Research Notes, undated

This series contains Hosmer's research notes, most of which relate to Presence of the Past and Preservation Comes of Age. The notes were taken from primary and secondary materials dating from the mid-nineteenth century to 1985. The notes also include chronologies and histories of organizations and biographies of individuals compiled by Hosmer. As a whole, these notes are a significant resource on historic preservation; however, in many cases, information on individual subjects within the series is limited. Bibliographic citations (sometimes annotated) comprise a significant portion of this series.

The files in this series have been grouped under large subject categories. For a portion of the notes, Hosmer himself devised a variety of subject headings that have been retained and used in this series. These headings include architects, general criteria, general techniques, general business, bibliographic notes, state--city, states, states--sites--projects, and states--sites--research.

Almost all of the notes which did not fit under Hosmer's own headings have been sorted by type--Notes--Individuals, Notes--Miscellaneous, Notes--Publications, and Notes--Sites and Structures--and arranged alphabetically under these imposed divisions. "Notes--Sites and Structures" includes historic districts, sites, buildings, other structures, and objects as defined by the National Register of Historic Places criteria. Major sites or structures included in this portion of the series are sites of national significance such as Monticello and Mount Vernon.

A large portion of the notes to which Hosmer did not assign headings appears in this guide under the heading "Organizations." These notes contain information about a variety of institutions involved with historic preservation. Taken by Hosmer at the organizations' headquarters and elsewhere, they consist of information regarding specific sites or structures, correspondence, and biographical information. Notes from the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA) and the National Park Service form the bulk of this division.

This series also includes five bound notebooks of material on sites and structures, organizations, and persons related to the historic preservation field.

The research notes have been arranged alphabetically by subject category; under each category, the individual files are arranged alphabetically.