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Deanna Panetta
Historic Preservation
Paper 1
02.02.2010
History of
Historic Preservation Paper
Before the
American Civil War, attempts at Historic Preservation were primarily
conducted by individuals who were motivated by patriotic or personal
sentiments. Prior to the 1860s, few Americans were concerned with the
maintenance of old structures, but there were a few forerunners in the
preservation movement. One of these individuals was Alexander Touro. In
1822, Touro provided the funds necessary to preserve the Touro Synagogue in
Newport, Rhode Island. This act was done out of sentimentality in order to
honor Touro’s father. Similarly, Uriah Levy, the first Jewish Commodore in
the Navy, used his own money to save Thomas Jefferson’s homestead Monticello
in 1834. Levy, like Touro, was motivated by personal reasons; to Levy,
Monticello represented the ideals of religious toleration that Jefferson
advocated.
Early
preservation movements were frequently spearheaded by women. Perhaps the
most famous early preservationist was a South Carolinian woman named Ann
Pamela Cunningham. Motivated by patriotism, Cunningham advocated the
preservation of George Washington’s home Mount Vernon. In order to save the
deteriorating remains of the home, in 1853 Cunningham created an
organization of wealthy female patrons who invested their time and money to
achieve their aim. This organization, the Mount Vernon Ladies Association,
ultimately raised enough money to purchase the property. Committed to the
restoration of Washington’s home, the Mount Vernon Ladies Association was
the first national organization dedicated to historic preservation. However,
despite the status of a national organization, the funds which saved Mount
Vernon were still privately donated.
One
notable exception to the trend of private preservation was the saving of
Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Instead of relying on private monies, in
1816 the city of Philadelphia funded the preservation of this national
relic. This was the first time that a government entity stepped forward to
help save historic buildings. It is important to note, however, that this
effort was made by local government; it would be several more years before
the Federal government intervened in preservation.
Although there
were some early steps taken by historic preservationists, the movement did
not gather steam until the end of the Civil War. After 1865 and
particularly around the 100th anniversary of the United States,
Americans became increasingly interested in preserving their colonial past.
Historic preservation efforts multiplied after the Civil War, and in 1895
the Federal government got involved in the movement for the first time. In
this year the Gettysburg Battlefield was acquired by the Federal government
and deemed a property of national significance. This was the first of many
federally funded preservation projects to come.
One individual
who had a dramatic impact on the preservation movement in this period was
William Sumner Appleton. In 1910, Appleton established the Society for the
Preservation of New England Antiquities, which was the private preservation
agency to focus on saving the structures of an entire region as opposed to
individual properties. Appleton was also one of the first preservationists
to express an interest in properties based on their architectural value as
opposed to their associative value. Before 1900, properties mainly
preserved because of their association with an important historical figure,
like the homes of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Andrew Jackson;
Appleton changed this focus. He also initiated the concept of adaptive
reuse, or converting structures into new facilities after they are preserved
in order to create economically viable institutions. Each of these concepts
revolutionized the way historic preservation was practiced around the turn
of the twentieth century.
Two
distinct philosophies of historic preservation also emerged from this era.
The first was proposed by Eugene Viollet le Duc. Le Duc believed in the
restoration of old buildings to enhance their aesthetic value. Not only did
this school of thought support the restoration of buildings but also
promoted improving them beyond their original state if new techniques and
technologies allowed for it. Although the practice of restoring buildings
is still in use, the idea of enhancing a structure beyond its original
design has largely been discredited in recent years.
The second
preservationist philosophy to emerge at this time was the “No Scratch
School” of thought. This philosophy was initiated by John Ruskin and William
Morris and stood in direct opposition to the preservationist practices of le
Duc. Ruskin and Morris argued that a structure’s true value was derived from
its age, not by how aesthetically pleasing it was. Therefore, followers of
the No Scratch School believed that no improvements should be made to a
structure at all. Rather, the building should merely be stabilized to
prevent further deterioration.
Although
great strides were made in the field at the end of the 19th
century, the 20th century brought about the most federal
involvement and legislation designed to protect historic properties. Under
the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt the Antiquities Act of 1906 was
passed. Originally intended to protect Indian artifacts in the western
states, the Antiquities Act mandated that archaeological digs must obtain
federal permits before commencing their work. Although this act only
protected federal properties, it encouraged the designation of federal
monuments throughout the nation. These designations were usually bestowed on
geologically significant sites, like the Grand Canyon or Devil’s Tower, but
set an important precedent for federal involvement.
Woodrow
Wilson was the next president to enact important preservation legislation.
In 1916 the National Park Service was established in order to provide
protection to sites which were too large for individuals and private funding
to maintain. The National Park Service was also responsible for both
establishing national parks as well as consolidating existing ones under
their jurisdiction. Although originally intended for natural locations, it
now includes sites like Jamestown and Yorktown which have historical and
cultural significance.
In the
1930s Franklin Delano Roosevelt contributed to the historic preservation
field by passing the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). This
initiative, developed in part to create jobs during the Depression, sent
surveyors to take photographs or create drawings of buildings that
historically or architecturally significant features. This survey was
conducted with the intent of encouraging the preservation of notable
American structures.
Lyndon B.
Johnson was the president most committed to promoting historic preservation
and enacted several groundbreaking programs during his Great Society
campaign. The first was the creation of the National Historic Landmarks
Program in 1957, which recognized a list of nationally significant landmarks
throughout the country. In 1966, the National Historic Preservation Act was
passed which helped implement a system of nationally and locally operated
commissions that would identify historic properties and prevents the federal
government from taking any negative action towards those places. The
National Historic Preservation Act also created the National Register of
Historic Places, which identified and offered protection to any structures
or properties with local, regional, or national significance. These
legislations secured the connection between historic preservation and the
federal government.
The final
two presidents of the 20th century that aided the historic
preservation movement by enacting legislation were Richard Nixon and Ronald
Reagan. While in office, Nixon issued Executive Order 11593 which granted
protection to properties that were eligible for placement on the National
Register of Historic Places. This means that even those structures simply
on the “study” list for the National Register are awarded the same
protective considerations as ones already on the list. Reagan’s
contribution, Tax Reform Act, offered a twenty percent tax credit to
income-producing properties listed in the National Register. Both of these
pieces of legislation promoted preservationist efforts across the country.
Although
the American historic preservation movement began in the nineteenth century,
its beginnings were humble. Funded almost exclusively by private funds,
only individual properties with associative value were saved. However, the
twentieth century brought new changes in preservation philosophy and
practice that helped the field blossom. Similarly, the legislative acts
passed by Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan helped establish the
Federal government as an entity engaged with the preservation of historic
properties.
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