Buffalo's First Preservationist: Olaf "Bill" Shelgren, Jr.

Wednesday, November 8th, 2017

Follow this link to watch Dr. Kowsky’s presentation on YouTube.

On Tuesday, October 24th, Dr. Francis Kowsky, SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus, continued our lecture series with his talk, Buffalo’s First Preservationist: Olaf “Bill” Shelgren.

Dr. Kowsky began by mentioning that the TR Site's Shelgren exhibit (open through November 12, 2017) complements the Buffalo Central Library's "Building Buffalo" exhibit (open through March, 2018). After encouraging the audience to explore both exhibits, he went on to explain that his talk would be a combination of architectural history and personal reminiscences about his longtime friend Bill Shelgren (1925-2010). The “traditional style” of architecture that both Bill and his  father (Olaf) practiced was actually in the mainstream and quite popular up until about 1949, when Bill began to practice. To illustrate this point, he showed pictures of the Roycroft Inn and the Darwin Martin House. Dr. Kowsky explained that the traditionalists looked back to different periods of the past in their designs, and that this continued until the “revolt of modernism.” He then made a key connection, saying that this may have been part of the reason why the idea of preservation appealed so much to the Shelgrens.

Dr. Kowsky then told the audience about Olaf Shelgren’s personal history. He began with Olaf coming from Pennsylvania to Buffalo in 1909 or 1910 to work as an architect. Shelgren began his career working for Robert North, a successful architect. Though he started as a draftsman, he eventually worked his way up to the status of partner. Images of the Foster house and St. Andrew’s Church illustrated North’s work. During this portion of his career, Olaf was featured in the “White Pine” series of architectural monographs.

Dr. Kowsky put particular significance on the building that Olaf built in Pennsylvania, that is now the Glendorn resort. Pictures of the interior and exterior gave the audience an idea of what the property looks like. This design was Olaf’s most important commission, and played an important role in Bill’s life as well. Olaf passed down his passion for architecture to his son. Bill  told stories of Olaf taking him out on excursions around Western New York. These trips served, not only to fan the flames of Bill’s interest in history, but also to introduce him to a great deal of the architecture, particularly Greek Revivals, in Western New York.

Dr. Kowsky then moved on to describe Bill Shelgren in more detail, recounting Bill’s educational background and his early career. Bill began practicing in 1949 and took over his father’s company in 1961. Despite the fact that he had a number of commissions in Buffalo, Bill’s greatest contribution was that he championed preservation.

After that introduction, Dr. Kowsky delved deeper into his reminiscences about Bill Shelgren. He started this section by saying that those he met before coming to Buffalo knew Bill, and said he was important to know. Further leveraging their contacts in the preservation world, the Shelgrens invited Jack Boucher, an accomplished architectural photographer, to Buffalo.  With the Shelgrens’ guidance and advice, Boucher documented a number of local landmarks as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). Dr. Kowsky points to this as the beginning of the preservation of Buffalo’s architectural heritage.

Dr. Kowsky then went on to discuss some of Bill’s better known preservations in Buffalo, particularly those under the name “The Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier”. This organization was important because Bill Shelgren was an essential member. One of the earliest causes they fought for and won was the preservation of mansions on “Millionaire’s Row” along Delaware Avenue in Buffalo. That helped galvanize the organization. Perhaps the most important of the achievements of the Landmark Society was building support to pass the Buffalo Landmark & Preservation Code in 1975. Bill Shelgren drafted the code and chaired the preservation board for its first eight years. Bill Shelgren also played a role in the preservation of the TR Site, moving his own offices into the building to provide the needed stability to prevent its demolition.

Dr. Kowsky concluded his talk with prepared remarks which he read, “to be sure that [he] touched all the bases.” These remarks took the form of a tribute to Bill Shelgren, and it took the same tone as the talk as a whole, lending a personal touch to the story of public service by a titan of preservation.

-- William Wynkoop, TR Site Interpreter / Programming Assistant

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Speaker Nite is part of the TR Site’s regular Tuesday evening programming, which is made possible with generous support from M&T Bank, as well as the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

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