PROPOSAL TYPE
Roundtable
SEEKING
- Seeking Additional Presenters
- Seeking Specific Expertise
- Seeking General Feedback and Interest
RELATED TOPICS
- Memory
- Museums/Exhibits
- Place
- Preservation
- Reflections on the Field
ABSTRACT
With the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966, the field of historic preservation was codified and formalized. Now 60 years on, the field stands at a point buffeted by the winds of less regulation, YIMBYism, climate change, equity/inclusion, technology, and economics. Further, museums and historic sites – riding the 1960s wave of historic preservation into the 1976 bicentennial – are facing similar issues, but also a loss of visitors, interest, and operational focus.
Now is the time to ask: Can historic preservation survive? Should it survive? What role is public history playing? How do we preserve and present history in this new environment? If preservation as we know it collapses, what should replace it?
DESCRIPTION
This roundtable will be a discussion of the field of historic preservation (including its interplay with public history) and the future of this field. Rapid changes to interpretation, legacy, economics, and public sentiment have made the field both more important and more strongly under attack. The presentation will engage the audience in a conversation about the field and what we can do looking forward.
I’m seeking specific areas of focus that audiences might want to hear about or angles that might not be considered thus far.
I’m looking for potential participants who straddle various fields (i.e. historic preservation and economic development; historic preservation and museums; historic preservation and racial/social justice, etc.).
If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to pass along someone’s contact information confidentially, please get in contact directly:
Aaron Marcavitch, Enfield CT / Acorn Heritage Planners, [email protected]
All feedback and offers of assistance should be sent by November 15, 2025. If you have general ideas or feedback to share, please feel free to use the comments feature below.
Very much looking forward to this session! Panels on Historic Preservation have been very popular and well-attended at previous conferences, and this looks like a very necessary one. I’ll pass this on to some people who I think may be a good fit as panelists.
Love the questions this panel proposes to consider. Situating preservation as a field on the cusp of radical change, and necessarily one that requires cross-disciplinary thinking, feels exactly right. Would love to attend (and maybe participate) in this one!
You might reach out to Brian Whetstone at Penn, who has been looking at these questions in the context of house museums and museum labor—his work might be a good fit.