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Conference Gives Diversity Scholar New Vision and “Home”

Posted on: November 15th, 2011 by Guest Writer

Written by Nancy J. Dawson

During the Underground Railroad field session tour, Nancy Dawson stands on a bridge similar to the one abolitionist Harriet Tubman led enslaved Africans to freedom in Canada. (Photo: Nancy Dawson)

“Is it real?” I asked myself, as I stood paralyzed listening to the raging waters--all while one foot was planted in Canada and other in the United States. As I looked over the rails of the walkway, I couldn’t help but wonder how Harriet Tubman, one of America’s most noted abolitionists, felt when she ventured across a suspension bridge in Niagara Falls, New York, nearly 150 years ago bringing enslaved Africans to freedom.

Although our guide was determined that our group forge on so that we complete our tour on schedule - for me, the hands of time had stopped. Even though I have a disdain for heights, it didn’t matter. Tubman and I were one for a moment as I felt the fears, anxiety, desperation, and anticipation of her passengers.

How serendipitous, that I (a descendant of runaway enslaved Africans from Quindaro, Kansas), was tracing Tubman’s trail during a field experience at the National Preservation Conference. This was one of several fantastic experiences that I was privileged to take part in as a conference Diversity Scholar.

After returning home, the networking and information that I gained at this year’s conference set me ablaze. Although, I have worked to preserve African American history and culture for decades, the conference gave me a special edge and helped me define myself as a true historic preservationist. I am eager to apply the knowledge gained to my work in Western Kentucky where I help to preserve Cherokee State Historic Park, a once segregated facility, which operated between 1951 and 1964. Today, Cherokee Park is one of only three known state-owned formerly segregated parks in the United States. Furthermore, I have no doubt that my conference experience will enhance my collaboration efforts with several organizations to support my research about African American Civil War soldiers and their families living along the Kentucky/Tennessee border. Already, partnerships with Fort Donelson National Battlefield, the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, and the New Orleans National Jazz Historical Park have led to development of a theatrical production entitled Stories from da Dirt, the creation of a quilt featuring runaway slave ads, and a two volume CD entitled Songs of the Lower Mississippi Delta.

All my projects were elevated by resources offered at the conference. The meeting also reinforced for me that the road I am on as a preservationist and the partnerships that I have developed are in harmony with many of the goals and objectives of the National Trust. I think my return flight home from the conference best sums up my new relationship with the National Trust. I was showing a picture of my (historic) home to a woman at the airport. A gentleman, sitting near us, chuckled and said, “while most people share photos of their children, National Trust people share photos of their homes and historic projects.” I smiled and said, “I guess that is why I feel so at home.”

Nancy J. Dawson, a former university professor, playwright and textile artist, has been working to preserve historic sites in Kentucky and Tennessee as well as in her hometown of Quindaro, Kansas. Nancy was a first time Diversity Scholar at the 2011 National Preservation Conference. She may be reached at efuanjd@yahoo.com.

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The Top Four Takeaways of a Canadian Conference-Goer

Posted on: October 28th, 2011 by Guest Writer

Written by Kayla Jonas

Twitter in real life! (Photo: Kayla Jonas)

Before the conference started I wrote about my top reasons as a Canadian for attending the Preservation Conference: I wanted to learn about the American preservation framework, meet some of my virtual friends, and see Buffalo's industrial heritage. I'm happy to report that I did all that and came away with three strong lessons and one amazing experience:

Embrace your Industrial Heritage

The conference had over 250 field tours. On Wednesday morning I went on a boat tour by the grain elevators on the Buffalo waterfront. I was so excited because I’ve often driven by them and it was great to get up close. The tour was run by the Buffalo Industrial Heritage group who provided an in depth history of each grain elevator, as well as a general history of the area. I learned that Buffalo was, in the mid-19^th century, home to the first-ever grain elevator, and was sad to see the Wheeler Elevator being demolished as we rode by. This tour, as well as the two education sessions on Industrial Heritage I attended that day got me thinking about Hamilton, Ontario’s industrial heritage.

Like Buffalo, my hometown of Hamilton a very industrial city. There are efforts being made to revitalize Hamilton and mark it as an arts destination. Though I support this movement, I had a sudden realization that maybe we have been too quick to dismiss our steel history, and wondered what we are doing to preserve the history of the two large steel companies, and earlier industries, that have helped to shape our city.

Be Positive, Take Action

As a resident of an industrial city I know how hard it is to overcome the reputation associated with such cities. I am sad to say that I had negative ideas about what Buffalo was like, but this conference proved me wrong. The citizens are working hard to revitalize their city. My feelings were cemented on Friday night when I attended the premiere of Buffalo Unscripted, an amazingly inspiring documentary film showcasing the people of Buffalo. There was so much energy in the room, it was stunning. Every city should have an authentic and emotional video like this. There was so much love for the city that it almost brought me to tears. I want to show it to everyone I know as an example of what we should be focusing on: action and positivity.

Make the Opportunity Count

Buffalo seemed to embrace what the conference and the cloudburst of interest in local architecture could provide by taking every opportunity to show off their community to the conference attendees - but also involve locals in as many things as possible. Many of the main sessions for the National Trust’s Conference in Buffalo were open to the public. Locals could attend the opening plenary, as well as the two big morning sessions that set the stage, and then the closing speech. The evening activities, such as the candlelight house tour, were also open to the public - but they had to buy tickets. Local sites had special tours for conference attendees and many were open to the public for the first time. This mixing of attendees and the local community created a positive and exciting atmosphere. Everywhere you went, people were talking about the conference (including extensive media coverage). Not only were attendees spending tourist dollars in the community, but energy and excitement about these local places - and heritage in general - was shared by the local community.

Virtual Friends Made Real

Though the learning opportunities were plentiful, the most amazing experience of the conference was meeting so many of the people in person that I know on Twitter and through blogging! We had several people show up for the #builtheritage chat tweet up (@RocchiJulia, @wanderu, @k10death, @urbanmatt, and @elipousson) and I also got to meet several other tweeters during the conference (@pc_presnation, @atheritagearea, and @heritagewriter). It was nice to turn virtual friends into real life friends and have a conversation with them in more than 140 characters!

Kayla Jonas is a heritage professional based in Southern Ontario and blogs at Adventures in Heritage.

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Where Do We Grow From Here?

Posted on: October 27th, 2011 by Guest Writer 1 Comment

Written by Brenna Moloney

Local apples at the Saginaw Farmer's Market. (Photo: Brenna Moloney)

Last week I attended the National Preservation Conference in Buffalo. I was excited about the conference this year for many reasons but chief among them was the opportunity to see how Buffalo has cared for its historic resources in the face of its shrinking population. Buffalo once had a population of over 500,000 but it is now less than half that number. Even though Saginaw is a town of only about 50,000, I wanted to see if their respective right-sizing efforts were similar. What of Saginaw would I recognize in Buffalo and what of Buffalo could I bring back and integrate in to my work in Saginaw and Lansing? As it turned out, quite a lot.

I found the most potent answers to my questions during Wednesday morning's “Urban Agriculture in Emerging Neighborhoods” tour. The tour, led by Buffalo food critic and locavore, Christa Glennie Seychew of Feed Your Soul, gave me the chance to see neighborhoods not typically seen on other architectural tours. There were no monumental buildings. Instead I found that the neighborhoods of East Buffalo were strikingly similar to Saginaw: some empty lots and demolitions, new in-fill, even the wood-frame houses had a familiar tired look about them that reminded me of my adopted home back in Michigan.

What was heartening to me during this tour was to see how Buffalo residents of these “emerging” or declining neighborhoods have reclaimed portions of their space to produce food. Several of these projects have also integrated advanced hydroponic systems and fish-farming into their production, which has allowed higher yields on their small plots and a source of potential profit. These projects have connected Buffalo to the larger agricultural traditions and products of Western New York, and therefore created an authentic sense of place for the people that live and visit there. It did not take me long before I began thinking about how this could be applied in Saginaw.... Read More →

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Nos Vemos en la Placita: The Historic Los Angeles Plaza

Posted on: October 25th, 2011 by Guest Writer 3 Comments

The Plaza as it appeared in 1890. (Photo: Los Angeles Public Library)

Written by Edgar Garcia

After rushing out of the Sunday evening service and hurrying past the crowds to avoid lines at the Luz del Dia restaurant, we would finish eating and run over to the Plaza to the memorial plaque that served as home base. My brother and I along with other children would play games, running in circles around the center bandstand. The space behind the statues, plaques, and trees made perfect hiding places—hiding behind the perimeter of the Plaza was considered cheating. All this running and jumping was a welcome reward for sitting still during mass at the Plaza Church across the street. When my parents weren’t watching, we’d ignore the No Pase sign on the bandstand entrance and step onto the stage, hitting the floor with child-size boots to hear the sound ricochet. In the modesty of these surroundings and the poverty we wore and felt, none of us were aware that as we tapped the flooring of the bandstand’s very center, we were standing above the literal heart and birthplace of a city, the historic Plaza in downtown Los Angeles.

Current view of the historic Plaza in Los Angeles. (Photo: Office of Historic Resources, City of Los Angeles)

As children of Mexican immigrants in the early 1980’s, where the very legality of our presence was a bit murky and mostly unspoken of in our family, the Plaza was one of the few public spaces in Los Angeles where we didn’t feel that peculiar anxiety that marked a good part of our childhood. Our self-imposed geography was dictated by our sense of safety and familiarity and mostly limited to our neighborhood just over the LA River and the Plaza itself. The LA of skyscrapers was intimidating but in the Plaza and the surrounding district, in its layout and scale, a distinct familiarity of surrounding resonated for us, back to the plazas and squares of my parents’ ancestral towns in Jalisco and Zacatecas—even back to the mother of all plazas, the Zocalo in Mexico City.
The City of Los Angeles’ formal name for the district is El Pueblo de Los Angeles; but for most Angelinos of Mexican and Latino descent this space - the church, the plaza, Olvera Street with its shops and vendors - is and always has been la Placita. It’s hard to really express the love and warmth poured into adding the diminutive ending of “ita” to the word Plaza, but like so much in Mexican Spanish, it’s been wrapped with a diminutive to make both the word and the actual place accessible. Los Angeles as a city came into being by the very act of laying out the Plaza, born as El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles in 1781. Settling in a region called Yaa by the native Tongva people, eleven families from northern Mexico of mixed Native American, Spanish, and African descent immigrated and populated what slowly became a small frontier town on the periphery of the Spanish empire, serving the surrounding ranchos. (I’m still struck that for all the weight attached to the name, Los Angeles is still just a small town name, the simple name of a village you’ll run into in any provincial part of Latin America).

Shoeshine boys in the old Plaza, 1930s. (Photo: Los Angeles Times)

Despite wars and treaties that caused multiple flags to fly over the Plaza, the pueblo continued to slowly grow and prosper. While Los Angeles continued on its march to become the metropolis it is today, it grew in all directions except the Plaza. By a mixture of neglect and luck, the Plaza area survived miraculously intact into the early 20^th century. In a somewhat dilapidated state, it nonetheless remained the heart of the always present Latino population while sharing space with the Chinese, French, and Italian community. By the 1920s, the Plaza area missed complete annihilation by grand Beaux-Arts city planning and red-tagging by city officials through activist efforts fueled by romantic and idealized notions of early California history. Largely through the work of one woman, Christine Sterling, the Plaza in 1930 was saved and reinvented as an “Old Spanish” themed tourist attraction, complete with shops, restaurants, and vendors along adjacent Olvera Street.... Read More →

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Conference Digest: Wrapping Up, Not Winding Down

Posted on: October 24th, 2011 by Guest Writer 1 Comment

Written by Tatum Taylor

Looking through the stained glass at Frank Lloyd Wright's Darwin Martin House. (Photo: National Trust for Historic Preservation)

My first Preservation Conference ended as breathlessly as it began -- but it isn’t over. I now have a chance to pause and reflect, and I know I will continue to do so in the coming days. The conference was truly a preservation whirlwind, and given all of the educational sessions, field sessions, plenaries, and tours filling over 50 pages of program listings, it is likely that no two preservationists took identical paths through the conference. This array of options allowed us to pursue the individual interests that make up our incredibly multidisciplinary field. Based on my own conference path, here is my conclusion about some of the affinities that we ultimately have in common.

Buildings: Okay, this one is self-evident; let’s admit that we are all possessed with an affection for the built environment that might seem borderline-obsessive to people from outside the field. And this year's Preservation Conference location made our ardor even more apparent: Buffalo has a giant wooly mammal’s share of lovable buildings. More than aesthetic admiration alone, we share a calling to instill new life in buildings, from the Guaranty’s double rehabilitations, which the restoration architect called “making a silk purse out of a silk purse,” to the historic properties of “Sacred Sites Renewed,” which have escaped threat by adapting to new uses like event venues and apartments while retaining religious services.

Stories: At the heart of much of the preservation work discussed at the conference was storytelling. The new interpretation plan at Buffalo’s Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site was based on the premise of visitors’ path through the house following a narrative storyline, with historic figures viewed as characters. The “Beyond Stonewall” panelists pointed out that hundreds of sites already on the National Register could and should be reinterpreted to reflect connected stories of the LGBT community. Sites related to the Underground Railroad in Ontario brought to light the stories of another previously underrepresented group. And all of the educational sessions centered on preservationists’ stories of their experiences in the field.

Food: My sense of the extent of preservationists’ love of food began as I followed #presconf on Twitter while awaiting my delayed flight to Buffalo and saw references to the scent of cinnamon buns floating through the Opening Plenary. I soon discovered the practical applications of our culinary addictions. At the TR Inaugural Site, sound effects of clinking china and coffee smell generators make the dining room come alive for visitors. Another session showed how house museums can be reimagined as sustainable sites, and food is the key. The Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture, for example, promotes the local food movement through agricultural production at the historic Woodlawn property.

Change: This one might seem contradictory to a certain view of preservation as resisting the effects of time, but that view vastly oversimplifies the goals of our field. Every one of the sessions I attended focused on change as a necessary tool. The TR Site, aiming to create a “transformative experience” for visitors, first enacted transformation in its own interpretation. “Beyond Stonewall” called for change in the degree to which LGBT historic sites are officially recognized. And the sacred sites and sustainable house museums changed the way in which their spaces were used in order to maximize their relevance and contributions to their communities.

One another: I’ve heard it said that preservation is a field full of labors of love. As I interacted with thousands of preservationists this week, I witnessed their undeniable willingness to collaborate and swap ideas out of genuine interest, respect, and perhaps the security of a mutual appreciation for why signage or section drawings or shingles can be so awfully exciting. The Preservation Conference was like a family reunion where you find yourself mingling with the aunts and uncles and third-cousins-once-removed that you didn’t quite realize you had, but you are immediately aware that something at the level of your blood unites you. While I was sorry to see the conference end, I left feeling energized to share the preservation fervor of the conference with the rest of the world, knowing that a slew of amazing comrades, colleagues, and friends are on my side.

Tatum Taylor is a second-year student in the Historic Preservation graduate program at Columbia University. She tweets as @heritagewriter and blogs about preservation and place-based heritage at storybuilding.