To commemorate SACRPH’s fortieth anniversary, in 2026 we created a bibliography of the society’s publications before the launch of the Journal of Planning History in 2001, digitized bound volumes of our early conference proceedings, and began conducting interviews with long-time SACRPH members about the history and evolution of our special organization. These materials are collected on this page.
Interviews (2026)
To mark SACRPH’s fortieth anniversary, newer members are interviewing long-time members about the history of the organization.
Eugenie Birch, First Past President 1986–90
Chris Silver, Past President 1991–92
Eric Sandweiss, Past President 2003–05
Conference Proceedings (1986–95)
The first six National Conferences on American Planning History were followed by bound proceedings, assembled, edited, and printed by Laurence C. Gerckens, published by SACRPH, and sold to members and libraries.
Proceedings of the First National Conference on American Planning History, Columbus, Ohio, March 13–15, 1986
Proceedings of the Second National Conference on American Planning History, Columbus, Ohio, September 24–26, 1987
Proceedings of the Third National Conference on American Planning History, Cincinnati, Ohio, Nov. 30–December 2, 1989
Proceedings of the Fourth National Conference on American Planning History and the Fifth International Conference of the Planning History Group, Richmond, Virginia, November 7–10, 1991
Proceedings of the Fifth National Conference on American Planning History, co-sponsored by the Urban History Association, the Chicago Historical Society, the Public Works Historical Society, and the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, University of Illinois, Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, November 18–21, 1993
Proceedings of the Sixth National Conference on American Planning History, Knoxville, Tennessee, October 12–15, 1995
Presidential Addresses (1989–)
Since our third meeting (1989) it’s been customary for the SACRPH president to deliver an address at the National Conference on Planning History (although many did not). Of those who did, several talks have been lost to time. Others are preserved only as abstracts or publications that grew out of the talk.
Christopher Silver, Past President 1991–92
John Bauman, Past President 2001–03
Eric Sandweiss, Past President 2003–05
Greg Hise, Past President 2005–07
Alison Isenberg, Past President 2009–11
Lawrence Vale, Past President 2011–13
Marta Gutman, Past President 2021–22
Planning History Present (1987–95)
SACRPH’s first newsletter series was published from 1987 to 1995.
Planning History Present vol. 1 (1987): issue no. 1; issue no. 2
Planning History Present vol. 2 (1988): issue no. 1
Planning History Present vol. 3 (1989): issue no. 1; issue no. 2
Planning History Present vol. 4 (1990): issue no. 1; issue no. 2
Planning History Present vol. 5 (1991): issue no. 1; issue no. 2
Planning History Present vol. 6 (1992): issue no. 1; issue no. 2
Planning History Present vol. 7 (1993): issue no. 1; issue no. 2
Planning History Present vol. 8 (1994): issue no. 1; issue no. 2
Planning History Present vol. 9 (1995): issue no. 1; issue no. 2
Planning History Studies (1996–98)
In 1996, the newsletter was renamed under the editorship of Robert Catlin and transformed into a proto-journal with research articles.
Planning History Studies vol. 10 (1996): no. 1, 2
Planning History Studies vol. 11, no. 1 (1997)
front and back matter (title page, editorial board, table of contents, announcement and program for Seventh National Conference on American Planning History, guide for contributing, SACRPH officers)
Richard Harris, “‘A Burp in Church’: Jacob L. Crane’s Vision of Aided Self-Help Housing”: 3–16
John R. Mullin and Kenneth Payne, “Thoughts on Edward Bellamy as City Planning: The Ordered Art of Geometry”: 17–29
Charles F. Casey-Leininger, “Planning, Community Control, and the Persistent Ghetto in Cincinnati, 1956–1980”: 31–37
Planning History Studies vol. 11, no. 2 (1997)
front and back matter (title page; editorial board; table of contents; advertisement, itinerary, and registration form for SACRPH study tour out of Liverpool, England, “Planners, Patrons and Dreamers,” June 4–14, 1998; membership form; guide for contributing; SACRPH officers)
Robin Bachin, “Commerce, Culture, and Respectability: The Building of Comiskey Park, 1910”: 3–18
Gail Sansbury, “‘Dear Senator Capehart:’: Letters Sent to the U.S. Senate’s 1954 FHA Investigation”: 19–46
Planning History Studies vol. 12, no. 1–2 (1998)
front and back matter (title page, editorial board, table of contents, announcement for workship “Race, Class and Gender in Planning History: A Workshop Held in Memory of Marsha Ritzdorf” November 18, 1998, call for papers for the Eighth National Conference on American Planning History, guide for contributing, SACRPH officers)
Angel David Nieves, “African American Architects and ‘Race-Uplift’ for the Black Community: New Deal Mass Housing and Black Nationalism in the Nation’s Capital”: 3–12
David L.A. Gordon, “Introducing a City Beautiful Plan for Canada’s Capital: Edward Bennett’s 1914 Speech to the Canadian Club”: 13–51
Planning History News (2000)
Planning History News 1 (2000)
SACRPH Working Papers Series (1988–90)
From 1988 to 1990, SACRPH published a working paper series for sale to members and libraries. Much of the material was later published a dissertation and book chapters or articles, much of it has never before been published. Unless noted, links lead to Worldcat catalog entries rather than the papers themselves. There appears to have been no 100-series.
200 Eugenie Ladner Birch, “Prelude to World City: New York City from Dutch Colony to Economic Capital: 1625–1860” (December 1989)
201 David Clow, “House Divided: Philadelphia’s Controversial Crosstown Expressway” (December 1989)
202 Madeline L. Cohen, “The 1963 and the 1988 Plans for Philadelphia’s Center City: A Problem of Differing Planning” (December 1989)
203 Christine Cousineau, “Tenement Reform in Boston, 1870–1920: Philanthropy, Regulation and Government Assisted Housing” (December 1989)
204 Mark Donchin, “Reflections on the Politics of a Non-political Planner” (September 1988)
205 Robert B. Fairbanks, “Planning a Municipal Airport: Dallas Love Field: 1940–1962” (December 1989)
206 Albert Z. Guttenberg, “A Note on the Ideas of Cycles in American Planning History” (December 1989)
207 David R. Hill, “America’s Disparate Organicists: From Frank Lloyd Wright to Paolo Soleri” (December 1989)
208 Mollie Keller, “How New York’s Developers Reshaped the Metropolis” (December 1989)
209 Ruth Eckdish Knack, “Terrible 1313 Turns 50: The Golden Anniversary of the Merriam Center” (December 1989)
210 Cathy D. Knepper, “First Families of Greenbelt: Their Views of Life In a Planned Community” (December 1989)
211 Carolyn Loeb, “Associational Progressivism and the Shaping of Suburban Subdivisions in the 1920s” (December 1989)
212 François-Auguste de Montêquin, “The Planning of Spanish Cities in America” (December 1989)
213 Kermit Carlyle Parsons, “Shaping the Regional City, 1950–1990: The Plans of Tracy Augur and Clarence Stein for Dispersing Federal Workers From Washington, D.C.” (December 1989)
214 Ann Scheid, “The City Beautiful in Utopia: A Study of Civic Center Designs in Southern California” (December 1989)
215 John W. Snyder, “The Planning and Development of Atascadero, California” (December 1989)
216 Patricia Burgess Stach, “Ask and You Shall Receive: Neighborhood Deterioration and Commercial Rezoning: Columbus, Ohio, 1923–1970” (December 1989)
217 June Manning Thomas, “Attacking Economic Blight In Postwar Detroit” (December 1989)
218 Gregory L. Thompson, “Planning Efficiency In the Private Sector: The Role of Cost Analysis In the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Decisions On Passenger Service: 1930–1960” (December 1989)
219 Marc A. Weiss, “Developing and Financing the ‘Garden Metropolis’: Urban Planning and Housing Policy In the Twentieth Century” (December 1989)
220 Michael Grimes, “The Development of Baltimore’s Northwest Corridor, 1919–1930” (December 1990)
221 W. Dennis Keating, “Cleveland’s Muni Light: Public Power, Democratic Promise and Political Conflict” (April 1991)
222 Norman J. Johnston, “The Olmsted brothers and the Peripatetic Planning of Washington State’s Capitol Campus, 1856-1928” (June 1991)
223 Jameson W. Doig, “Politics and the Engineering Mind: O H Ammann and the Complex Story of the George Washington Bridge” (September 1990)
Planning Historians’ Notebook (1991–92)
Following the working papers, two additional papers were published under this title.
1 Michael D. Holmes, “Planning Method: The Case of Colonial South Carolina” (1991)
2 John William Reps, “Entries In the 1912 Competition for the Design of the Australian National Capital” (1992)