Gray Brechin
2009 Fellow
Dr. Gray Brechin is an historical geographer and author whose chief interests are the state of California, the environmental impact of cities upon their hinterlands, and the invisible landscape of New Deal public works.
He is currently a visiting scholar in the U.C. Berkeley Department of Geography and founder and project scholar of California’s Living New Deal Project. California’s Living New Deal Project is an unprecedented collective effort to inventory and interpret the impact of New Deal public works projects on the Golden State. They invite informants to contribute information and photographs to map the vast matrix of public buildings, parks, and infrastructure Californians have come to take for granted. Through this archaeological dig into California’s lost history, they reveal an indispensable but invisible landscape while laying the groundwork for a national inventory.