Forum Blog - Preservation Leadership Forum - A Program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation

People, Presence, and Perspective: A Place-Based Approach to Digital Storytelling

By Special Contributor posted 02-20-2023

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By Elizabeth Lee A place is more than just a spot on a map, it is composed of both natural and human characteristics: the landscape, climate, built environment, and culture. Places inform identity and can serve as a touchstone for connecting people, stories, and events of the past and today. Digital storytelling offers possibilities to deepen connections with a place and its history, highlighting underrepresented voices, and reaching new audiences who might not be able to connect with the place ...

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2022 Moe Fund Recipients Address Key Preservation Challenges

By Lizzy Barringer posted 02-14-2023

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The Moe Family Fund for Statewide and Local Partners, established by former National Trust President Richard Moe and his family, supports members of the National Preservation Partners Network (NPPN). The 2021 and 2022 funding cycles of this program focused on the key issues outlined by the Preservation Prioritizes Task Force , a two-year project by NPPN and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, that brings together advocates from across the country to help statewide and local organizations ...

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A New Geothermal System Provides a Heart Transplant to Brucemore

By Special Contributor posted 02-01-2023

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By David Janssen In 2022, Brucemore , a National Trust Historic Site in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, completed the installation of a geothermal HVAC system. The installation in an 1886 Queen Anne mansion that anchors a 26-acre landscape was carefully executed to bypass the home’s original steam heat infrastructure. Grounded in the philosophy that a commitment to historic preservation is a perpetual responsibility, the project repeatedly adhered to the credo that short-term fixes are ultimately more expensive ...

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Resource List: Preserving Native American Places

By Priya Chhaya posted 01-20-2023

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The deadline for submitting comments on the Traditional Cultural Property NPS Bulletin is April 30. Learn more and submit comments . In 2021 the United States Department of the Interior swore in Deb Haaland as the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet Secretary . A member of the Pueblo of Laguna and a 35th-generation New Mexican, Secretary Haaland has already been, through her leadership, a force for good in the protection of Native American land and rights. One of her key priorities ...

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On the Hill: The Legislative Outlook for the New 118th Congress

By Hanna Stark posted 01-12-2023

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Sign up for our monthly advocacy newsletter to receive regular updates from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s government relations team. Join us on February 23, 2023 for a conversation about Historic Preservation Advocacy in the new Congress with staff from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The start of 2023 brings the beginning of a new legislative session, the 118th Congress. This is a moment of change and opportunity, but also a time to reflect on the previous ...

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National Trust Preservation Fund Awards $255,894 in Funding for Historic Sites, Main Streets, Affordable Housing, and More

By Lizzy Barringer posted 01-05-2023

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The National Trust Preservation Fund, the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s small dollar grant program, has been providing catalytic funding to organizations across the country for more than 50 years. In the October 2022 round, the National Trust received 61 eligible applications and awarded a total of $255,894 in grants to 47 organizations in 21 states and the District of Columbia. Read more about these projects below, learn how you can apply to our February 1 grant round here , and ...

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Preserving a Piece of the American Story: A Lookback at Resources from 2022

By Priya Chhaya posted 12-20-2022

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In Grace Young’s plenary session at PastForward Online 2022 , she stated, "My work as a cookbook author has always been about preserving recipes, but as the pandemic unfolded, I shifted my focus to saving Chinatowns. I realized that I was, of course, trying to save one of the great centers for Chinese cuisine and culture, but in fact, I am preserving a piece of the American story.” That final phrase, “preserving a piece of the American story,” sums up the work in the field in 2022. Across the ...

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Building Connections: Recommendations for Centering Women’s History at the National Park Service

By Special Contributor posted 11-10-2022

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By Kerrian France During the summer of 2022, as the intern for the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Where Women Made History program and the Government Relations department, I evaluated the work of the National Park Service (NPS) related to understanding and preserving sites of women’s history. My research focused on the current conditions of the preservation of women’s history — namely site designations, context statements. theme studies, grant applications, and advocacy — to produce ...

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The People’s University: The Martin Luther King Jr. Library

By Lizzy Barringer posted 10-20-2022

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The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library is a 2021 recipient of the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Awards , the highest national recognition bestowed upon a preservation project by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Award recipients represent the best of the best in historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and the re-imagining of historic buildings for the future. Join us for the 2022 National Preservation Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 4, 2022 from 4-5pm ...

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It Takes a Village: Saving the Milwaukee Soldiers Home

By Lizzy Barringer posted 10-13-2022

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The Milwaukee Soldiers Home is a 2021 recipient of the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Awards , the highest national recognition bestowed upon a preservation project by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Award recipients represent the best of the best in historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and the re-imagining of historic buildings for the future. Join us for the 2022 National Preservation Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 4, 2022 from 4-5pm ET . ...

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PastForward Preview: Chris Rupp on Preservation in Miami-Dade County—The Magic City

By Rhonda Sincavage posted 10-04-2022

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In 2020 and again in 2022, the National Trust for Historic Preservation was poised to be in Miami, Florida, for the PastForward National Preservation Conference —before the COVID-19 pandemic changed our world. While we are disappointed at being unable to share Miami’s remarkable history and preservation work with conference attendees in person, we are keeping the Miami story central to the virtual experience of PastForward Online 2022. This year, the key conference themes are: Historic Preservation ...

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Addressing the Future of Preservation with The Relevancy Project

By Priya Chhaya posted 09-22-2022

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In the lead-up to their 50th anniversary in 2021, Landmarks Illinois formed a task force to create a new set of guiding principles to help them move preservation forward. The goal: to share their work with others in the preservation movement nationwide. However, as Bonnie McDonald, president & CEO of Landmarks Illinois, says, “To be relevant to other organizations, we needed to understand what they were experiencing. Were they observing the same things that we were? How were they responding? ...

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National Trust Preservation Fund Awards $231,017 to Projects Focused on Landscapes, Interpretation, Feasibility Studies and More

By Lizzy Barringer posted 09-01-2022

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The National Trust Preservation Fund, the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s small dollar grant program, has been providing catalytic funding to organizations across the country for more than 50 years. In the June 2022 round, the National Trust received 87 eligible applications and awarded a total of $231,017 in grants to 45 organizations in 25 states and the District of Columbia. Read more about these projects below, learn how you can apply to our October 1 grant round here , and sign ...

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Pocantico Fellowship Reflection: Stigmatized Land & Central State Hospital’s Unmarked Cemetery

By Jordan Ryan posted 08-25-2022

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This summer, I was awarded the 2022 Pocantico Fellowship, a joint research fellowship awarded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the National Trust for Historic Preservation . My proposal, “Stigmatized Land: Central State Hospital’s Unmarked Cemetery,” looks at the literature behind stigmatized land, sites of trauma, dark tourism, and toxic sites, while considering Indianapolis case studies— particularly that of the unmarked but known burial ground at Central State Hospital, Indiana’s first mental ...

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National Trust Awards $215,300 in Grant Funding Through the Johanna Favrot and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Funds

By Lizzy Barringer posted 07-15-2022

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The National Trust is thrilled to announce the 2022 recipients of the Johanna Favrot Fund for Historic Preservation and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund for Historic Interiors. Grants from these two funds will help preserve a diverse range of historic sites across the country. Between the two funds, the National Trust has granted a total of $215,300 to 27 organizations in 21 states. The Johanna Favrot Fund for Historic Preservation and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund for Historic Interiors are ...

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Nine Years at Main Street: Lessons and Reflections from Patrice Frey

By Forum Online posted 07-07-2022

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This week Patrice Frey stepped down from her role as the president and CEO of the Main Street America (MSA) . For nine years, Frey brought leadership, creative energy, and dedication to MSA's work of supporting approximately 1,800 members to build stronger communities across the United States. Prior to working with MSA, Frey served as the National Trust for Historic Preservation's director of sustainability leading the work of the Preservation Green Lab (now the Research and Policy Lab). As ...

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A Community-Driven Effort: Creating Affordable Housing through Preservation in Anacostia

By Special Contributor posted 06-09-2022

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By Katie Williams Anacostia is a predominantly Black neighborhood in Washington, D.C. endangered by decades-long disinvestment and the tensions between the need for economic investment and the risk of displacing long-time residents. It is a community that cares deeply about the heritage of their historic neighborhood—Anacostia was the cherished home of Frederick Douglass—and wants to see it preserved and revitalized, just as white, wealthier neighborhoods in DC have been. Recognizing this ...

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Forum Journal: PastForward Online 2021 Conference Proceedings—Lead the Change

By Forum Online posted 05-24-2022

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The latest issue of Forum Journal captures the proceedings from PastForward Online 2021 . The theme for the 2021 conference was Lead the Change , which shares a name with the National Impact Agenda for the preservation movement. In the introduction, Katherine Malone-France, chief preservation officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation contemplates the impact of conference themes and the valuable stories learned from keynote presentations bringing about needed changes to make ...

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Preserving the City Archives & Archiving City Preservation

By Jordan Ryan posted 04-26-2022

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Editor's Note: Every year we provide space for recipients of a National Preservation Award to share a piece of their work. This story is from Jordan Ryan, the recipient of 2021 American Express Aspire Award , which recognizes an emerging leader in the preservation field who has made significant achievements in preservation. You don’t know what you don’t know, and that's one of the many attractions of the archives for me. Since receiving the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s ...

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National Trust Awards $275,173 in Funding from Alabama to Washington

By Lizzy Barringer posted 04-20-2022

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The National Trust Preservation Fund, the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s small dollar grant program, has been providing catalytic funding to organizations across the country for more than 50 years. In the February 2022 round, the National Trust received 64 eligible applications and awarded a total of $275,173 in grants to 47 organizations in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Read more about these projects below, and learn how you can apply to our June 1 grant round here and ...

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