About this Event
Mary Ruffin Hanbury and Ian F. G. Dunn will discuss their new book, Lost Raleigh: Exploring the Oak City's Architectural History, to be published by UNC Press on May 15, 2026.
Landmarks with great historical, architectural, and cultural value are often demolished in the name of progress, leaving little but memories behind. In the growing city of Raleigh, many important buildings have been razed, but even when no longer present, these landmarks hold histories that can help us understand not only what Raleigh used to look like but what kind of place Raleigh used to be. Mary Ruffin Hanbury and Ian F. G. Dunn, building on the work of the late Karl Larson, have gathered photographs and stories of Raleigh landmarks from the late eighteenth century to the late twentieth century, including private homes, public and educational buildings, parks, malls, churches, and businesses. Among these noteworthy places are the home of controversial newspaper editor Josephus Daniels; the nineteenth-century municipal building Metropolitan Hall; and the famous Eduardo Catalano house. Full of photos and fascinating stories, Lost Raleigh is a comprehensive look at the city’s cultural and architectural past and a plea to protect and preserve the landmarks that make our cities unique, connecting us to our shared history.
Mary Ruffin Hanbury is the founder of Hanbury Preservation Consulting, based in Raleigh, a firm established to help communities and organizations plan for the future by understanding and protecting those resources that provide a sense of place and a quality of life.
Prior to founding her own firm, she was the Preservation Planning and Grants Supervisor for the North Carolina Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) where she provided technical assistance to over 100 local preservation commissions and managed the Certified Local Government program. As a Program Officer with the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Southern Office, she developed, managed, and executed a national volunteer response program in New Orleans in response to Hurricane Katrina. She also provided advisory and field services throughout fifteen states in the southern region, developing and implementing strategies for key intervention and advocacy issues. And as an architectural historian for the Tidewater Region of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR/SHPO) she developed, implemented and monitored a comprehensive regional program for the identification, permanent recording, evaluation, registration, and sensitive treatment of historic buildings, structures, districts, objects, and cultural landscapes in the thirty counties and cities of eastern Virginia.
Mary Ruffin has a Bachelors in Art History from Yale University and a Masters in Urban Planning from the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia. She has extensive volunteer experience. She has served on the Raleigh Historic Districts Commission and on the board of Preservation Action, a national preservation education and advocacy organization. Currently she is a reader for the National Endowment for the Arts Challenge America grants and serves on the board of the North Carolina State Capitol Foundation.
Ian F. G. Dunn is an archivist and local historian who lives in Raleigh. He is an Assistant Archivist at NC Department of Cultural Resources and holds a BA in Sociology from NCSU.
No refunds.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Mordecai Historic Park Classroom in the Visitors Center, 1101 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh, United States
USD 0.00 to USD 12.51
