Historic Preservation Month 2006
Think historic preservation is an obscure and impersonal force that probably happens somewhere, but that isn't "done" by people you know in your very own hometown? Well, think again!
May is Historic Preservation Month, and this year, the theme is "Sustain America - Vision, Economics, and Preservation." Historic preservation can be an engine for economic growth, and is crucial to downtown revitalization and attracting more people--both residents and tourists--back into our nation's large (or small) cities.While that's all well and good, though, what does historic preservation have to do with the average person?
Preservation is all around you. Here at the Oberlin Heritage Center, we actively participate in local historic preservation by creating historic inventories of historically- and architecturally-significant buildings in town. These inventories don't in any way restrict what the owners of buildings can do with them, but they are extremely useful for documenting our community's historic buildings, and serve as supporting evidence for a building or region's nomination to national-level registers, including the National Register of Historic Places. They're also useful for determining which houses could be named City of Oberlin Landmarks. History is all around us, and historic preservation and documentation help us preserve it and make us more aware of our past.
So take time this May to celebrate historic preservation. In fact, you may already be a historic preservationist, and just don't know it yet! For instance, have you ever:
- Picnicked under an old tree?
- Read a historic novel?
- Toured a house museum? (Or two?)
- Gone ghost-hunting?
- Picked up litter?
- Taken a stroll in the park?
- Researched your family tree?
- Helped restore an old building?
- Donated a dollar (or more!) to a worthy cause?
- Shopped on Main Street?
- Voted?
- Watched a history channel?
- Climbed a mountain?
- Made a photo album?
- Ridden a steam train?
These are all "preservation activities" mentioned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation for its 2003 National Historic Preservation Week poster. So, won't you you be a preservationist, too?
If you're interested in reading more about historic preservation, check out:
"The Preservationist's Progress: Architectural Adventures in Conserving Yesterday's Houses," by
Hugh Howard (New York, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux: 1991). It offers selected stories about various preservation projects of buildings from a variety of time periods and in a variety of places.
Also check out our list of interesting links on historic preservation and architecture!