An invitation: Help us identify the top 15 articles on preservation in The Public Historian
03 October 2013 – Mary Rizzo
preservation, sense of place, scholarship, profession, The Public Historian, National Historic Preservation Act, NCPH Board Member Posts
The wreck of the wooden cargo ship Australasia on the bottom of Lake Michigan is one of the recent new listings in the National Register of Historic Places. (Image: National Register)
In the nomination form for the US National Register of Historic Places, one of the main criteria excludes “structures, sites and objects achieving historical importance within the past 50 years.” Using this criterion, if the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, which authorized the National Register, were a building, it would only become eligible for inclusion in 2016. But as one of the most important pieces of legislation affecting historic preservationists and allied public historians in the United States, the NHPA has already proven its substantial contribution. As NCPH President Bob Weyeneth wrote in the June 2013 issue of Public History News , this upcoming golden anniversary is an appropriate reason “to inaugurate a set of conversations over the next three years to assess the history, impact, and legacy of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.”
To that end, History@ Work and The Public Historian are teaming on a project designed to spur those conversations, and we need your help.
Which articles from The Public Historian about historic preservation or place do you keep going back to? Which pieces got you thinking when you were in grad school and have been in your mental filing cabinet ever since? What article did you stumble upon and have scribbled all over the margins? Tell us in the comments below!
While we’re looking for pieces that are specifically about historic preservation (the development of the field, the theory underlying preservation, etc), our effort would miss something important if we did not include other pieces that examine place and the interplay among it, history, and preservation. In many ways, historic preservation is closely tied to place. Community members may rally to save a beloved building in their town. States maintain offices devoted to historic preservation and, at least in New Jersey, annually publish their list of the most endangered historic places in the state. Developers may see historic architecture as either a benefit or a bane to their plans to build and sell. In each case, though, historic preservation helps give place meaning.
We’re going to compile the suggestions we collect into a curated list of the most important articles on historic preservation or place (broadly construed) published in The Public Historian over its 35-year run. Once that’s done, we’re going to ask some noted historic preservationists to choose one article and write a blog post about it. Has the article helped to shape (or does it reflect the development of) the fields of historic preservation and public history? How should the article be updated to address current issues in historic preservation? What’s the critical legacy of the NHPA? What should we hope we’re saying about historic preservation in another 50 years? These pieces will be posted throughout 2015 on History@Work alongside the text of the articles that they’re discussing, creating a space for everyone who cares about historic preservation, place, and public history to get into the conversation.
But first, we’ve got to whittle down our list, so don’t hesitate to nominate an article from The Public Historian by giving us the citation in the comments and a couple of words about why you think it should be included. Or, you may email Mary Rizzo, co-editor, The Public Historian at [email protected]. The deadline for nominations is Nov. 1.
~ Mary Rizzo
This is a great project! I would like to nominate two articles about race and historic preservation:
Bob Weyeneth’s “The Architecture of Racial Segregation: The Challenges of Preserving the Problematical Past.” It was published in the Fall 2005 issue of the Public Historian (pp. 11-44). This article calls attention to how white supremacy was/is written into the architecture.
The article “Interpreting Uncomfortable History at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site in St. Louis, Missouri,” in the Spring 2011 Public Historian (pp. 37-66) is by Timothy Baumann, Andrew Hurley, Valerie Altizer and Victoria Love. They bring a multidisciplinary perspective to interpreting and sensitively deal with community members’ reaction to interpreting aspects of Joplin’s life and milieu.
Thank you for these suggestions!
What do you think about these pieces for purposes of this conversation?
Madeline Cirillo Archer’s “Where We Stand: Preservation Issues in the 1990s” from vol. 13, no. 4, back in the autumn of 1991; and
David Neufeld’s “Commemorating the Cold War in Canada: Considering the DEW Line” from vol. 20, no. 1 (the winter, 1998 issue).
I would second Modupe Labode’s suggestions and would offer the following suggestions:
Barbara J. Howe’s Women in Historic Preservation: The Legacy of Ann Pamela Cunningham Vol. 12 No. 1 (Winter 1990) pp 31-61. Howe brings to light the important role women have played in historic preservation.
James Lindgren’s “A New Departure in Historic Patriotic Work…Conflicting Concepts of Material Culture in the late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries.” Vol. 18 No. 2 (spring 1996): 41-60.
I would also be willing to contribute to this edition of the Public Historian.
I would like to recommend John Sprinkle’s article, “‘Of Exceptional Importance:’ The Origins of the ‘Fifty Year Rule’ in Historic Preservation.” 29, no. 2 (Spring 2007): 81-103. It’s a wonderful resource and provides excellent insight into the history of Criteria Consideration G of the National Register of Historic Places nomination process. In many ways the “rule” has become the backbone of preservation programs throughout the country, and understanding why and how this guideline is treated as a “rule” by so many preservationists is both invaluable and thought-provoking. It has also taught me to not use federal guidelines to mask my own personal taste.
These are wonderful suggestions. As I compile the list, I’m beginning to see overlaps in terms of articles, authors and themes. Keep an eye out for a future post discussing these trends…
And there’s still time to nominate more of your favorite articles on historic preservation and place!