Meet ROAM Consultants:
Architectural History + Photography
Susan M. Lankford-Thompson
I began my professional career in historic preservation 20 years ago at Ball State University after receiving my Master of Science in Historic Preservation in 2004. As the Director of the Center for Historic Preservation, I led teams of students who completed preservation planning projects for towns, museums, and non-profit organizations in the Midwest. We completed over 100 consulting projects during the Center’s 10-year tenure, most related to historic resource surveys, historic structure reports, National Register nominations, rehabilitation studies, heritage education initiatives and other preservation planning services.
I also had the pleasure of teaching in Ball State’s Department of Architecture for 11 years. My courses ranged from documentation (surveys, research, National Register nominations, etc.) to material conservation and technology, preservation law and planning policies, and special electives like Mid-Century Modern Architecture. Ball State stresses an immersive education model, so each class had a community-based project. For example, in my ARCH 542 “Documentation and Registration of Historic Properties” course, students picked a local neighborhood to plan and implement a survey, followed by National Register nominations for historic resources discovered in those surveys. ARCH 506 “Preservation Planning Studio” always had a survey component, as surveys are usually the base for an preservation planning endeavor.
In addition to my experiences at Ball State, I have been a freelance architectural historian, writer, and photographer for two decades. My specialties include surveys, Section 106 and 4(f) documentation, National Register nominations, state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits, preservation grant writing, and other architectural historian projects. I am skilled with architectural descriptions, preparing statements of significance, chain of title research, primary and secondary source research, and the preparation of context statements and site maps.
I meet the “Architectural Historian Professional Qualification Standards” for 36 CFR Part 61, per the standards established by the National Park Service.
The ROAM Vision: A Network of Professionals
Right now, ROAM Consultants just has one consultant - me.
But build it and they will come, right?
Here’s the truth: I’m blessed to have a strong network of other historians, preservationists, architects, archaeologists, and interior designers. I frequently partner with these professionals, and I’ve been able to work on projects across the country with people from my network.
Someday, though, I would like to formalize that network. And that’s why I named my business ROAM Consultants - with a plural “consultants.” My vision is to create a group of architectural historians and historic preservationists that work together on multi-disciplinary projects. What will that group look like? I’m not sure yet. Maybe ROAM Consultants will grow to a larger company with a full staff? Or maybe ROAM Consultants will become a formal network of like-minded professionals who actively support each other on projects?
This idea is still new, so if you’re in this field, please send me an email if you want to chat or brainstorm!
ROAM: Will Travel for History
If you look at the logo for ROAM Consultants, you’ll note that “ROAM” officially stands for “Reviving Our Architectural Monuments.”
But honestly, it also stands for my passion for travel. I’ve been all over the country, and I was even a full-time traveler for two years while my husband and I traveled the United States in a tiny camper with our cat. It was an adventure!
And here’s the surprising result of that cross-country-and-back-again-trip: Traveling has made me a better architectural historian.
The saying that “all history is local” might be true, but historic context is everything.
That statement is especially true if you’re working on a National Register nomination or a Section 106 review. It’s hard to understand how a historic resource fits into larger architectural and social contexts if you haven’t ventured outside your zip code.
