Biography

R.R.S. Stewart is an advisor in the State Historical Society of Iowa’s Technical Advisor Network and substitute teaches for the Dubuque Community School District. In the past, she has also been substitute faculty at Northeast Iowa Community College and an adjunct professor teaching Democracy and Global Diversity at Loras College. Ms. Stewart is the Historian for St. Luke’s United Methodist Church and works as a host for their Saturday evening meal. She also serves on various public and private boards and is a Architectural, Parliamentary and Writing Consultant in Dubuque and Des Moines. To contact her about consulting in any of these areas click here.

Ms. Stewart was born and raised in Dubuque, Iowa. The beauty of that area, the ancient Native American Indian Effigy mounds, and Dubuque’s being the oldest European-American settlement in Iowa started her interest in Historic Preservation. Growing up on the Iowa/Wisconsin border, seeing Taliesin hovering over a sea of corn also contributed to Ms. Stewart’s interest in Architecture. Her travels throughout the U.S. and Europe further enhanced her architectural interest. R.R.S. has visited all 50 U.S. state capitals and 17 national capitals. She is a lifelong dancer and musician, currently practicing yoga and playing the tower chimes at St. Luke’s United Methodist church.

Ms. Stewart received a Bachelor of Individualized Studies in Architectural Conservation, Mass Communication, and Women’s Politics from the University of Minnesota. She studied at the University of Edinburgh for three semesters, concluding with a post-occupancy evaluation of the Scottish Parliament complex, which incorporated 17th century structures into a post-modern assembly by Enric Miralles, Bendetta Tagliabue (EMBT, Spain) and RMJM (Scotland) Ltd.

R.R.S. received a Master’s Degree in Architectural History, a Certificate in Historic Preservation and a second Master’s in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia. Her degrees focused on American Architecture and Art prior to 1950, Scottish Landscape Architecture from 1600 – 1750 and Preservation Planning. Ms. Stewart’s master’s thesis was “Designing a campus for African-American females : the National Training School for Women and Girls 1907 – 1964”. It was published by Lambert Academic Publishing as a Monograph in 2014. Copies may be ordered for $40 by contacting her here. She received a law degree from St. Francis School of Law in 2023.