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New Rubric for Engaging Descendant Communities at Museums and Historic Sites

By Special Contributor posted 5 days ago
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Last February James Madison’s Montpelier, in partnership with the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund , launched the first interdisciplinary National Summit on Teaching Slavery . Over one weekend, a group of educators, curators, scholars, activists, museum and historic site professionals, and descendants of enslaved and freed people gathered to develop a model rubric for best practices in descendant engagement and slavery interpretation. Montpelier’s experience with descendant engagement ...
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Inexorably Tied to Place: Contemplating Preservation in the New Year

By Susan West Montgomery posted 8 days ago
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As we consider the new year and the professional challenges and opportunities it is sure to bring, let me ask you this question: Why do you go to work every day?  I asked myself that question the other day. I had just received a very nice note from my supervisor, David J. Brown, executive vice president and chief preservation officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, congratulating me on my 10-year anniversary at the Trust. Ten years—a third of my preservation career, which began ...
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Fifteen Opportunity Zone Resources Available Right Now

By Special Contributor posted 13 days ago
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By Heather Buethe, Hannah White, and Anthony Veerkamp   Preservationists across the country are working to get up to speed on Opportunity Zones , but trying to educate yourself can feel like taking a sip from the proverbial firehose. A Google search for “Opportunity Zones” turns up more than 800,000 results, but many of these are aimed at investors who stand to financially benefit from the tax incentive. There’s relatively little out there that considers Opportunity Zones from the perspective ...
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What You May Have Missed in 2018: Preservation Leadership, Forum Style

By Priya Chhaya posted 20 days ago
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Happy end of the year from Preservation Leadership Forum! Before you continue reading, you should know that while, yes, this is our annual roundup of the things you meant to read, listen to, and participate in over the last year, it is not a comprehensive list of everything that has happened in the world of historic preservation in 2018. Rather, this post highlights some of the most exciting, impactful, and engaging work that the National Trust for Historic Preservation—and especially Forum—has ...
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An Old Bridge Speaks About Race and History

By David Rotenstein posted 20 days ago
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Patricia Tyson has lived in her Silver Spring, Maryland, neighborhood for most of her life. She believes that the nearby Talbot Avenue Bridge, which is slated for demolition in early 2019 to make way for the construction of the new Purple Line light rail, has a voice. When Tyson was a child growing up in the African American hamlet of Lyttonsville, the bridge’s rattling wood deck announced her parents arriving home from a long day’s work. Today Tyson says that the bridge speaks to people about history ...
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Forum Journal: “Every Story Told”: Centering Women’s History

By Forum Online posted 27 days ago
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This issue of the Forum Journal examines the preservation and interpretation of sites associated with women’s history —which means, to some degree, all historic sites. We have dedicated the issue to two inspiring preservationists whose work was foundational to our practice of preserving and interpreting women’s history sites: Karen Nickless and Bobbie Greene McCarthy. Karen Nickless was a lifelong women’s history scholar who used her time working at the National Trust for Historic Preservation ...
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Using Technology to Enhance Historical Narratives

By Special Contributor posted 28 days ago
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By Brendan Ciecko Today more than ever, technology is redefining the way we interact with historical narratives. What is technology’s role in historic preservation? And how can it boost awareness of historic preservation and architectural heritage? How can we leverage new digital channels to engage broader audiences and promote a deeper interest in preserving the past? These questions point to a larger conversation about tech as a powerful avenue for storytelling. From audio guides and apps ...
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Remembering Cathy Galbraith

By Barbara Pahl posted 12-14-2018
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The preservation community recently lost one of our best with the passing of Cathy Galbraith in Portland, Oregon. I only met Cathy a few times, but her reputation as a leader and a fighter transcended her work in Oregon—she was a source of inspiration to preservation leaders everywhere, including me. Cathy Galbraith at the Architectural Heritage Center | Credit: Lincoln Barbour Perhaps best known as the founding director of the Bosco-Milligan Foundation , Cathy grew it from ...
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Space, Storytelling, and Interpretive Soundscapes in Industrial South Africa

By Sarah Rovang posted 12-13-2018
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Over the next year the Forum Blog will be presenting a series of posts by Sarah Rovang, the 2017 recipient of the H. Allen Brooks Travelling Fellowship from the Society of Architectural Historians. The fellowship allows its recipients—recent graduates with advanced degrees or emerging scholars—to study by travel for one year, providing them with opportunities to see and experience architecture and landscapes firsthand; think about their profession deeply; and acquire knowledge that will be useful ...
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Building Partnerships Along Route 66

By Forum Online posted 12-11-2018
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The most enduring highway in our public consciousness,  Route 66  represents a chapter in our history that continues to define the nation’s identity: the rise of the automobile and its implications of freedom, mobility, and a quintessential American story. From July 2 to August 3, 2018, National Trust for Historic Preservation staff Diana Tisue, Grant Stevens, and Jason Clement  traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles  with a handful of roadies, uncovering new stories and meeting the ...
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Members of Congress Stand Up for Bear Ears

By Barbara Pahl posted 12-07-2018
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The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s legal defense of the Bears Ears National Monument took another step forward last month when a variety of stakeholders filed briefs in support of the monument designation. The lawsuit contends that the Trump administration exceeded its authority under the Antiquities Act when it reduced the size of the 1.35 million–acre Bears Ears National Monument in San Juan County, Utah, by 85 percent. The National Trust and our coplaintiffs forcefully argued that ...
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Opportunity Zones Come Into Focus

By Anthony Veerkamp posted 12-04-2018
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By now, you’ve probably heard about Opportunity Zones, but you may still not be sure whether to be excited, alarmed, or indifferent regarding their implications for your community. That’s no surprise—depending on whom you ask, Opportunity Zones constitute either the most significant federal community development incentive in a generation or one of the biggest tax giveaways to the rich in American history.  Preservationists and community advocates have reason to be wary of visionary big fixes for ...
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Historic Leasing: An Innovative Approach to Preservation in our National Parks

By Christine Luthy posted 12-03-2018
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From iconic natural landscapes like California’s Yosemite National Park to defining historic sites like Pennsylvania’s Independence Hall, national parks showcase our most significant cultural, historic, scenic, and scientific resources. Since 1916 the National Park Service (NPS) has been responsible for stewarding spectacular places that represent our shared American identity. However, after decades of inconsistent federal and public funding, the NPS now faces a maintenance backlog of approximately ...
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Code Versus Compatibility: Striking the Right Balance at Many Glacier Hotel

By Elizabeth Hallas posted 11-29-2018
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What do we do when an iconic, character-defining feature of a National Historic Landmark is lost? Our firm asked this question at the outset of our design work for the rehabilitation of Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier National Park. Built in 1916, the hotel originally featured a unique “double-helical” staircase in the center of its five-story atrium space. By the mid-1950s, the stair was gone. Legend has it that it was removed to make way for an expanded gift shop, dragged out onto the ice of Swiftcurrent ...
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Minimalist Glass Insertions to Improve and Preserve St. Patrick’s Cathedral

By Special Contributor posted 11-26-2018
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By Jeffrey Murphy With its towering twin spires in the heart of Manhattan and nearly 5 million visitors per year, St. Patrick’s Cathedral is among the world’s most iconic worship spaces. The cathedral, now a National Historic Landmark, was originally occupied in 1879 and last comprehensively restored in 1946. A recent thorough restoration focused on stabilizing the structure and providing a better experience for clergy, visitors, and worshipers—all while preserving the character of this sacred ...
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Preparing for the Future: A Quick Summary of PastForward 2018

By Priya Chhaya posted 11-20-2018
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"What is in our jurisdiction, and what is not? When do we choose to act, and what do we choose to ignore?” —Terry Tempest Williams, Culture-Nature TrustLive "Climate change is, at its core, a story about losing the places and cultures that make us who we are. America’s tangible and intangible heritage assets are in danger.” —Victoria Herrmann, Resilience TrustLive PastFroward 2018 attendees mingle during the Preservation Leader and Chafee Award Reception at the San Francisco Ferry building. ...
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Remarks by Jay Turnbull, 2018 Recipient of the Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award

By Special Contributor posted 11-16-2018
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_ Thanks to Stephanie [Meeks] and the [National Trust for Historic Preservation Board of] Trustees. I am overwhelmed—[I] can’t believe this honor has come to me. This award is really for all who made the buildings, spaces, or landscapes [that] my colleagues and I in the world of preservation have had a chance to conserve.  Thanks to my wife, Anne, and to my sons, Gordon and Davis, for being there over about 40 years! And to successive directors and staff at San Francisco Heritage, ...
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Remarks by Stephanie K. Meeks at PastForward 2018

By Stephanie Meeks posted 11-15-2018
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Hello, everyone! Thank you all for joining us for Pa stForward 2018. It’s a pleasure to be with you this week and to be here in one of America’s most beautiful cities. As local writer Herb Caen once said, “One day if I go to heaven, I’ll look around and say, ‘It ain’t bad, but it ain’t San Francisco.’” Here in this historic, thriving, diverse, and forward-looking city—so full of opportunity and creativity, so rich with possibilities and challenges—we come together again to craft the ...
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The 2018 National Preservation Awards

By Forum Online posted 11-14-2018
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 The 2018 National Preservation Awards are being presented this week at  PastForward 2018  in San Francisco. The awards honor inspirational projects, individuals, and organizations that have demonstrated excellence in the field of preservation. Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Award The  Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Awards , the nation’s most coveted and prestigious, are bestowed on historic preservation efforts that demonstrate excellence in execution ...
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A New Advocacy Tool for Establishing or Improving State Historic Tax Credits

By Special Contributor posted 11-13-2018
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By Renee Kuhlman and Shaw Sprague Is your community considering policy changes to its state historic tax credit (HTC)? The National Trust for Historic Preservation has developed a best practices guide for preservation advocates and lawmakers interested in establishing or improving their state HTC incentives . State HTCs can increase building reuse, revitalize areas of disinvestment, and drive innovative approaches to addressing state policy priorities.  While the preservation community rightfully ...
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