Wonderful Women Wednesday: Dr. Cynthia R. Field

Each week, the Archives features a woman who has been a groundbreaker at the Smithsonian, past or present, in a series titled Wonderful Women Wednesday.

Dr. Cynthia R. Field, architectural historian emeritus, was the chair and creator of the Smithsonian’s Office of Architectural History and Historic Preservation, formed in 1986.

She earned a Ph.D. and a master’s degree from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr College. 

Field is a coeditor of Paris on the Potomac (2007) and The National Mall: Rethinking Washington’s Monumental Core (2008) and a coauthor of The Castle: Illustrated History of the Smithsonian Building (1993). 

She is one of the founding trustees of the National Building Museum and supports its Field Scholar’s Fellowship Program.

A crowd stands in front of the architectural history office booth, which Field is standing behind.

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