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Donna Graves Full-time 2009-2010 Photo by Doug Cogger
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Donna Graves is a cultural planner and social historian based in Berkeley, California. Her work combines historic preservation, public art, urban design and community engagement to explore local histories and the significance of place. She has nearly twenty years experience developing projects throughout California and the West that document and interpret the state’s diverse history. As director for the Rosie the Riveter Memorial in Richmond, California, she developed the first national monument to women's contribution to the WWII home front. Graves was a key collaborator with the National Park Service and City of Richmond in conceiving and developing Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park. She continues to conduct significant research on Richmond’s built environment and develop projects that connect the community to current issues through exploring the city’s history. Graves is also currently director of Preserving California’s Japantowns, a statewide project documenting pre-WWII Japanese American historic resources in communities across California. The project’s efforts to catalyze local awareness and stewardship of these forgotten landmarks were recognized by the Vernacular Architecture Forum’s inaugural Advocacy Award in 2008. Other recent projects include a neighborhood revitalization plan for San Francisco’s Japantown, a community history project about civil rights activism in South Berkeley, and directing a competition to design a monument to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade on San Francisco’s waterfront. As a Loeb fellow, Donna plans to study urban design, public art and historic preservation strategies that support cultural preservation and community development.
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