Rebekah Beaulieu, Ph.D. Candidate, Boston University

Proposal Type

Panel

Seeking
  • Seeking Additional Presenters
Related Topics
  • Material Culture
  • Preservation
  • Place
Abstract

The Midwest became the epicenter of the American industrial sec tor atthe end of the 19th century. Self-made entrepreneurs, such as Frederick Pabst of Milwaukee’s Pabst Brewing Company, erected lavish homes to showcase their societal rise and elite status, which continue to serve as beacons of industrial-era prosperity. The designation of these sites serve as the foundation for a new and regionally-based understanding of American preservation concentrated not in colonialism and patriotism, but in the very industrialism early preservationists railed against.

Seeking

Hi everyone! I am interesting in hosting a panel that explores the concept of Midwestern regional preservation. Based in the case study approach employed in texts such as Max Page and Randall Mason’s “Giving Preservation a History,” in which preservation is approached using historical con textualism, I’m interested in promoting (and complicating!) the idea of regional contextualization of preservation, which problematizes the dominant singularity of the East Coast preservation narrative. While the East Coast is inarguably the birthplace of early preservation (Mount Vernon, Paul  Revere House, SPNEA, etc.), there is another story taking place in the middle of the United States, in which sites of the industrial era – the very same that propelled much of the eastern preservationists into action – are preserved as emblematic of regional economic prosperity.

My thought is that others might have embarked upon research of historic sit es, including but not necessarily limited to historic house museums, and wo uld wish to speak to this idea of industrial-era preservation. Manufacturing and heavy industries spurred industrial development in urban areas such as Detroit, Indianapolis, Chicago, etc., and many of the sites preserved regionally have a direct connection to that activity.

If you have any research, preferably of case studies in the Midwestern region, that align with this argument – or against it, which would definitely help define the discussion! – please let me know if you would be interested in serving as a panelist. I am looking for 2-3 additional panelists to serve alongside me. Questions and thoughts of course welcome.


If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to share contact information for other people the proposer should reach out to, please get in contact directly: Rebekah Beaulieu

If you have general ideas or feedback to share please feel free to use the comments feature below.

All feedback, and offers of assistance, should be submitted by July 3, 2016.

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