Associate Professor of History Dr. Brian Newsome received the Triennial Charles R. Bailey Memorial Prize for best journal article. The New York State Association of European Historians awarded Newsome for his article “The Women of the Pavillons: A Case Study,” which was published in the Winter 2012 issue of Historical Reflections/Réflexions historiques.
In “The Women of the Pavillons,” Newsome argues that during the 1960s through the 1980s life for women living in single-family housing units in France was not as isolated as many scholars have assumed. Newsome studied Villagexpo, built in the Paris suburb Saint-Michel-sur-Orge in 1966, which was one of many government-sponsored model developments. Through archival research and interviews with the original inhabitants of the Villagexpo development, Newsome concluded that associations and group relations were crucial to developing a community network within developments. Rather than being socially isolating, life for women in the single-family housing was “vibrant,” and the “village’s model of Villagexpo attracted a critical mass of families who were deeply devoted to associational pursuits and community life,” Newsome wrote in his article.
According to Newsome, “The Women of the Pavillons,” was a project that was “years in the making.” His interest in the French single-family housing began in the early 2000s when he encountered the topic while completing research for his dissertation on the development of participatory architectural and urban planning in France between the years 1940 and 1968. Newsome took a leave from Elizabethtown College in 2012 and traveled to France to conduct interviews with the original occupants of the Villagexpo development. Newsome was new to oral history research, but said that he enjoyed the interviewing process. His French hosts were “very gracious,” and often provided him with meals during the interviews. Some of the interviews he conducted were over six hours long.
“The Women of the Pavillons” was chosen to receive the Charles R. Bailey Memorial Prize from a half-dozen other submissions. Newsome was presented the award at the 64th Annual Meeting of the New York State Association of European Historians, which was held at the State University of New York at Geneseo. Newsome said “The Women of the Pavillons” was one of the most enjoyable projects he has ever worked on and that “it was a pleasant surprise” to win the Bailey Prize.
Newsome’s article, “The Women of the Pavillons: A Case Study,” can be found in the collection of Faculty Publications at the High Library.
