Aaron Wunsch

Aaron Wunsch teaches architectural and landscape history in Penn’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation. He holds a B.A. in History from Haverford College, an M.A. in Architectural History from the University of Virginia, and a Doctorate in Architectural History from the University of California, Berkeley.  His 2009 dissertation was entitled “Parceling the Picturesque: ‘Rural’ Cemeteries and Urban Context in Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia.” Building on that work, he has curated an exhibition on Laurel Hill Cemetery at the Library Company of Philadelphia and written several scholarly articles and encyclopedia entries. He is the author of Palazzos of Power: Central Stations of the Philadelphia Electric Company, 1900-1930 (Princeton Architectural Press, 2016) and two forthcoming books on Philadelphia cemeteries including a monograph on Laurel Hill.  Professor Wunsch also has a longstanding interest in African-American buildings and landscapes. His work in this arena includes histories of Charlottesville, Virginia's, park system, Philadelphia's Bethel Burial Ground, and Bethel AME Church, Germantown. He is currently working on preservation projects with several Black congregations and institutions in Greater Philadelphia.