The RHS Facebook page is a rich archive of history-related posts by Carol Flynn, RHS Facebook admin and writer until mid-2025. Carol prolifically wrote a wide variety of meticulously researched local history articles for RHS. She continues to write for the Beverly Review and other media sources with articles particularly focused on local Ridge history.
RHS Friday Evening Hetherington Architectural Lecture Series
The Ridge Historical Society
Friday Evening Hetherington Architectural Lecture Series
The second program that will be part of the RHS Friday Evening Hetherington Architectural Lecture Series will be held on Friday, November 11, at 7:00 pm. Featured will be Mati Maldre presenting “Photographing Architecture and a View Camera Demonstration.”
Mati is the chair of the RHS Historic Buildings Committee. He is an Emeritus Professor of Art/Photography at Chicago State University. His photographs have been widely published, collected, and exhibited in significant organizations such as The Art Institute of Chicago and The International Venice Architecture Biennial. He is the co-author and photographer for Walter Burley Griffin in America and The Chicago Bungalow, and his photographs are featured in the publication The Griffins in Australia and India.
Mati owns a historic home in Beverly designed by another famous architect, Walter Burley Griffin. He currently has an online exhibit on Griffin’s architecture at https://www.griffinsociety.org/mati-maldre-exhibition/?fbclid=IwAR0Js0mCsipfSweu-_EKpto2iHsrzesjNovEgXh2qchqhV9YCxMgHEUNkSo
Mati’s statement for the RHS program reads: “In my architectural photographic documentation, I strive to blend fundamental documentation and the interpretive expression that reveals new appreciation and understanding of our man-made environment. I attempt to couple a firm respect for the subject’s integrity and the architect’s intent with a desire to produce an accurate photographic image with my Deardorff 4×5/5×7 view camera. My photos, like the buildings they represent, are both art and science, both personal and practical.”
The RHS Friday evening programs in November are part of the Hetherington Design Dynasty exhibit currently being shown at RHS. The exhibit features three generations of architects from the Hetherington family who called Beverly home and designed upwards of one hundred buildings in the community. The exhibit will run through the end of the year. Mati’s photographs of some of the buildings the Hetheringtons designed cover one wall of the exhibit.
The other two programs in the series are:
Friday, November 4, 7:00 p.m., Tim Blackburn, Researcher, “Discover the History of Your Chicago House”
Friday, November 18, 7:00 p.mm, Michael Lambert, Architect, Historian, & Preservationist, “John Todd Hetherington: From Lake Forest to Geneva”
Information on these programs is highlighted in other posts.
The programs will be at RHS in the historic Graver-Driscoll House, located at 10621 S. Seeley Avenue, Chicago. The cost is $10/members, and $15/non-members for each lecture. A reception will follow each lecture.
For now, save the date. The link to register for the program on Eventbrite will be posted in coming days. Reservations are recommended.
Probably the number one request we get at the Ridge Historical Society (RHS) is for house histories, and one of the themes of RHS is that “every house has a history.” Researching the origins of a home – who designed it, who built it, when, how much did it cost, etc. – is especially interesting to those who own homes in a historic community like Beverly/Morgan Park.
The “Hetherington Design Dynasty” exhibit that is currently on display at RHS through the end of this year profiles the architectural work of three generations of the Hetherington family who lived on the Ridge and designed many fine homes here. Now, as part of the exhibit, an Architectural Lecture Series has been scheduled for Friday evenings in November.
The first program, scheduled for November 4th at 7:00 p.m., will be “Discover the History of Your Chicago House.” Tim Blackburn will be the presenter, and attendees will learn how to research the histories of their pre-1955 homes within the city, including the architecture, construction, inhabitants, and owners. The research methods and information covered will include building permits, local history, Chicago streets’ renumbering, Sanborn maps, and more.
Tim Blackburn is a member of the RHS Historic Buildings Committee. He assists members of the community with research on their homes and local history questions. He has completed extensive research on his Hetherington designed home, and is a major contributor to RHS’s current exhibit, “Hetherington Design Dynasty.”
Tim works in technology as a Vice President for a global marketing and data company. He is a Chicago Marathon runner, which provides him the opportunity to study the architecture of the Ridge during his long training runs. On Sunday, he completed his eleventh Chicago Marathon. This shows he has the determination and follow-through to tackle the most complicated history requests at RHS!!
Two other programs are planned for the series and will be covered in detail in the next posts.
On Friday, November 11, Photographer Mati Maldre will present, “Photographing Architecture and a View Camera Demonstration.”
On Friday, November 18, Michael Lambert, Architect, Historian, and Preservationist, will present “John Todd Hetherington: From Lake Forest to Geneva.”
RHS is located at 10621 S. Seeley Avenue. The cost per program is $10/members, $15/non-members. A reception will follow each lecture. Information about reservations will be posted in the next few days, and reservations are recommended.
These images of the Graver-Driscoll House, RHS Headquarters, were taken by Mati Maldre. He will share his expertise on photographing architecture as part of the Friday Evening Hetherington Architectural Lecture Series in November.