Historic preservation

Demolition of the former Penn Station concourse raised public awareness about preservation

This article is about the specific cultural heritage preservation movement and system that emerged in the United States. For Cultural heritage preservation or conservation as a broad concept, see Cultural heritage. For mechanisms of cultural heritage preservation in general, see Cultural heritage management.

Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. Other names for the discipline or sub-disciplines include urban conservation, landscape preservation, built environment conservation, built heritage conservation, object conservation, and immovable object conservation; within English-speaking countries "historic preservation" is generally used by speakers in the United States to refer to what is known in other dialects as "heritage conservation" or "heritage preservation". As such, this article focuses on the particular movement and regulatory regime that evolved under that term in the United States.

As used by practitioners of the endeavor, "historic preservation" tends to refer to the preservation of the built environment, and not to preservation of, for example, primeval forests or wilderness.

History

In England, antiquarian interests were a familiar gentleman's pursuit since the mid 17th century, developing in tandem with the rise in scientific curiosity. Fellows of the Royal Society were often also Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries.

The first Ancient Monuments Protection Act was adopted in 1882. The UK's Ancient Monuments Act (1913) officially preserved certain decayed and obsolete structures of intrinsic historical and associative interest, just as modernism was lending moral authority to destruction of the built heritage in the name of progress. The UK's National Trust began with the preservation of historic houses and has steadily increased its scope. In the UK's subsequent Town and Country Planning Act 1944, and the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, steps were taken toward historic preservation on an unprecedented scale. Concern about the demolition of historic buildings arose in institutions such as the pressure group The Society for the Preservation of Historic Buildings, which appealed against demolition and neglect on a case by case basis.

Mount Vernon plantation, near Alexandria, Virginia

In the United States one of the first historic preservation efforts was the Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site, in Newburgh, New York. It was the first-ever property designated as a historic site by a U.S. state.

Another early Historic Preservation undertaking was that of George Washington's Mount Vernon in 1858. Founded in 1889, the Richmond, Virginia-based Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities) was the United States' first statewide historic preservation group.

The architectural firm of Simons & Lapham (Albert Simons and Samuel Lapham) was influential in creating the first historic preservation ordinance in Charleston, South Carolina in 1930, affording that city a regulatory means by which to prevent the destruction of its historic building stock. In 1925, efforts to preserve the historic buildings of the French Quarter in New Orleans led to the creation of the Vieux Carré Commission and later, to the adoption of a historic preservation ordinance.

National movement

The US National Trust for Historic Preservation, another privately funded non-profit organization, began in 1949 with a handful of privileged structures and has developed goals that provide "leadership, education, advocacy, and resources to save America's diverse historic places and revitalize our communities" according to the Trust's mission statement. In 1951 the Trust assumed responsibility for its first museum property, Woodlawn Plantation in northern Virginia. Twenty-eight sites in all have subsequently become part of the National Trust, representing the cultural diversity of American history. In New York City, the destruction of Pennsylvania Station in 1964 shocked many nationwide into supporting preservation. On an international level, the New York-based World Monuments Fund was founded in 1965 to preserve historic sites all over the world.

Under the direction of James Marston Fitch, the first advanced-degree historic preservation program began at Columbia University in 1964. It became the model on which most other graduate historic preservation programs were created. Many other programs were to follow before 1980: M.A. in Preservation Planning from Cornell (1975); M.S. in Historic Preservation from the University of Vermont (1975); M.S. in Historic Preservation Studies from Boston University (1976); M.S. in Historic Preservation from Eastern Michigan University (1979) and M.F.A. in Historic Preservation was one of the original programs at Savannah College of Art & Design. The M.Sc. in Building Conservation degree program is offered by the School of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. In 2005, Clemson University and the College of Charleston created an M.S. degree program based in Charleston, SC. The first undergraduate programs (B.A.) appeared in 1977 from Goucher College and Roger Williams College, followed by Mary Washington College in 1979. Today there are three community colleges that offer an Associates Degree in Historic Preservation; Colorado Mountain College in Leadville, Colorado, College of the Redwoods in Eureka, California, and Belmont Technical College in St. Clairsville, Ohio.

National Register of Historic Places

Main article: National Register of Historic Places

National Historic Landmark

Main article: National Historic Landmark

Historic districts

Main article: Historic district (United States)

A historic district in the United States is a group of buildings, properties or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided into two categories, contributing and non-contributing. Districts greatly vary in size, some having hundreds of structures while others have just a few.

The U.S. federal government designates historic districts through the U.S. Department of Interior, under the auspices of the National Park Service. Federally designated historic districts are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Historic districts allows rural areas to preserve their characters through historic preservation programs. These include "Main Street" programs that can be used to redevelop rural downtowns. Using historic preservation programs as an economic development tool for local governments in rural areas has enabled some of those areas to take advantage of their history and develop a tourism market that in turn provides funds for maintaining an economic stability that these areas would not have seen otherwise.

A similar concept exists in the United Kingdom: a Conservation area is designated in accordance with the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 in order to protect a zone in which there are buildings of architectural or cultural heritage interest.

National Park Service

Main article: National Park Service

The United States led the world in the creation of National Parks, areas of unspoiled natural wilderness, where the intrusion of civilization are intentionally minimal.

The department of the interior designated several areas of Morristown, New Jersey as the first historic park in the United States national park system. It became designated as the Morristown National Historical Park. [1] The community had permanent settlements that date to 1715, is termed the military capital of the American Revolution, and contains many designations of sites and locations. The park includes three major sites in Morristown.

In addition to preserving the natural heritage, the National Park Service also maintains the National Register of Historic Places to recognize significant buildings and places, including historic parks, battlefields, National Historic Landmarks, memorials and monuments.

Relationship to international systems

Landscapes and sites of outstanding universal value can be designated as World Heritage Sites. A requirement of such designation is that the designating nation has appropriate legislation in place to preserve them.

Heritage conservation in Canada

Main article: Heritage conservation in Canada

In Canada, the phrase “heritage preservation” is sometimes seen as a specific approach to the treatment of historic places and sites, rather than a general concept of conservation. “Conservation” is taken as the more general term, referring to all actions or processes that are aimed at safeguarding the character-defining elements of a cultural resource so as to retain its heritage value and extend its physical life.

Historic objects in Canada may be granted special designation by any of the three levels of government: the federal government, the provincial governments, or a municipal government. The Heritage Canada Foundation acts as Canada's lead advocacy organization for heritage buildings and landscapes.

Influential people

• Ann Pamela Cunningham (1816–1875): influential in saving Mount Vernon (plantation) from demolition and founding the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, one of the first preservation organizations in the United States (est. 1854).
• James Marston Fitch: educator, author, critic and design practitioner made a major contribution to the philosophical basis of the modern preservation movement and trained and inspired generations of preservationists.
• Carolyn Kent (1935-2009): Spearheaded the designation of the Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill Historic District in Harlem, New York, and co-founded the Morningside Heights Historic District Committee
• William Morris: founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.
• W. Brown Morton: author of "The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and Illustrated Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings".
• William J. Murtagh: first Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places in the United States and significant contributor to the literature of the discipline [2]
• Lee H. Nelson: worked for Charles E. Peterson at the National Park Service's Historic American Buildings Survey and helped to formulate national policies on historic preservation.
• Charles E. Peterson: considered to be the "founding father" of historic preservation in the United States.
• John Ruskin: established the basic theory of preservation (retention of status quo).
• Eugène Viollet-le-Duc: well known French architect who restored Gothic buildings; believed that restoration could improve on the past—especially with the introduction of modern technology.
• Walter Muir Whitehill: Chair of the Whitehill Report in the late 1960s, which established the first guidelines for higher-ed historic preservation programs.

Careers

Although volunteers continue to play a large role in historic preservation activities, the field has seen an increased level of professionalization. Today, there are many career options in historic preservation in the public, non-profit, and private sectors. Institutes of secondary education (universities, colleges, etc.) in the United States offer both certificate and degree (A.A.S, B.A., B.F.A., B.S., M.A., M.F.A., M.S., and PhD) programs in historic preservation. Some students—at schools with such programs available—choose to enroll in "joint degree" programs, earning a degree in historic preservation along with one in another, related subject, often an MArch, MUP or JD degree.

Possible career fields include:

Architectural conservator

Focus specifically on the physical conservation of building materials. Most hold degrees in chemistry or materials science.

Architectural historian/historian

Primarily researches and writes statements expressing the historical significance of sites.

Historic preservation planner

Most are employed by local, county, state, or Federal government planning agencies to administer tax abatement programs, ensure compliance with local ordinances and state and Federal legislation, and conduct design reviews to ensure that proposed projects will not harm historic and archaeological resources. At the state level, they are known as a State Historic Preservation Officer while at other levels of government they may be known as a Federal or Tribal Historic Preservation Officer. Some may also serve as consultants to local governments, conducting Section 106 reviews in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

Preservation architect

Design and develop architectural conservation plans and work specifications in consultation with Engineers, Historians, and Planners, ensuring compliance with local design guidelines to protect sensitive historic building fabric. Most are employed by private architecture firms though some find work with government agencies.

Preservation craftsperson/traditional trades practitioner

Employs knowledge of traditional building techniques and contemporary conservation technologies to complete the conservation, repair, or restoration of historic buildings.

Preservation engineer

Work with Architects to devise conservation solutions of a structural or material -specific nature. Most are employed by private architecture and/or engineering firms.

Public historian/resource interpreters

Most are employed by government agencies and private foundations to interpret the significance of historic resources for the general public.

Historic site administrator

Non-profit sector careers

Engage in a variety of activities concerned with historic preservation advocacy, easements, and private foundations at the local, regional, statewide, or national levels.

Professional Organizations

• American Institute of Architects
• American Institute for Conservation
• American Planning Association
• International Council on Monuments and Sites
• Preservation Trades Network
• Society of Architectural Historians

See also

• Building restoration
• Adaptive reuse
• Athens Charter, doctrinal text
• Architectural conservation
• Barcelona Charter, doctrinal text
• Cadw
• Cultural heritage
• Cultural heritage management
• Demolished buildings and structures
• Heritage organizations
• Historic preservation organizations
• English Heritage
• Historic Scotland
• List of historic houses
• National Trust (disambiguation), containing a listing of National Trusts worldwide
• Space archaeology
• Sustainable Preservation
• Ship of Theseus, a philosophical problem regarding identity of preservation and replacement
• Venice Charter, doctrinal text

Bibliography

• Fitch, James Marston. Historic Preservation: Curatorial Management of the Built World. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1990.
• Jokilehto, Jukka. A History of Architectural Conservation. Oxford, UK: Butterwort/Heinemann, 1999.
• Munoz Vinas, Salvador. Contemporary Theory of Conservation. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Butterworth Heinemann, 2005.
• Page, Max & Randall Mason (eds.). Giving Preservation a History. New York: Routledge, 2004.
• Price, Nicholas Stanley et al. (eds.). Historical and Philosophical Issues in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage. Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 1996.
• Ruskin, John. The Seven Lamps of Architecture. New York: Dover Publications, 1989. Originally published, 1880. Important for preservation theory introduced in the section, "The Lamp of Memory."
• Stipe, Robert E. (ed.). A Richer Heritage: Historic Preservation in the Twenty-First Century. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2003.
• Tyler, Norman, Ted J. Ligibel, and Ilene R. Tyler. Historic Preservation: An Introduction to its History, Principles, and Practice. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2009.
• Viollet-le-Duc, Eugène Emmanuel. The Foundations of Architecture; Selections from the Dictionnaire Raisonné. New York: George Braziller, 1990. Originally published, 1854. Important for its introduction of restoration theory.

External links

• An Overview of Preservation in the United States (US/ICOMOS)
• Archeology Laws: A Guide for Professionals (National Park Service)
• Association for Preservation Technology International, an organization concerned with technologies used for conserving historic structures and their settings.
• Historic Preservation: Legal and Economic Issues, an essay concerning the legal and economic implications of historic preservation.
• National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, the National Park Service's preservation research center, offering research materials, preservation training, and grants.
• National Trust for Historic Preservation, the principal non-profit preservation advocacy organization in the United States.
• Preservapedia historic preservation and cultural heritage management encyclopedia.
• Preservation Trades Network, an international organization focused on preservation trades and traditional craft skills.
• PreserveNet, contains a directory of preservation-related websites and academic programs in the United States.
• Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada
• Standards and Guidelines for Preservation in the United States