PERSONAL INFORMATION
203 Hawthorne Ave.
Eugene, OR 97404
(541) 689-1546
Department of Architecture
1206 Lawrence Hall
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97401
(541)346-3690
beecher@darkwing.uoregon.edu
EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy degree, American Studies (ABD)
The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 1992-present
Dissertation: "Out of Sight: Architectures of American Storage"
Master of Arts degree, American Studies
University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 1998
Master of Arts degree, Interior Design
Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 1988
Master’s Thesis: The Influence of the Housing Reform Movement on Proposed Farmhouse Designs
(1900-1930)
Bachelor of Arts degree with academic honors, Interior Design
Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 1986
ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT
Assistant Professor, University of Oregon, 1999-present.
Assistant Professor, Iowa State University, 1992-1999.
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Iowa State University, August, 1989-May, 1992;
Temporary Instructor, Iowa State University, August 1988-1989;
GRADUATE STUDENT EMPLOYMENT
RELATED WORK EXPERIENCES
Independent preservation consultant, 1992-1999;
Preservation Consultant, Jennings, Gottfried and Associates, Ames, Iowa, 1988-1992;
Jan Jennings and Herbert Gottfried, Ames, Iowa, May 1986-August 1986;
Iowa State Office of Historic Preservation, Des Moines, Iowa, May 1985-August 1985;
PUBLICATIONS
"Hand Made and Home Grown: The Phenomenology of Martha Stewart," American Studies, (Spring, 2001)
(submitted for publication).
"Integrating History: The History/Theory/Criticism Course," Journal of Interior Design, 25(1),
1999: 37-44.
"Building for ‘Mrs. Farmer: Published Farmhouse Designs and the Role of the Rural Female
Consumer," Agricultural History, 73(2), 1999: 252-262.
"Rethinking Chronology: Thematic Options for History Instruction," Journal of Interior Design,
24(2), 1998: 4-11
"The Language of Beauty and the Modern Interior: An Approach to Aesthetic Criticism," Journal
of Interior Design, 23(1), 1997: 61-69.
"Negotiating the History Frontier: Perceptions of History in Interior Design Education,"
Proceedings, Interior Design Educator’s Council International Conference, Denver, Colorado, March 20-24, 1996.
"Commercial Archeology," The Oxford Companion to Archeology, (New York: The Oxford University Press, 1996).
"Autos and Highways: Conquering Space in Iowa," Mark P. Leone and Neil Asher Silberman, ed.,
Invisible America: Unearthing Our Hidden History, (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995).
"Discovering Women: Integrating Gender Issues into Historical Design Research,"
Proceedings, Interior Design Educator’s Council International Conference, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, March 31-April 3, 1993.
"The Motel in Builder’s Literature and Architectural Publications: An Analysis of Design," chapter in Roadside America:
The Automobile in Design and Culture, (Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1990): 115-124.
"The Interior Systems of Colonial and Dutch Colonial Cottages (1905-1939), as Evidenced by Historic Builder’s Journals and Ten
Extant Examples,"
Proceedings, Interior Design Educators International Conference, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1988.
BOOK REVIEWS
Robbie Blakemore: History of Interior Design & Furniture, in Journal of Interior
Design, 25(1), 1999: 60.
David Gebhard: The National Trust Guide to Art Deco in America, in Journal of Interior Design,
23(2), 1997: 54.
PAPER PRESENTATIONS
"Inside the Kitchen Cabinet: Manufactured Storage (1900-1950),"
KITCHENS: DESIGN, TECHNOLOGIES, AND WORK, Hagley Museum and Library, November, 2000.
"Secondhand Windows and Hand-Me-Down Doors: Architectural Salvage and Some Issues of Identity,"
AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL MEETING, Detroit, Michigan, October, 2000.
"Hand Made and Home Grown: The Phenomenology of Martha Stewart,"
AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL MEETING, Montreal, Quebec, October 28-31, 1999.
"The Shortest Distance Between Two Points: Two-way Interactive Video Conferencing as a
Tool for Recruitment,"
INTERIOR DESIGN EDUCATORS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, Clearwater Beach, Florida, April 14-17, 1999.
With Amy Mikovec, Assistant Professor and Clayton Cartland, Graduate Student.
"‘Tomorrow You Can Live Like This:’ The Magazine and Design Reform During World War II,"
AMERICAN CULTURE ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE, San Diego, California, March 31-April 3, 1999.
"Us and Them:Redefining the History of Interiors in a Multicultural Context,"
INTERIOR DESIGN EDUCATORS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, New York, New York, March 31-April 3, 1998.
"Building for 'Mrs. Farmer:' Published Farmhouse Designs and the Role of the Rural Female
Consumer (1900-1930)"
AMERICAN FARM AND RURAL WOMEN’S CONFERENCE, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, September 18-21, 1997.
"‘Good Things: The Roles of Nostalgia and Ritual in Martha Stewart’s Style of Living,"
THE STYLE CONFERENCE, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, July 25-28, 1997.
"Picturing Paranoia: A Comparative Analysis of Edwin Howland Blashfield’s Frontier Murals in
Iowa and South Dakota,"
SOCIETY FOR THE INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY OF SOCIAL IMAGERY NATIONAL CONFERENCE, Colorado Springs, Colorado, March 13-15, 1997.
"Marketing the Modern American Interior: An Aesthetic Analysis of the Post-War Ranch House,"
AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL MEETING, Kansas City, Missouri, October 31-November 3, 1996.
"Comparing Historiographies: Listening to the Past, Directions for the Future," (keynote address)
OBJECT-CONTEXT-DESIGN: THE STATE OF TEACHING INTERIOR DESIGN HISTORY, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, October 12, 1996.
"The History/Theory/Criticism Course: Bringing Breadth to History in Studio Education,"
OBJECT-CONTEXT-DESIGN: THE STATE OF TEACHING INTERIOR DESIGN HISTORY, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, October 12, 1996.
"Assessing the Influence of Housing Reform: The Design of Farmhouse Interiors (1900-1930),"
VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE FORUM ANNUAL MEETING, Lawrence, Kansas, June 6-9, 1996.
"Negotiating the History Frontier: Perceptions of History in Interior Design Education,"
INTERIOR DESIGN EDUCATORS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, Denver, Colorado, March 20-24, 1996.
"Built Around a Mother: The Role(s) of Women in Everyman’s House,"
WOMEN AND SOCIETY CONFERENCE, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, New York, June 9-11, 1995.
"Blashfield’s ‘Westward:’ A Picture of the Past and a Sign of its Time,"
JOINT MEETING OF THE MID-AMERICA AND ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONS OF THE AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION, Fort Collins, Colorado, April 7-9, 1995.
"Creating 'Westward:' Edwin Howland Blashfield and the Iowa Capitol Improvement Commission,"
THE MIDWEST ART HISTORY ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING, St. Louis, Missouri, March 23-25, 1995.
"Range, Range in the Home: Spatial Perceptions of the West and the Design of the Post-World War II
Ranch House,"
THE TENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE MID-AMERICA AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION, Lawrence, Kansas, April 8-10, 1994.
"Defining Interior Design Through an Inclusive Historical Perspective,"
CROSSING BOUNDARIES IN PRACTICE CONFERENCE, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 14-17, 1993.
"Discovering Women: Integrating Gender Issues into Historical Design Research,"
INTERIOR DESIGN EDUCATORS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, March 31-April 3, 1993.
"Harmony and Contradiction: Communication Technology as Applied within Diverse Cultures,"
THE TENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 21, 1993.
With Professor Wei Dong, Iowa State University.
"Rural Housing Reform in the Early Twentieth Century,"
SOUTHEAST SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIANS, Mississippi State University, October, 1991.
"Roadside Development Along the Lincoln Highway in Central Iowa,"
CONGRESS OF HISTORICAL ORGANIZATIONS, Des Moines, Iowa, June 10, 1991.
"Selling to Women: Early Service Stations and the Female Consumer,"
HIGHWAYS TO HISTORY: THE AUTOMOBILE AGE CONFERENCE FOR THE SOCIETY FOR COMMERCIAL ARCHEOLOGY, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 5, 1990.
"Changes in Perception: The Late 1920’s Remodeling Boom as Presented by Popular Serials,"
BUILT FORM AND CULTURE CONFERENCE, Tempe, Arizona, November 11, 1989.
"Tourists and the Automobile: From Cabin Camp to Motel (1930-1955),"
AMERICANS AND THE AUTOMOBILE CONFERENCE, THE SOCIETY FOR COMMERCIAL ARCHEOLOGY AND THE HENRY FORD
MUSEUM, Dearborn, Michigan, November 5, 1988.
"The Interior Systems of Colonial and Dutch Colonial Cottages (1905-1939), as Evidenced by Historic Builder’s Journals and Ten
Extant Examples,"
INTERIOR DESIGN EDUCATOR’S INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 22, 1988.
COMPETITIONS AND EXHIBITIONS
BEST OF SHOW AWARD: "Work Table Series," Interior Design Educator’s Council Design Competition, March, 1999.
College of Design Faculty Exhibition, August-October, 1998:
"Glass Ceiling:" work table (cherry, graphite, glass, plexiglass)
"925-529:" work table (cherry, rubber)
"Affirmative Action:" work table (cherry, cotton)
College of Design Faculty Show, January-March, 1996:
"Crossings #1:" mixed media assemblage
"Kindred:" mixed media assemblage
SHEET, an interdisciplinary exhibition of works by women, April 23-May 5, 1995:
"A Land of Counterpane," (bedsheet, salvaged window screens, cotton thread, assorted paper artifacts
Works by women faculty of the College of Design, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, June-July, 1994:
"Crossings #1:" mixed media assemblage
Innovations in Housing, February, 1992.
"East Meets West," Central Glass International Architectural Design Competition, July, 1991, with Wei Dong, Assistant Professor, Iowa State
University.
Iowa College Salon IX, March-April, 1987: "End Table"
SEMINARS, PANELS AND POSTERS
"Historic Place with a Feminine Face," IOWA HERITAGE EXPO, Des Moines, Iowa, June, 1995.
With Rebecca Conard, Wichita State University, Jan Nash, Tallgrass Historians, L.C., Mary Bennett, State Historical Society of
Iowa, Karen Mason, curator of Iowa Women’s Archives.
"Changing Dynamics in the Creative Learning Experience," THE TENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 23, 1993. With Professor Wei Dong, Iowa State University.
INVITED LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONS
"Stories My Chair Told Me," public lecture for AAA Faculty Lecture Series, University of Oregon, April, 2001.
"Writing Design Criticism," Journal of Interior Design Workshop, IDEC International Conference, March, 2001. With Professor Jan Jennings.
"Writing Design Criticism," Journal of Interior Design Workshop, IDEC International Conference, March, 2000. With Professor Jan Jennings.
"Furniture and Meaning," public lecture for the Big Brain Cafe’ series, Brunnier Gallery, Iowa State University, October, 1998.
"Assessing Preservation along Iowa’s Lincoln Highway," Second Annual Meeting of the National Lincoln Highway Association, Ames, Iowa, August, 1994.
"The Lincoln Highway in Boone County and Central Iowa," Boone County Historical Society, Boone, Iowa, July 17, 1991.
"Aesthetics of American Vernacular Architecture 1870-1940" Preservation in Progress Workshop, Ames, Iowa, October 29, 1988, with Jan Jennings.
"The Interior Elements of Colonial Cottages," Farmhouse Museum, Iowa State University, September, 1986.
CONFERENCES ATTENDED
Iowa Heritage Expo Des Moines, Des Moines, Iowa, June, 1994
Congress of Historical Organizations, Des Moines, Iowa, June, 1992
Vernacular Architecture Forum, national conference, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, May 6-10, 1992.
Louis Sullivan and the Architecture of Democracy, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, April 20-22, 1989.
National Register Training Conference, Bureau of Historic Preservation, Des Moines, Iowa, January 28, 1988.
The Midwestern Farmstead of 1900, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, Wisconsin, October 30-31, 1986.
PROFESSIONAL HONORS/ACTIVITIES
Stanley B. Greenfield and Faculty Grant Award adding specially requested historical books to Knight Library, University of Oregon
University Honors Program Excellence in Mentoring/Advising Award, 1999
Recipient of Faculty Award for Extraordinary Performance, College of Design, April, 1997
Nominee for VEISHEA Professor of the Year Award, April, 1997
Recipient of the Carol Price-Shanis Award, Interior Design Educator’s Council, March, 1994 (A national award for professional betterment through continuing education)
GRANTS
New Faculty Summer Research Grant, 2000: $4000
IDRO Research Grant, Spring, 1999: $150.00
Honors Faculty Professional Development Grant, 1998: $500.00
Instructional Development Grant, 1998: $740.00
Honors Faculty Professional Development Grant, 1997: $500.00
Art and Design Department Creative Scholarship Grant, 1996: $1000.00
IDRO Research Grant, Spring, 1996: $150.00
Metro Waste Authority Grant Program, Spring, 1995: $2,620.00 With Assistant Professor Mira Engler
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Interior Design Educator’s Council (IDEC), corporate member.
American Studies Association (ASA), member.
Vernacular Architecture Forum (VAF), member.