged chronologically. Folder titles in these series were created by the archivist; folders labeled by Gail Baker are put into quotes (""). Series 5 is arranged alphabetically, and folders are labeled in the manner they were received; portions of folder titles in brackets ([]) and dates after the comma have been added by the archivist for clarification.
Series 6-8 are arranged based on original folder structure. Folders labeled by Gail Baker are put into quotes (""); otherwise, the archivist created folder titles for these series.
There are oversized materials in this collection, which have been moved to appropriate housing. Separation sheets have been added to mark their original placement. An asterisk (*) at the end of the folder title denotes oversize materials found in this location.
Researchers can find related information in RG 22, Arlington County Historical Boards and Commissions , RG 30, Historic Neighborhood and Building Reports , RG 120A Fairlington Historic District , RG 126 Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization Records , RG 130 Arlington County Planning Commission Records , and RG 175 Records of Arlington Heritage Alliance .