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Book by Connecticut College professor wins Abbott Lowell Cummings Award

May 22, 2008

Abigail Van Slyck, the Dayton Professor of Art History and chair of the Department of Art History and Architectural Studies at Connecticut College, has been awarded the Abbott Lowell Cummings Award from the Vernacular Architecture Forum for her book, "A Manufactured Wilderness: Summer Camps and the Shaping of American Youth, 1890-1960."

The Abbott Lowell Cummings Prize, named for one of the founders of the Vernacular Architecture Forum, is awarded annually to the publication that has made a significant contribution to the study of the vernacular architecture and landscapes of North America. The award was presented to Van Slyck at the Vernacular Architecture Forum´s annual meeting May 10 in Fresno, Calif.

"I am deeply honored by this recognition from the Vernacular Architecture Forum, whose members include some of the most innovative scholars in the field," Van Slyck said. "Their work has inspired me, even as their friendship and intellectual support have deepened my own commitment to the study of everyday environments."

In "A Manufactured Wilderness," published in 2006 by the University of Minnesota Press, Van Slyck examines the intersections of the natural landscape with human-built forms and social activities. In particular, she addresses changing attitudes toward such subjects as children´s health, sanitation, play, relationships between the sexes, Native American culture and evolving ideas about childhood.

"Beautifully written and thoroughly illustrated, the book covers the historical and ideological origins of summer camps and their development," J. Ritchie Garrison, chair of the Abbott Lowell Cummings Prize Committee, said. "For many of us, it is a journey to a past we remember with a sense of nostalgia, yet Professor Van Slyck reminds us of how complicated these institutions were. This book is an important contribution to the history of the family, and to our field."

Van Slyck has been a professor at Connecticut College since 1999 and directs the Architectural Studies Program. Van Slyck´s research focuses on American architecture of the 19th and 20th centuries, with particular attention to commonplace building types constructed to house influential social institutions. She is also an expert on the history of Carnegie libraries. In 2006, Van Slyck earned a Leadership in History Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History and an Award of Merit from the Connecticut League of History Organizations (CLHO) for an exhibition she spearheaded and created with students: "Commerce and Culture: Architecture and Society on New London´s State Street" at New London´s Lyman Allyn Art Museum. The exhibition documented the architectural and social development of New London´s major commercial avenue, and grew out of a project in Van Slyck´s senior seminar.

Among the most selective private liberal arts colleges in the nation, Connecticut College enrolls 1,900 men and women from 41 states, the District of Columbia and 71 countries. The college is known for putting the liberal arts into action through interdisciplinary studies, international programs, funded internships, student-faculty research and service learning. Founded in 1911, the college operates under an 86-year-old honor code. The college is located at 270 Mohegan Ave, New London, about two hours by car from Boston and New York. The 750-acre campus is an arboretum overlooking Long Island Sound. For more information, visit www.connecticutcollege.edu.

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For more information contact: Amy Martin (860) 439-2526; a.martin@conncoll.edu