Power in Preservation Exhibit!

I'm thrilled to announce my inclusion in Dumbarton House’s Power in Preservation Exhibit!

“The Power in Preservation exhibit is a celebration of the role that women have historically played, and continue to play, in the broad field of preservation.”

Image of the Power in Preservation Exhibition Source: Dumbarton House

"The exhibition is a celebration of women’s contributions to the field of historic preservation and features 10 extraordinary preservationists."

Tiny Jane Jacobs is featured alongside objects that represent the journeys of 10 other women working in historic preservation today. The Power in Preservation Exhibit will be available for viewing in person and virtually. 

In support of the exhibition, you can join me on May 4, 2020, for a virtual celebration of Jane Jacobs’ 105th Birthday! Visit this link to learn more and register.

Click here to view the virtual exhibit or schedule a time to visit in person.

Click here to join the virtual Power in Preservation exhibit opening.

Cultural Conversations w/ the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation

I was invited by the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation to be a part of their video series and to “discuss ways to maximize your reach with different audiences through unconventional storytelling. Many of these approaches and strategies focus on stories of hidden histories and underrepresented peoples and places.”

Hope you will enjoy watching this storytelling pep-talk!

Dismantle Preservation v.2.1

Save the Date/ Submit Ideas for #DismantlePreservation v.2.1

In 2020, #DismantlePreservation launched to encourage conversations to help us collectively reconsider what historic preservation is and could be - as a practice and a profession. It has grown to become a nationally recognized initiative, recently being recognized by the National Council on Public History with an Honorable Mention for Excellence in Consulting.

#DismantlePreservation is coming back July 26-30, 2021! This year’s unconference will work to continue pushing cultural resource conversations in a range of directions and strives to exclusively feature current students/recent graduates (up to 2 years out from highest degree, certification, or educational intensive pursued*). People of all educational backgrounds are encouraged to submit an idea. Visit this link to learn more!

*An educational intensive does not have to be something hosted by an academic organization. Some examples of what qualifies: Victorian Society in America's Summer School, City of San Antonio's Wood Window Restoration Certification, or the ARCUS Fellows Program.

Recipient of National Council on Public History Award

The National Council on Public History recognizes a range of work being done in the field by students, academics, nonprofit workers, etc. every year during their annual Public History Awards. My projects - Crafting Herstory (aka Craft Her Story) and Dismantle Preservation were recognized with an honorable mention in the Excellence in Consulting category. To learn more about the awards and the 2021 recipients visit this link.

Tiny Activist Project Featured in Columbus Underground

“If you found out that only 8% of designated historic sites represented the history of minority populations (women, people of color, LGBTQIA), what would you do about it?

Sarah Marsom, a Heritage Resource Consultant, decided to make educational fabric dolls, under her Tiny Activist Project. With the project, she seeks to highlight lesser-known stories of people who fought to save cultural resources.” Click here to keep reading!

Tiny Activist Project Featured in Metropreneur

“Do you have a business idea that would really take off if you could design and print custom fabrics? That’s the scenario Sarah Marsom, a Heritage Resource Consultant, found herself in a few years ago. That’s also the scenario that Spoonflower hopes to solve. “As a Heritage Resource Consultant I am always looking for new ways to help people understand the value of history and to connect them to places from the past,” says Marsom. “Spoonflower has allowed me to fuse my work with my passion for creating with textiles.” 

Her passion for historical preservation led her to found the Tiny Activist Project, fabric dolls inspired by advocates for the built environment” Click here to keep reading.

Tangible Remnants Podcast

Big thanks to Nakita Reed for inviting me to be a guest on the Tangible Remnants podcast! Tangible Remnants is “a podcast that explores the interconnectedness of architecture, historic preservation, sustainability, race & gender.” It was such a pleasure to talk with Nakita and I cannot believe how much we covered in 30minutes: Rust Belt takeovers, #DismantlePreservation, storytelling, labor equity, etc..

You can find episodes of Tangible Remnants on Spotify, Apple, Google, etc. - all the places you listen to podcasts. Click here to listen and to view the show notes.

Recipient of the Dan Holland Promise Award

One pro to the pandemic, you do not have to get dressed up for an award ceremony!

In December 2020, the Young Preservationists Association recognized my work in the historic preservation movement by honoring me with the Dan Holland Promise Award. I'm grateful for YPA's support of my work both in the Rust Belt region and beyond.

If you want to learn more about the Young Preservationists Association, I recommend reading about their efforts to preserve the National Negro Opera House in Pittsburgh.

Building a Foundation for Action: Anti-Racist Historic Preservation Resources

The Building a Foundation for Action: Anti-Racist Historic Preservation “resource list is conceived and managed as part of the Urban Heritage, Sustainability, and Social Inclusion Initiative, a collaboration of the Columbia GSAPP Historic Preservation Program, the Earth Institute - Center for Sustainable Urban Development, and The American Assembly, with support from the New York Community Trust. The need for deep, structural shifts in preservation policy to confront exclusion and the challenges of climate change was the impetus behind the establishment of the Initiative, and this resource list is envisioned as a critical tool in that endeavor. “

“This document is a work-in-progress to collectively compile resources to further anti-racism efforts in the field of historic preservation. This list is intended to support and engage the preservation field writ large, including policymakers, managers, practitioners, researchers, community organizers, advocates, and others. Educators and students, however, are envisioned as critical users and collaborators. Institutions of higher learning have an affirmative obligation to advance knowledge, challenge paradigms, and experiment with new approaches as they prepare the next generation of heritage professionals.”

Two sessions from the #DismantlePreservation Virtual Conference are included in this resource guide: “Expanding the Preservation Narrative: From Research to Action.” and ““Identifying and Tackling Implicit Bias in Preservation.”

To view the full resource guide CLICK HERE.

#DismantlePreservation: (un)Official 40 Under 40

#DismantlePreservation was launched in 2020, to advocate for change in the preservation movement. Together we have advocated for labor equity via salary transparency and have had conversations on a WIDE range of topics. In 2021, the labor equity campaign will continue and who knows what other directions #DismantlePreservation will go. Today we celebrate 40+ people who are pushing preservation in new directions. The #DismantlePreservation: (un)Official 40 Under 40 list is comprised of people and groups who work in cultural resources in a wide variety of ways - parks, museums, nonprofits, government, consulting, development etc.. * These are people who are doing inspiring work; they are people from whom we could all learn. They are part of the future of the historic preservation movement.

Adesbah Foguth

“Adesbah Foguth is Diné, a member of the Navajo Nation, and of the Two Waters Flow Together Clan. Adesbah holds a BA in English & Philosophy and masters degree in Public Archaeology from the University of New Mexico. She has worked as a public school teacher on the Navajo Nation, as an archaeologist in northern New Mexico, and is currently a federal park ranger. Adesbah is the creator of the Native Power Rangers Instagram page, an educational page dedicated to decolonizing federal parks and public lands, highlighting Indigenous park rangers, and enhancing awareness and understanding of Indigenous culture and history.”

Link(s): Native Power Rangers Instagram

Photo Credit/Source: Adesbah Foguth

Ang Li

“Ang Li is an architect and Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture at Northeastern University. Her research and creative practice investigate the maintenance practices and material afterlives of the contemporary building industry.

Ang has participated in exhibitions at the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum in Milwaukee, the Echo Art Fair in Buffalo, and the Lisbon Architecture Triennale. Her writing and work have been published in Log, Clog, Thresholds, Manifest, Abitare, Wired, and Blueprint. Before joining the faculty at Northeastern she was a Visiting Artist at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the 2015–16 Peter Reyner Banham Fellow at the University at Buffalo. She holds a BA in architecture from the University of Cambridge and an M.Arch. from Princeton University.”

Link(s): Ang Li’s Website

Ang Li’s Instagram

Photo Credit/Source: angliprojects.com

Alissa Shelton 

Alissa Shelton is a facilitator, citizen-developer, and community activist in Hamtramck, an enclave of Detroit, MI. She was most recently the first Executive Director at Brick + Beam Detroit, an organization which grows capacity and community around home repair and building rehabilitation. Before coming to B+BD, she was the Director of Training for Incremental Development Alliance, a nonprofit focused on citizen-led real estate development, where she worked on the national workshop and training series.
She is the owner and co-founder of 1920s corner bank building, turned Chop Suey restaurant, turned community space. From 2015-2020 Bank Suey was an experiment in how we use main street spaces, exploring layered uses and curated programming-- hosting over 200 gatherings with 3000+ attendees, in partnership with 60+ community groups. The space has now evolved to solely house Book Suey, a co-operatively run book store.

Alissa consults on creative-driven real estate projects, and is currently working on finding a home for The Zimbabwe Cultural Center of Detroit.
She and her partner are stewards of a 100+-year-old Hamtramck duplex, which they rent out, and are in the process of fixing up a 1923 bungalow, where they live. She is a Licensed Builder in the state of Michigan, a 2017 Salzburg Global Fellow (Young Cultural Innovator seminar), and holds a BSc. in Psychology from Wayne State University.
Alissa is endlessly curious and committed to how we build places together- both physically and through community.

Link(s): Alissa Shelton’s Instagram

Bank Suey Website

Photo Source/Credit: Alissa Shelton

Briana Grosicki 

“Briana Grosicki is Associate Principal at PlaceEconomics. In this capacity, she helps balance the firm’s unabashed pursuit of analytical research with practical steps to maximize productivity. Grosicki is a self-proclaimed local government nerd and won’t turn down the chance to see the inside of a historic building. Her thorough knowledge of municipal preservation programs, civic data, real estate development, and advocacy add value to PlaceEconomics work and the preservation field.  

Grosicki is active on a national stage as the Chairwoman of Preservation Action and on the Board of Directors for the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions. She is also a member of the Revolving Fund Committee for Historic Savannah Foundation. She previously served as Chair on her local municipal historic preservation commission in Muncie, Indiana and led a citywide parcel survey called ScoutMuncie. In 2019, she was honored with the Dick Greene Memorial Historic Preservation Award for Promoting Historic Preservation in Muncie. Grosicki received a self-designed BS in the Study of the Built Environment from the College of William and Mary and an MS in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania. She currently lives in Savannah, GA in a 1919 home with her husband, daughter, and dog.”   

Link(s): Briana Grosicki’s LinkedIn

PlaceEconomics Website

Photo Credit/Source: Briana Grosicki

Caitlin Meives

“Caitlin Meives is the Director of Preservation at The Landmark Society of Western New York, a regional not-for-profit historic preservation organization based in Rochester and serving a nine-county area in western New York. Caitlin holds a M.S. in historic preservation from the University of Vermont and B.A. in history and Spanish from the University of Rochester. Prior to her employment at The Landmark Society in 2010, she served as the Survey Coordinator at the Kansas State Historic Preservation Office. In her position at The Landmark Society, Caitlin works directly with municipal officials, developers, neighborhood and community advocates, and property owners of all types to assist in the rehabilitation and revitalization of historic buildings, structures, landscapes, and communities. She is also the co-founder and President of The Landmark Society’s Young Urban Preservationists.”

Link(s): Caitlin Meives’ Instagram

Photo Credit/Source: Caitlin Meives

Cheyney McKnight

“Cheyney is the Living History Coordinator at New-York Historical Society as well as owner of Not Your Momma’s History, a public history consulting business that aids museums, historical sites, historical societies, and private businesses in developing specialized programing about the African experience within 18th and 19th century America. She trains staff from all backgrounds on how to talk about slavery with diverse audiences.

She has interpreted 18th, early 19th and mid 19th century slavery as a Living Historian in 26 states, and has worked with over 45 historic sites. Cheyney uses her costuming and research to make connections between past and present events through performance art pieces.”

Link(s): Not Your Momma’s History Website

Cheyney McKnight’s Instagram

Photo Source/Credit: Cheyney McKnight

Danei Cesario 

“Danei Cesario AIA, RIBA, NCARB, NOMA is the 333rd black female architect in American history. Hailing from Manchester, England, she became enamored at an early age with New York City’s intricacies + architectural prestige. She is an internationally licensed architect, project manager, + public speaker. Equipped with exceptional communication and organizational skills, she thrives in both team-oriented and self-directed environments, diligently managing design from parti to post-occupancy. She is currently an Associate at SOM, leading dynamic mixed-use development, healthcare + wellness projects.

WALLEN+daub was born one late night while our founder, Danei Cesario, was at City College of New York, studying Architecture. She wanted to create a space in support of the brilliant contributors of architecture, STEM industries + design. This would be a space to educate through shared information + experiences, share their diverse stories to empower others, help to retain talent through engagement + encourage cross-pollination for expansion across our creative industries. The idea evolved at every step of her career.”

Link(s): WALLEN + daub Website

Wallen + daub Instagram

Photo Source/Cred: WALLEN + daub website

Daniel White

“Since completing his thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in September 2017, Daniel “The Blackalachian” White has been challenging himself to keep getting outside. In 2018, he biked the Underground Railroad from Alabama to Canada. This past year, White completed the Great Outdoors Challenge, a coast-to-coast hike across Scotland, and the Camino del Norte, a 518-mile trek along the northern coast of Spain. As for what’s next, he’s still trying to decide what 2020 will look like. 

“Either I’m trying to hike 5,000 miles or buy land to start a homestead in Maine, which can also double as a summer camp/educational skills retreat for at-risk youth,” White said. “Whatever funding allows.””

Link(s): The Blackalachian Instagram

The Blackalachian Youtube

Photo Source/Credit: Daniel White

Daniel Luis Martinez

“Daniel Luis Martinez is an architectural designer and educator. He has worked at leading architectural firms in New York, including Allied Works and Weiss/Manfredi, and has contributed to the design and realization of projects rooted in the arts, education, creative disciplines, and horticulture. Daniel is currently an assistant professor at Indiana University’s J. Irwin Miller Architecture Program. He was a 2019 Exhibit Columbus University Design Research Fellow and the recipient of an AIA Henry Adams Medal in 2012. His research focuses on the development of multi-disciplinary design methods and his writing has been published in notable journals, such as Mas Context, San Rocco, Clog, Project Journal and Engawa.”

Link(s): LAA Office Website

LAA Office Instagram

Photo Source/Credit: LAA Office Website

Darryl Reano

“Darryl Reano is a geologist and geoscience educator from Acoma Pueblo, an Indigenous community in New Mexico. His B.S. degree is in geology from New Mexico State University. Darryl completed his M.S. (geology) and Ph.D. (geoscience education) in the Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science Department at Purdue University. 

Darryl’s dissertation focused on creating introductory geoscience educational materials that are place-based and culturally relevant for Indigenous students. This project involved the use of Indigenous Research Frameworks, which bring a sociohistorical perspective to creating more holistic approaches to teaching and learning that are also equitable and inclusive.

Darryl has also mentored many undergraduate and graduate students through various programs such as the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership (SIGP), the Alliance for Graduate Education through the Professoriate (AGEP), and the Indigenous Integration of Aquatic Science and Traditional-Ecological-Knowledge for Undergraduate Culturally Responsive Education (i-NATURE) program. Darryl regularly presents his research at conference gatherings including: the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), the Geoscience Alliance, the American Educational Research Association, the Geological Society of America (GSA), and the American Geophysical Union.”

Link(s): Darryl Reano’s Twitter

Photo Source/Credit: Florida International University

Death to Museums

Death to Museums is an unconference created by emerging professionals who graduated from a museum studies master’s program amidst a global pandemic. It is a monthly dialogue series that promotes solidarity and exchange among museum workers through wide-ranging workshops, presentations, and social activities. We hope that Death to Museums can become a platform to share ideas and concerns while brainstorming ways to push the field forward. Follow us @deathtomuseums on Twitter and Instagram for updates, and catch up on our sessions on Youtube.

June Ahn (she/her/hers)
June is a Chicago-based museum educator, program facilitator, and illustrator. She received her B.A. in Biological Sciences and Landscape Studies from Smith College and M.A. in Museum and Exhibition Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has worked at laboratories at the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew and the University of Chicago. Her graduate research at the University of Illinois at Chicago focused on creating informal plant education opportunities for students in collaboration with the UIC Plant Research Laboratory. The series of 23 programs consisted of interdisciplinary collaborations with artists, educators, and scientists that centers visitor accessibility. She has coordinated community science events for the Field Museum of Natural History and is currently the Sustainability and Green Space Coordinator at the National Public Housing Museum.

Rose Cannon (she/her/hers)
Rose is a Chicago-based arts administrator and museum educator currently working as the Administrative & Marketing Coordinator for the Midwest Chapter of the American Association of Media Photographers (ASMP). Rose is primarily interested in expanding access to creative resources and careers in the arts through alliances between art spaces, schools, non-profits, and social service organizations. To this end, her graduate research took the form of a partnership with Chicago non-profit One Heart One Soul and young adults with lived experience of homelessness to organize an exhibition at a university gallery. Previously, Rose has worked at the Bay Area Discovery Museum, the Oakland Museum of California, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, and the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. She received her B.A. in the History of Art & Visual Culture from the University of California at Santa Cruz and her M.A. in Museum and Exhibition Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Emma Turner-Trujillo (she/her/hers)
Emma is a Chicago-based museum collections specialist. She received her B.A. in Mesoamerican Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles, and received her M.A. in Museum and Exhibition Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has worked in a number of museums, including the Getty Museum and the National Veterans Art Museum, and is presently the assistant registrar in anthropology at the Field Museum of Natural History. Her research interests include indigenous Mexican codices, the history of pre-Columbian collections in the United States, and repatriation of looted burial goods. Her graduate project led to the creation of the Ancient American Provenance Database, which digitally reunited collections of Andean ceramics housed in geographically distant locations across the United States and Europe.

Link(s): Death to Museums Website

Death to Museums Twitter

Death to Museums YouTube

Deland Chan

“Deland Chan is an educator, researcher, and urban planner. Her work bridges the fields of urban studies and environmental studies to understand urbanization pathways and cities as the future home to over two-thirds of humanity. Deland was appointed to serve on the San Francisco Planning Commission in May 2020.

As Director of Community Engaged Learning in the Program on Urban Studies at Stanford, Deland teaches project-based classes where students collaborate with non-profit organizations and government agencies on sustainability projects. In 2014, she co-founded the Stanford Human Cities Initiative as a platform to encourage cross-disciplinary approaches to tackle urban challenges. Before Stanford, Deland previously worked as a Senior Planner at the Chinatown Community Development Center in San Francisco and led transportation and land use planning efforts.

Deland received a B.A with honors in Urban Studies and an M.A. in Sociology from Stanford University, and a Master in City Planning from the University of California at Berkeley. She is pursuing a DPhil in Sustainable Urban Development at the University of Oxford funded by the Clarendon Scholarship to research grassroots sustainability initiatives in Asian American immigrant communities through a political economy and intersectionality lens. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a LEED Accredited Professional. A native New Yorker who has called the Bay Area home for 15+ years, Deland enjoys exploring cities by bicycle and running half-marathons.”

Link(s): Deland Chan’s Website

Deland Chan’s Twitter

Photo Source/Credit: Deland Chan’s Website

Desiree Aranda

“Desiree Aranda is an independent cultural heritage consultant and planner based in Phoenix, Arizona. She is also a co-founder and co-chair of the national nonprofit, Latinos in Heritage Conservation. Previously, she worked at the San Francisco Planning Department as a preservation planner and for San Francisco Heritage as a project manager and later, deputy director. For the past decade, her work has focused on documenting and elevating stories and important places associated with communities of color and other marginalized social groups. While in San Francisco, she helped formulate and pass legislation that established the city's Legacy Business Program and the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District. Currently, she is working with Chispa Arizona to advocate for the preservation of the state's diverse public lands. Desiree earned a bachelor’s of arts in sociology and women’s studies from the University of Georgia and a master’s of science in planning from the University of Arizona. She is an alumna of the ROHO Advanced Oral History Institute at the University of California, Berkeley and the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Leadership Institute.”

Link(s): Desiree Aranda’s LinkedIn

Latinos in Heritage Conservation Website

Latinos in Heritage Conservation Instagram

Photo Source/Credit: Desiree Aranda

Donald Boerger

“My name is Donald Boerger, I am a graduate of The Ohio State University, where I earned a degree in Regional & City Planning. I live in Marysville, Ohio where I currently serve as the city councilman for ward 4. My ward encompasses the majority of Marysville’s Historic District where I currently live in my great grandmother’s 119 year old home. I attended my first city council meeting when I was 12 to ask council and administration to create public policy to preserve and maintain our community’s aging architecture. I became the youngest Planning Commission member to serve the City of Marysville. I continued to use my resources to serve on several boards and commissions where I was able to work alongside Union County commissioners, Union County Chamber of Commerce, and Marysville City staff to create a Marysville’s Historic District master plan.  In 2019, I made the decision to successfully run for Marysville’s City Council Ward 4 representative.   

I have become a human seal for my community. I am a public servant, tour guide, and city zealot.”

Link(s): Donald Boerger’s Instagram

DonaldBoerger’s LinkedIn

Photo Source/Credit: Donald Boerger

Dox Thrash House

“This project takes on the design justice practice platform developed to establish a socially and environmentally just code of ethics for operating as designers of the built environment. This initiative is black led and acknowledges our role and responsibility in creating spaces of racial, cultural, and class equity. The project will mitigate the years of disinvestment into this community by the city- and revive the cultural life in this section fo the city. The goals are to save the Dox Thrash House and secure its economic future along the Cecil B. Moore business corridor, as well as secure and sustain current residents of the Sharswood neighborhood to remain in their homes and community by preserving their lived past and bringing in new black businesses that reflect their values and chosen needs.”

Project led by Maya Thomas, Andrea Haley, Chris Mulford, and Dana Rice

Link(s): Dox Thrash House Website

Dox Thrash House Instagram

Photo Source/Credit: Dox Thrash Ioby Campaign

Erin Claussen

“I’m Erin, an archaeologist who’s evolved into a preservationist and small real estate developer. Since I was very little I’ve been drawn to things that are old and the stories attached to them, made up or true. And mysteries. Now I dig up clues, in archives, in walls, from the ground sometimes still too (archaeologist first) to help write the histories of places and things. I get to see that they’re understood and preserved for the future. And in the process of working on my own old home and my real estate development projects, I get to play with my preoccupation since early adulthood, design, at all levels: object, room, building, site, neighborhood, city. It’s been a winding path, but I couldn’t be more thrilled to have arrived “here”, including Toledo, Ohio.

I have a B.A. in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.A. in Anthropology, Historical Archaeology from Western Michigan University. I am the founder and principal of Toledo Revival, a heritage management consulting and real estate development company. I’m also a co-founder of Preserve Toledo, a non-profit supporting historic preservation in Toledo and Northwest Ohio through education, advocacy, and action. Finally, I am one of the newest board members of Heritage Ohio.”

Link(s): Toledo Revival Website

Toledo Revival Instagram

Photo Source/Credit: Toledo Revival Website

Housing JV

“John Delia is Co-Founder and CEO of Housing Joint Venture. He specializes in repositioning value-added properties in inner cities across the American Midwest. An expert deal maker and strategist, he began his career in real estate at age 18. He is the author of Life, Liberty n’ Property: A Guide to Successful Real Estate Investing. John actively manages a portfolio that houses residents from 4 continents and is valued in excess of $1.5 million. He resides in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife Richelle and their miniature Goldendoodle puppy.

Richelle Delia, Ph.D. is Co-Founder and COO of Housing Joint Venture. Dr. Delia advocates for impact real estate investing as a tool for building wealth through speaking engagements, leading investor education and seeking strategic partnerships.

With experience as a materials scientist, investor and Fulbright scholar, she brings technical expertise in building materials development and practical know-how from redeveloping over $2 million of property for her personal investment portfolio. Dr. Delia holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and lives in Columbus OH with her husband John.”

Link(s): Housing JV Website

Housing JV Instagram

Richelle Delia’s LinkedIn

John Delia’s LinkedIn

Photo Source/Credit: Housing JV Website

House of Tulip

“House of Tulip is a Community Land Trust launched in the summer of 2020 to create housing solutions for trans and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) people in Louisiana.”

“We’re building community.

We’re raising funds to buy and restore a multi-family property in an area of New Orleans that’s accessible to health care and employment opportunities. This will be our pilot permanent housing campus, and it will house up to 10 TGNC people at a time.

In addition, we’re working to acquire a separate space that can serve as a community center where TGNC people can safely access social safety net navigation, community programming, a hot meal, a shower, or a safe place to just hang out or do schoolwork. “

“We are Milan Nicole Sherry, Mariah Moore, Sultana Isham, Camilla Marchena, Dylan Waguespack, and Ben Collongues.”

Link(s): House of Tulip Website

House of Tulip Instagram

Photo Source/Credit: House of Tulip Website

Huy Pham

“Huy Pham graduated from Ball State University with master's degrees in Historic Preservation and Communication Studies. Since joining the City of San Antonio's Office of Historic Preservation three years ago, he has had the privilege of working with like-minded team members to innovate processes in local government and public outreach in order to bring historic preservation into the 21st century. Between managing hundreds of traditional design review cases every year, Huy also coordinates with other city departments and national wireless providers to find sensible solutions for 5G roll out in protected urban corridors and historic districts. With an apparent spark for technology and The Internet™, Huy also produces content for the Office of Historic Preservations's growing YouTube channel HPTV for recorded workshops, webinars, testimonies, and occasional programming such as "Historic Reservations: Exploring San Antonio's Food Culture in Adaptive Reuse and Legacy Businesses". As the youngest member of Preservation Action, a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization created in 1974 to serve as the national grassroots lobby for historic preservation, and the Power of Preservation, a coalition of advocates, businesses, neighborhoods, and agencies interested in promoting the literal “power” of preservation in San Antonio, Huy is thankful to the old guard for consistently encouraging and implementing his new ideas.”

Link(s): Huy Pham’s LinkedIn

Photo Source/Credit: Huy Pham

Jerald Cooper

“Launched in December 2019, @hoodmidcenturymodern catapulted to fame as Instagram’s leading Black voice in architecture. HOOD CENTURY fills an industry gap as a preservation society for the streets, centering communities traditionally excluded from the conversation. This is preservation for us, by us.

With HOOD CENTURY, Jerald Cooper utilizes pop culture and classic hip-hop imagery from an architectural and design point-of-view with the intention of introducing a new audience to architecture discourse, and in doing so, generating a new way of connecting his followers to their built environment.”

Link(s): Hood Century Website

Hood Century Instagram

Photo Source/Credit: Jerald Cooper

The Jingle Dress Project Dancers 

Conceptualized by photographer Eugene Tapahe, the #DismantlePreservation: (un)Official 40 Under 40 list would specifically like to honor the dancers who been a part of this project - Dion Tapahe, Erin Tapahe, Joanni Begay, and Sunni Begay.

“Our project originated from a dream to unite the beauty of the land and the healing power of the jingle dance during these uncertain times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The origin of the jingle dance to the Ojibwe people happened during the influenza pandemic of 1918-19. It came as a dream to a father whose daughter was sick with the virus. His dream revealed the new dress and dance that had the power to heal. When the dresses were made, they were given to four women to perform the dance. When the little girl heard the sound of the jingles, she became stronger. By the end of the night she was dancing too.

Our dream is to take this healing power to the land, to travel and capture a series of images to document the spiritual places where our ancestors once walked. Our goal is to unite and give hope to the world through art, dance and culture to help us heal together. We will travel the land and capture a series of powerful images to document spiritual places where our ancestors once walked. I hope you will join us on this spiritual journey, follow us on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK for project updates. If you have any questions EMAIL us.”

Link(s): Art Heals: The Jingle Dress Project Video

Art Heals: The Jingle Dress Project Website

Dion Tapahe’s Instagram

Erin Tapahe’s Instagram

JoAnni Begay’s Instagram

Sunni Begay’s Instagram

Photo Source/Credit: Tapahe Photography

Jordan Ryan

“Jordan Ryan is an interdisciplinary architectural historian, archivist, and activist-scholar working at the intersection of historic preservation, urban planning, marginalized communities, and the digital humanities. Their scholarship centers on displacement, redlining, urban highways, affordable housing, and LGBTQ historic sites. They have an MA in Public History from IUPUI and a BA in Art History from the Herron School of Art & Design. Ryan serves on the boards of Preserve Greater Indy (a Rust Belt Coalition of Young Preservationists’ affiliate) and the local historic neighborhood advocacy group, Historic Urban Neighborhoods of Indianapolis (HUNI). In their free time, Ryan enjoys - slowly - rehabbing an 1867 vernacular cottage in a downtown neighborhood.

Contact:
Ryan recently launched their own independent research consulting service, The History Concierge.”

Link(s): The History Concierge Website

Jordan Ryan’s Twitter

José Guadalupe Adonis González Rosales

“I am a professional educator with training in the fields of education and conservation while engaging in different artistic endeavors with art and messaging—often exploring the intersection of the environment and culture.

I play with design, words, science, and education—engaging in the interdisciplinary intersections of how we view and engage with the world. Be it a piece of art or scientific fact, I like to weave ideas with people while appreciating the beauty of it all.

I navigate through a self-created identity of a "Green Chicano" in a professional sense. In particular I am weaving through the roles of Conservationist/Environmentalist, Chicano, and Educator. Throw into the mix a bit about other things such as being Latino nerd, illustrator, and the like.”

Link(s): Jose González Website

Jose González Twitter

Jose González Instagram

Photo Source: Jose González Website

Kalpa Baghasingh

“Kalpa is a Senior Associate and Architect at Schooley Caldwell, one of the top ten architectural firms in central Ohio. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a dual masters degree in Architecture and Urban Planning, and with a specialization in Preservation. With this background, she provides a holistic and contextual approach to design, whether it is interior renovation, master planning or both. She has worked on a variety of building types, and manages complex projects with a keen sense of attention to detail. Many of Kalpa’s projects involve in-depth historical research, historic preservation tax credits, accessibility and code issues, and feasibility and space planning. Kalpa is passionate about protection of cultural heritage places, and has actively participated in local preservation communities. She is a founding board member of the non-profit group Young Ohio Preservationists, dedicated to bringing awareness and outreach to the younger generation and providing a network for emerging professionals. She currently lives in Seattle, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, a state-wide non-profit dedicated to saving the places that matter in Washington State and to promoting sustainable and economically viable communities through historic preservation. She calls herself an “accidental artist” and is a budding children's book illustrator. She loves to travel to lesser known places and adores handwritten letters.”

Link(s): Kalpa Baghasingh’s LinkedIn

Kalpa Baghasingh’s Instagram

Photo Source/Credit: Kalpa Baghasingh

Kristen Hayashi

“Kristen Hayashi is Director of Collections Management & Access and Curator at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. She is a public historian with experience ranging from collections and curatorial work in museums to board leadership for the Little Tokyo Historical Society (LTHS) and Asian Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation (APIAHiP). Her interest in the intersection of historic preservation and Japanese American history has led her to write several historic landmark designations on behalf of the Little Tokyo Historical Society at the local and federal levels. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in History from the University of California, Riverside and a B.A. in American Studies from Occidental College. “

Link(s): Kristen Hayashi’s LinkedIn

Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation

Little Tokyo Historical Society - Japanese Hospital Landmark Designation

Photo Source/Credit: Kristen Hayashi

Kristen Jeffers

“Kristen Jeffers was born and raised in Greensboro, NC as the only child of two parents who instilled in her the value of storytelling, well-made objects and a sense of place. Over a decade ago, she created The Black Urbanist, a multimedia platform that highlights Black Queer Feminist Urbanist design, planning and practice. And five years ago, in her first year of living outside of North Carolina,itching to honor the textile history of her hometown, and to have something to do as she adjusted to life on the road, she started Kristpattern, a surface pattern and yarn pattern venture. She has lectured all over the US and Canada on sustainable and inclusive urban design and she would love to have you pop in on a lesson at her online Black Queer Feminist Urbanist School or follow along as she creates designs you can carry with you no matter what over @kristpattern or @blackurbanist.”

Link(s): Kristen Jeffers Website

Kristen Jeffers Twitter

Kristen Jeffers Instagram

Photo Source/Credit: Kristen Jeffers

Lacey Wilson

“Lacey Wilson is the Site Manager for the Charlotte Hawkins Brown State Historic Site in Gibsonville, NC where she is honored to continue to tell the story or Dr. Brown and the Palmer Memorial Institute. Lacey holds an M.A. in History with a concentration in Museum Studies from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), where she collaborated on "Etched in Stone? Governor Charles Aycock and the Power of Commemoration," a permanent exhibition and winner of the 2019 Award of Excellence and the 2019 History in Progress Award from the American Association for State and Local History. Prior to the Hawkins Brown site, Lacey worked as a historic interpreter at the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters in Savannah, GA. teaching economics and politics in urban slavery from the 1810s to the 1850s. This work was highlighted in The New York Times and on NPR’s 1A radio show. She is an active member of the National Council of Public History, where she serves on the Advocacy Committee, and the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Additionally, she is an active member of the Black Interpreters Guild, promoting black interpreters' work across this country.”

Link(s): Lacey Wilson’s Twitter

Lacey Wilson’s LinkedIn

Photo Source/Credit: Hunter McRae

Laiken Jordahl

“Laiken Jordahl works with the Center for Biological Diversity to protect communities and wildlife throughout the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. He’s spent his recent years documenting Trump’s border wall rip through wilderness areas and endangered species habitat while mounting a movement of resistance to the administration’s assault on those who call the border region home. His written work has been featured in the New York Times, the Arizona Republic, the Austin American-Statesman and elsewhere. 

 Before joining the Center, Laiken worked as a naturalist with the National Park Service studying threats facing wilderness lands around the West. Working at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument — a remote wilderness area that’s become the epicenter of migrant death and disappearance in the borderlands — he was stunned to see Border Patrol agents driving thousands of miles off-road, crushing endangered species habitat and destroying sensitive landscapes with impunity, all while funneling hundreds of migrants to their deaths each year. This experience propelled him out of the bureaucratic world of wilderness policy and into his role as an activist with the Center.

When he’s not organizing protests and fighting creeping fascism along the border, Laiken spends his time playing chess, skateboarding and searching out backcountry hot springs. Laiken has also worked as a bike mechanic, a clam farmer, and a legislative fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives.”

Link(s): Laiken Jordahl’s Twitter

Photo Source/Credit: Laiken Jordahl

Lindsay Jones

“As the owner and CEO of Blind Eye Restoration, Lindsay has made a living out of her passion for old buildings and fine art. She started BER to offer her blended experience as a historical consultant and a contractor, and to share her passion about the environmental benefits and community development that preservation affords. Lindsay aims to help share these benefits with the general public through social engagement, educational workshops and speaking, and supporting younger generations (especially girls) who are interested in working in the preservation trades. Alongside leading her crew in completing their restoration work, Lindsay sits on the boards for the APT Eastern Great Lakes Chapter and Young Ohio Preservationists, was featured in Preservation Magazine, and regularly teaches educational workshops with Columbus Landmarks and Heritage Ohio.”

Link(s): Blind Eye Restoration Website

Blind Eye Restoration Instagram

Photo Source/Credit: Lindsay Jones

Lindsey Dotson

“Lindsey Dotson is the Main Street DDA Director in Charlevoix, Michigan - a summer tourist destination with a year round population of 2,500. She has a Masters in Historic Preservation from Eastern Michigan University and obtained her bachelors at Grand Valley State University. Lindsey is a certified Main Street America Revitalization Professional and prior to arriving in Charlevoix in 2016, she had worked in two other Michigan Main Street communities totaling over 8 years of experience in downtown management. Lindsey has a passion for downtown walkability/accessibility, public engagement, and the historic built environment. She volunteers as a member of the Charlevoix Historical Society Board and serves as the Buildings and Grounds chair. She also is the staff liaison for the City of Charlevoix's Historic District Commission and oversees operation of The Vault Co-Working Space. She loves living "up north" with her husband and their toddler son. Hobbies include enjoying the outdoors and doing hands-on restoration work with historic masonry and wood windows.”

Link(s): Lindsey Dotson’s LinkedIn

Photo Source/Credit: Lindsey Dotson

Meranda Roberts

“Meranda is Northern Paiute and Mexican-American. She earned her PhD at the University of California, Riverside in Native American Studies. Her doctoral work focused on how several Native women basket weavers have used basketry to express their sovereignty.

Meranda is at the Field Museum as Post Doctoral Fellow for the Native American Hall renovation. She is working on curating stories that could be told in the new hall, as well as provide feedback on how the museum can work more seamlessly with Indigenous people. Meranda is dedicated to having Native people tell their own stories and to fix the inaccurate portrayals that people have about our communities.”

Link(s): Meranda Roberts Website

Meranda Roberts Twitter

Meranda Roberts Instagram

Photo Source/Credit: Meranda Roberts Website

Niya Bates

“Niya Bates is a PhD student at Princeton University in the History Department. Her current research interests include U.S. slavery and Reconstruction, Black radicalism, genealogy of families enslaved in Virginia, and rural cultural preservation. She earned both a B.A. in African and African American Studies and an M.A. in Architectural History and Historic Preservation from the University of Virginia. For the past four years, she has served as the director of African American history at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, where she led the Getting Word African American Oral History Project. A focus of Niya’s work has been changing the way historic preservationists approach Black rural history. She views historic preservation as one means of providing reparations for Black communities while also preserving valuable cultural heritage in endangered and disappearing Black rural communities.”

Link(s): Niya Bates Twitter

Niye Bates LinkedIn

Photo Credit: Thomas Jefferson Foundation

Pascale Sablan

“Pascale Sablan, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP, With over 13 years of experience, she has been on the team for a variety of mixed-use, commercial, cultural & residential projects in the U.S. and globally. Currently a Senior Associate at S9ARCHITECTURE in New York. Pascale is the 315th living African-American female registered architect in the U.S. She is an activist architect who works to advance architecture for the betterment of society, bring visibility and voice to the issues concerning women and diverse designers. She founded the Beyond the Built Environment organization positioned to uniquely address the inequitable disparities in architecture. She was awarded the 2018 Pratt Alumni Achievement Award, BD+C 40 Under 40; featured on the cover of the 09/2017 issue. Pascale is a 2018 AIA National Young Architects Award Recipient. Pascale has given lectures at Colleges and Universities nationally; cultural institutions such as the United Nations and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.”

Link(s): Pascale Sablan’s Instagram

Beyond the Built Environment Website

Photo Source/Credit: Pascale Sablan

Pre-Vinylettes

“An offshoot of the Pre-Vinylite Society, the Pre-Vinylettes are a group of women, trans, and post-binary sign painters and lettering artists who celebrate diversity in this historically male dominated trade. The movement began with a collaboration between Meredith Kasabian and Shelby Rodeffer to curate The Pre-Vinylette Society: An International Showcase of Women Sign Painters, an exhibition of more than sixty international artists at the Chicago Art Department in September 2017, and has continued to grow in recent years. 
The name of our movement—the Pre-Vinylettes—is a tongue-in-cheek re-appropriation of the grammatical “ette” suffix, which typically denotes a female or smaller version of a male or more substantial (read: better) thing. As language is at the forefront of sign making, this movement allows for more women's, trans, and post-binary voices to be heard than most historical and even recent surveys of the trade have acknowledged. By re-appropriating the “ette” formation, the women, trans, and post-binary artists of the Pre-Vinylite Society assert their rightful place in the long tradition of sign painting and the lettering arts.’

Link(s): Pre-Vinylettes Website

Meredith Kasabian’s Website

Shelby Rodeffer’s Website

Meredith Kasabian’s Instagram

Shelby Rodeffer’s Instagram

Photo Source/Credit: Pre-Vinylettes Website

Raina Regan

“Raina Regan (she/her) is the author and creator of Uplifting Preservation, a monthly newsletter of uplifting ideas on how to improve historic preservation professional practice inspired by business, psychology, and self-help research. Uplifting Preservation is inspired by Raina's decade of professional experience in the historic preservation field, working for both nonprofit and government organizations. Raina hopes Uplifting Preservation can start conversations about how we can grow our professional practice by improving our personal perspective. As an advocate for mental health, Raina encourages the preservation field to cultivate mentally healthy workplaces to allow our passion as practitioners to be sustained. Currently, Raina is the Director of the Easement Program at the National Trust for Historic Preservation where she directs a national program of acquisitions and stewardship of preservation and conservation easements.”

Link(s): Uplifting Preservation Sign-Up

Raina Regan’s LinkedIn

Raina Regan’s Twitter

Photo Source/Credit: Raina Regan

Ron Griswell

“Ron is dedicated to connecting underserved communities with the outdoors. As a graduate of North Carolina A&T, he founded HBCUs Outside to close the adventure gap for HBCU students and alumni, and to facilitate outdoor brands working for a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive industry.

Ron has guided canoe, sea kayaking and whitewater rafting experiences across the USA in addition to leading hiking and backpacking trips. He has also directed adaptive outdoor recreational sports groups for people with cognitive and physical disabilities. 

An outdoor industry speaker and connector, Ron is a graduate of the Outdoor Industry Association's Skip Yowell Future Leadership Academy, a Children & Nature Network Natural Leader, past American Hiking Society Next Gen Trail Leader, and past campus ambassador for Outdoor Nation.”

Links: Ron Griswell’s Instagram

HBCU’s Outside Instagram

HBCU’s Outside Website

Photo Source/Credit: HBCU’s Outside Website

Schuyler Carter

“Schuyler S. Carter is a native of Muskogee, Oklahoma. She holds a Masters degree in Urban Planning from Alabama A&M University. There she completed her thesis which focused on planning process engagement of Historically Black Towns within Eastern Oklahoma. She is currently a first year student pursuing a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Science at Texas A&M University. Her major research interests include historically black settlements, museum curation and heritage/place preservation specifically related to the historic communities settled by former slaves, black indigeneity and Afro-Native American culture, rural/unincorporated area planning, museum curation, archive management, grassroots archives, black placemaking, museum curation, African American museum curation and advocacy. She has been acknowledged on multiple occasions for her ongoing preservation projects in Oklahoma related to historically black communities. 

Despite her young age, Schuyler has been doing family research since 2009. Prior to entering into her doctoral program, Schuyler has dedicated a significant amount of time researching her family history and was able to successfully nominate her great grandfather, Rev. L.W. Thomas’ home in Summit, Oklahoma to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In effort to expand the narrative of African Americans in America, Schuyler established the online Millennial Archivist brand. This platform is aimed at acknowledging the diversity in African American heritage as well as encouraging younger generations to take interest in researching their own histories to see how they impact their own lives.”

Link(s): The Millennial Archivist Instagram

The Millennial Archivist Facebook

Photo Source: Millennial Archivist Facebook

Tejpaul Singh Bainiwal

“Tejpaul Singh Bainiwal is a PhD Candidate at the University of California, Riverside researching early Sikh American immigrants. He serves on the Board of Directors for Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation and has been working on preserving Sikh American history since 2015. Tejpaul is a historian for the Stockton Gurdwara and is working on a national oral history project on Sikh Americans.”

Link(s): Asian & Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation Website

Photo Source: Tejpaul Singh Bainiwal

Ty Ginter

“Ty Ginter (they/them) is a Queer historian and historic preservationist who has conducted a long and storied love affair with most things old and historic. They are the founder of D.C. Dykaries, an oral history and memory mapping project that aims to document lesbian spaces in Washington D.C.. Ty has a keen interest in urban planning, community development, and the effects of gentrification on communities and the built environment. For more information on D.C. Dykaries, visit @dykaries on facebook or email dcdykaries@gmail.com. “

Link(s): Ty Ginter’s Twitter

Ty Ginter’s Instagram

D.C. Dykaries Facebook

Photo Source/Credit: Ty Ginter

Woodward Throwbacks

“Woodward Throwbacks is a passion project turned business. Developed by Detroit residents, Bo Shepherd and Kyle Dubay as a way to furnish their apartments and clean up their streets. Their project began with them riding their bikes around the city searching for reusable materials. It quickly grew from a one-car garage operation to a 24,000-sq.-ft. facility and a nationwide brand that now employs six Detroit locals.

Detroit had over 80,000 abandoned buildings when Bo and Kyle started. Buildings that were full of usable materials and relics of our city’s great manufacturing history. As Woodward Throwbacks developed they focused on affordable sustainability through authentic products created from the collected materials. Being able to thoughtfully mass-produce products in Detroit was the goal. W.T. employs locals, is community driven, and is a model for modern manufacturing.”

Link(s): Woodward Throwbacks Website

Woodward Throwbacks Instagram

Photo Source/Credit: Woodward Throwbacks Website

*This list is not the definitive guide to next generation preservation leaders; it is a selection of people that you should follow, connect with, and learn from. Every individual/group was selected by me, Sarah Marsom; these are people who I think are badass. Everyone on this list was contacted prior to inclusion. This was not an easy list to make, because there are A LOT of people doing interesting work in preservation; making this list was important to me, it was important that we end 2020 with something empowering and inspiring. There will be another list at the end of 2021, so stay tuned!

What Needs to Change? Panel Discussion Recording

What Needs to Change? A panel discussion at the 2020 Providence Symposium, hosted by the Providence Preservation Society.

“Many regard the preservation field as being in the midst of a relevancy crisis — its systems outdated, its practices exclusionary, and its practitioners out of touch. In order for preservation to become more accessible and relevant to more communities and to survive into the future, deep change is necessary. But can we reform preservation or do we attempt to dismantle it and build anew? Can preservation ever be an instrument for addressing or advancing equity? What is the social responsibility of preservation, and what does accountability look like?”

Desiree Aranda, Co-Chair, Latinos in Heritage Conservation

Catherine Fleming Bruce, Activist and award-winning author of The Sustainers: Being, Building and Doing Good through Activism in the Sacred Spaces of Civil Rights, Human Rights and Social Movements

Sarah Marsom, Heritage resources consultant and organizer of #DismantlePreservation

Jeremy Wells, Associate Professor, Historic Preservation program in the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at the University of Maryland, College Park

Moderated by: Bonnie McDonald, President and CEO of Landmarks Illinois and Chair of the National Preservation Parners Network of the National Trust for Historic Preservation

Included in Preservation League of New York State's Gift Guide

“Tis the season for holiday gift-giving. If you are in need of some ideas for the preservationist, history nerd, or old house lover in your life, we’ve got you covered. It’s been a hard year for all the local shops and nonprofits that make our communities vibrant. We hope you consider shopping local (and early!) this holiday season whenever possible.” Click here to view the full list.

Article for the National Trust for Historic Preservation

How we interact with the built environment and buildings cultivates connections. Voting creates an opportunity for people to be in historic spaces they may never have visited otherwise. The National Trust for Historic Preservation invited me to share stories of polling places that I’ve been collecting. To read the full article and to admire places where people can cast a ballot - click here.

Preserving Women's Legacy Grant Recipient Training

Earlier this year the Indiana Humanities partnered with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) to launch the Preserving Women's Legacy Grant program. Setting up their grant recipients for success, the organizations coordinated an all day grant recipient educational workshop. Training included experts on communications, women's history in Indiana. I had the privilege of presenting on passive storytelling strategies (signage, interpretive art, etc.) and working with the workshop participants to brainstorm ways they can proactively connect people to places through special events, existing strategies, and more. It was truly a delight to be a part of this day and I cannot wait to see what the communities create. 

Click this link to learn more about the grant program, the grant recipient training program, and more!

San Francisco Heritage Features #DismantlePreservation

Innovation in historic preservation can sometimes feel like reinvention of the wheel. Let's instead reimagine our vehicles for change. The conversations that have occurred during #DismantlePreservation events have encouraged people to reevaluate our existing tools (ex: National Register of Historic Places and period of significance), but also to reimagine the field as a whole - what is historic preservation.

San Francisco Heritage mused on how to build a more inclusive preservation movement and included perspectives from #DismantlePreservation in their latest newsletter. Thank you for talking to me and for your thoughtful article Kerri Young and San Francisco Heritage! Click here to read the article (starts page 7).

Expanding Advocacy - Eliminating Silos

At some point along the historic preservation movement’s journey from its “founder” Ann Pamela Cunningham’s Mt.Vernon Ladies Association to today, the movement has created silos. Silos relegate public history as a different field than historic preservation. Yet, it is the stories of the people who have used or inhabited structures, that transform a house into a home or an industrial site into a factory. 

Architecture is an art form, but as historic preservationists we can at times focus too much on the design. The preservation structures created as a part of the National Historic Preservation Act (1966), such as the National Register of Historic Places and the Secretary of the Interiors Standards led to the development of a framework that can be limiting. Our constructs have led to trainings that have developed a strong understanding of architecture styles, the evolution of form, and the designers (not all building designers have been registered architects).

Reflecting on a Demolition:

The Shoreline Apartments (1974) in Buffalo, NY, were designed by acclaimed architect Paul Rudolph. This 142 unit complex provided a low-income housing opportunity for people to live in the heart of the city. I can easily find information about Paul Rudolph and the design itself, but I struggle to find information about who lived there. Who lived in this complex? What did they do? What did they think of the design? How did the design function for individuals and families who lived there?

There are so many people who turned these apartments into homes, but when I look for answers online - aside from learning about John Schmidt, the last resident of the Shoreline Apartments (evicted 01/2018), when I am looking to learn more about the residents, what I find is information about the architect, the design, maintenance issues*, and some background on Buffalo’s “urban renewal” efforts. 

As we continue to advocate for the value of historic preservation, we must reflect on how the movement began, what the constructs leave out, our self imposed silos, and our efforts today. Academic programs (and other trainings) in preservation are encouraging practitioners to look at places through a more equitable lens and to go beyond the design, but there are limitations based on the existing frameworks. Not everyone will connect to a structure's design (or its creator) and not everyone will connect to the history of a structures inhabitants (or users), but to increase preservation’s accessibility, we need to tell both stories. Public history and historic preservation are not separate fields. 

To learn more about the Shoreline Apartments:

“The Last Man Standing in a Doomed Buffalo Housing Complex” by Mark Bynes

Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation

** I want more information on these maintenance issues - what led to decline in this complex? Is this a Pruitt-Igoe situation? Did people move out because the complex was poorly maintained or was it poorly maintained and that caused people to move out? I am sure at least some of the locals could answer these questions, even if the answers aren’t online. 

Support Emerging Professionals Panel Discussion

Open doors for others. Physically/Metaphorically

On September 24, Deqah Hussein, urban history scholar and architectural historian; Kristina Damschen Spina, VP of Marketing for Indow; Sara Dickey, Associate Directory of Business Operations for More Than Words; and Sehila Casper, Heritage Tourism Program Coordinator for the City of Austin and Board Member for Latinos in Heritage Conservation had a conversation on how to foster the next generation of cultural resource workers and how being supported by these programs shaped their careers. Watch the video above to view a recording of the conversation.

As the field assesses how the practice can shift to better represent our communities, we must also ask ourselves how we can meaningfully cultivate and foster cultural resource workers. Internships, fellowships, scholarships, etc. all exist in our toolkits, but these tools should be reevaluated to better encourage people to consider pursuing a career in cultural resources or to feel supported and empowered to start a career in this field. It was a pleasure to moderate this panel discussion as a part of the #DismantlePreservation: Let’s Keep Talking series.

I would like to give a big thank you to Indow for sponsoring this session. Indow has supported emerging professionals through events at the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s conference - PastForward, launched the Window Zine, and coordinated their own internship programs. I appreciate their continued commitment to cultivate opportunities for emerging professionals.

To help you learn about scholarship/fellowship opportunities, best strategies to establish an internship program, and more, I worked with the speakers to create a resource guide! This list is meant to be a living document, so feel free to email me@sarahmarsom.com if you have any suggestions.

Program Development/Implementation Resources:

• Develop an Effective Internship Program

• FAQ for Organizations Starting a Scholarship Program, while this article focuses on academic scholarships the thought process can benefit other types of scholarship programs. 

• “Quar-interning”: choosing and managing a productive digital internship during COVID-19; you can also consider the possibilities of remote internships outside a pandemic

• Providing a Culturally Responsive Internship

• ELI Guidance on Mentoring: considerations and practices for a fruitful mentoring relationship between the mentor and ELI intern mentee.

• Virtual mentoring supplement: Tips & Resources to support a remote mentorship experience.

• Sample Internship Plan, shared by Thesis

Opportunities

This list is created in an effort to help people easily find opportunities that may help them as an emerging professional. Inclusion of these fellowships, grants, and scholarships is not an endorsement of any particular organization or program.

Fellowships/Grants/Internships: 

• American Antiquarian Society offers both Short Term and Long Term fellowships

• E. Geoffrey and Elizabeth Thayer Verney Fellowship: “In an effort to enhance the public’s knowledge and understanding of the heritage of Nantucket, Massachusetts, the Nantucket Historical Association offers an annual fellowship, the E. Geoffrey and Elizabeth Thayer Verney Fellowship.”

• Getty Foundation offers a variety of residential grants and fellowships for scholars from around the world. 

• Graham Foundation Individual Grants 

  • Production and Presentation:  “These grants assist individuals with the production-related expenses that are necessary to take a project from conceptualization to realization and public presentation. These projects include, but are not limited to, publications, exhibitions, installations, films, and new media projects.” 

  • Research and Development: “Research and Development Grants assist individuals with seed money for research-related expenses such as travel, documentation, materials, supplies, and other development costs. Projects must have clearly defined goals, work plans, and budgets.” 

• Harrison Goodall Preservation Fellowship: “The fellowship is a short-term opportunity to pursue a unique self-directed project under the guidance of a mentor. Fellows will receive recognition for a distinguished achievement while creating original preservation training content, performing research, or enhancing leadership and management skills.”  

• JMK Innovation Prize: “The J.M.K. Innovation Prize seeks out innovators who are spearheading transformative early-stage projects in the fields of the environment, heritage conservation, and social justice.” 

• Kress Foundation Fellowships: “Competitive fellowships supported by the Kress Foundation are awarded to art historians and art conservators in the final stages of their preparation for professional careers, as well as to students of art history and related fields who are interested in art museum education and curating.”

• Pocantico Center Preservation Fellowship: “The Pocantico Center Preservation Fellowship is a two-week residential fellowship in historic preservation that provides the opportunity to reside and work in the historic Marcel Breuer House at Pocantico Hills, NY” 

• Richard L. Binder Award: “The Richard L. Blinder Award will be presented biennially to an architect or other professional in a related historic preservation field for a proposal exploring architecture and preservation.” The Fitch Foundation also offers fellowships for mid-career professionals 

• Society Architectural Historians 

  • Annual Conference Fellowship: “Each year, SAH awards approximately $25,000 in fellowships to graduate students, international speakers, and independent scholars presenting at the SAH Annual International Conference. Each fellowship award is up to $1,000 and is a reimbursable stipend to be used to offset costs of conference registration and travel, lodging, and meals directly related to the conference. “

  • H. Allen Brooks Travelling Fellowship: “The Society of Architectural Historians’ prestigious H. Allen Brooks Travelling Fellowship will be offered for 2020 and will allow a recent graduate or emerging scholar to study by travel for one year.”

  • Research Fellowships

• Latino Heritage Internship Program: “The Latino Heritage Internship Program (LHIP), created by the National Park Service (NPS) and administered in partnership with Environment for the Americas, is designed to provide internship opportunities to young adults in diverse professional fields in the National Park Service. The program helps raise awareness of our national parks and historic sites, their accessibility, and the need for the Latino community’s involvement in their preservation.'‘

Scholarships: 

Ask academic institutions and local/statewide/regional/national conferences if there are scholarships available. For example, Eastern Michigan University offers a scholarship in partnership with the Detroit Area Art Deco Society for students pursuing a degree in historic preservation (link). 

• Association for Preservation Technology 

• APT Conference Student Scholarships: “Through the Student Scholarships Program, students from all areas of study in the field of historic preservation/conservation submit abstracts that illustrate research or a project that they have developed to address an aspect of preservation/conservation technology.  Scholarship recipient selection is based on: the quality of a submitted abstract; how well the concepts demonstrate excellence in the student’s area of study; a personal statement; and, the appropriateness of the subject to the Conference theme. “ 

• MARTIN WEAVER SCHOLARSHIP: The APT Student Scholarship Committee will award the Martin Weaver Student Scholarship to a student scholarship recipient as a research grant for $1,500 that is funded by the APT Endowment. 

• Historic Preservation Memorial Guild Scholarship: “This scholarship is for a student who intends to pursue a career in or closely related to historic preservation. The student may be in their undergraduate or graduate studies, majoring in order of preference, in historic preservation, architecture, or history education at an accredited university or college.” 

• National Trust for Historic Preservation

  • Diversity Scholarship: “The Diversity Scholarship Program supports the attendance of leaders from underrepresented communities new to preservation and of emerging preservation professionals at the National Trust's annual conference, PastForward.” 

  • Mildred Colodny Diversity Scholarship: “Up to $15,000 towards graduate school tuition; a paid summer internship with the National Trust following the student's first year of study; and support of the student's attendance at a National Preservation Conference or other National Trust training opportunity. “ 

• Act Six: A top-flight leadership development initiative offering full scholarships for emerging urban and community leaders who want to use their college education to make a difference on campus and in their communities at home.

• Oregon Specific:

  • Ignite: A scholarship program developed in partnership with Portland State University and Kaiser Permanente, Ignite supports pre-health students in reaching their healthcare career goals. Offering a network of support for service-minded diverse leaders, Ignite scholars provide mentoring for aspiring pre-health students.

  • City Builders: Creating scholarship opportunities, in partnership with Warner Pacific University, for students with passion and a vision to transform their community. City Builders awards are partial scholarships. To inquire more about how to apply, contact us at info@portlandleadership.org

• National Council on Public History offers student travel awards for their annual meeting: Student Project Award and the Student Travel Award.

• American Association for State and Local History offers:

  • Douglas Evelyn Scholarship for Diversity: “The scholarship includes annual meeting registration fee, a one-year individual membership in AASLH, and $700 toward travel and hotel expenses.”

  • Small Museums Scholarship: “scholarships to any AASLH members who are full-time, part-time, paid, or volunteer employees of small museums. Each $500 scholarship will cover the cost of the conference registration and the Small Museums luncheon. Any remaining funds may be used to offset travel and/or lodging expenses.”

• Victorian Society in America offers full and partial scholarships to attend their summer schools.

Places Journal Features #DismantlePreservation

Erasure of histories does not happen over night. Lindsay Mulcahy has been musing on erasure this summer and shared her thoughts on Places Journal.

“ Over the summer, I watched through my computer screen as bronze monuments to white supremacy and colonialism collided with pavement, and I stood in the streets witnessing the transformation of Los Angeles by graffiti, fire, and mass mobilizations.1 At the same time, across the field of historic preservation, undercurrents of dissent were gathering force. At the recent “#DismantlePreservationVirtual Unconference,” academics, practitioners, and activists gathered to confront the violence of historical erasure and capitalist accumulation that undergirds the field’s rigid enforcement of historicity as time-bound and subject to material integrity.2 But if there is much that deserves to be taken down, conference speakers also uplifted enduring legacies and current practices of resistance and restorative justice.3 As an aspiring practitioner in the discipline of heritage conservation, I have been sifting through yellowed ephemera in the archives and meandering down quiet streets in an attempt to cultivate my own contribution to this practice of “radical (re)imagination.” This is an essay about restoration; about uncovering layers of history and paint; about self-preservation and transformation through sisterhood and queer kinship.”

Click here to keep reading.

National Trust for Historic Preservation Features #DismantlePreservation

A few weeks ago Priya Chhaya, Associate Director of Content for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, reached out to discuss why I organized the #DismantlePreservation virtual unconference and connected with some of the speakers to find out what they think the future of historic preservation could/should look like. Priya thoughtfully put together these reflections in the piece, “Dismantle Preservation: Getting Serious about Building a New Model for the Field.”

“In late July 2020, preservationists from across the country gathered for the Dismantle Preservation Virtual Unconference. Organized and sponsored by Sarah Marsom a heritage resource consultant, this conference directly addressed some of the problematic areas of the preservation profession to encourage practitioners to confront and acknowledge  systems that hamper equity within the field. With panels that ranged from racial bias to mental health (and a quick project share at the end of the night called “Burning Down the House.”) the conference directly spoke to issues related to racial bias, the weaknesses brought forth by COVID-19 in terms of pay equity and recruitment, and mental health.

As a follow up to the conference, I reached out to Marsom and several of the speakers to ask about the future of the field, and what we, as a profession, need to act on as we go forward. Each of the featured speakers bring with them different experiences and expertise in the preservation field. Some are long time professionals who have made an impact in telling the full story through preservation, while others come to the practice with fresh eyes having just entered the field a few years ago. Learn more about the speakers and hear what they have to say—including what is next for the #DismantlePreservation series.”

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Elevating Unpopular Opinions Panel Discussion

On August 26, June Ahn, Rose Cannon, and Emma Turner-Trujillo; Co-Founders of Death to Museums, Jobie Hill; Preservation Architect and Founder of Saving Slave Houses, Bonnie McDonald; President & CEO of Landmarks Illinois, Zulmilena Then; Founder of Preserving East New York, and Liz Waytkus, Executive Director of Docomomo US came together to discuss strategies to elevate unpopular opinions. Click the video above to view a recording of the conversation.

Abandoned architecture along a backroad in Oregon.

I was delighted to organize this panel discussion as a part of the #DismantlePreservation: Let’s Keep Talking discussion series and would like to give a special thank you to Northwest Vernacular Historic Preservation Consulting for sponsoring this event.

To help you feel confident advocating for change, I worked with the speakers to create a resource guide! You’ll find organizations, articles, podcasts, and more below. This list is meant to be a living document, so feel free to email me@sarahmarsom.com if you have any suggestions.

Resources 

Organizations (in alphabetical order): 

• Asian & Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation - “APIAHiP’s mission is to protect historic places and cultural resources significant to Asian and Pacific Islander Americans through historic preservation and heritage conservation by: (1) creating an information-sharing network which can provide support for established and emerging historic preservation programs, and also to define issues; (2) establishing educational programs for raising public awareness and impacting historic preservation policy on local, state, and national levels; and (3) increasing public and private resources for building historic preservation capacity. The term "historic preservation” and “heritage conservation" are meant to include educational and community development activities involving the preservation, conservation, and protection of tangible and intangible historic and cultural resources.”

• Death to Museums-  “Death to Museums asks why save museums at all? The idea to “destroy” museums comes not from a place of hate. As museum workers, we see the untapped potential in museum collections and programs to challenge engrained ideologies rather than maintain them. However, we question the efficacy of changing museums from within when inequity is built into their core identity. As Tunde Wey, a New Orleans-based activist and artist, writes, “Can you renovate a burning house? Can you renovate a single room in a burning house?”” 

• Latinos in Heritage Conservation - “Founded in 2014, LHC is the leading organization for the preservation of Latina/o places, stories, and cultural heritage in the United States. We are a diverse network of intergenerational advocates conserving Latina/o sites and living cultures in the fabric of American society, affirming the value of our history in the hemispheric struggle for social justice.”

• Museum Hue - “Museum Hue is the leading organization dedicated to advancing Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color in the cultural field.”

• #MuseumWorkersSpeak - “#MuseumWorkersSpeak is an action-oriented platform for social change at the intersection of labor, access, and inclusion. [They] are a collective of activist museum workers interrogating the relationship between museums’ stated commitments to social value and their internal labor practices.” To date, their Museum Workers Relief Fund has granted $500 gifts to $100 museum workers who have been furloughed or laid off by large institutions. 

• National Organization of Minority Architects - NOMA’s mission, rooted in a rich legacy of activism, is to empower our local chapters and membership to foster justice and equity in communities of color through outreach, community advocacy, professional development and design excellence.

• Rainbow Heritage Network - The Rainbow Heritage Network (RHN) is a national organization for the recognition and preservation of sites, history, and heritage associated with sexual and gender minorities in the United States. This includes, but is not limited to, those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ). 

• Seize the Museums - “For full public control of all museums, libraries, archives, parks, and educational institutions”.

• Society of Black Archeologists - “The vision of the Society of Black Archaeologists (SBA) is to create a strong network of archaeologists that advocates to ensure the proper treatment of African and African diaspora material culture, promotes more people of African descent to enter the field of archaeology, ensures community collaborations, raises and addresses concerns related to African peoples worldwide, and highlights the past and present achievements and contributions people of African descent have made to the field of archaeology.”

• We Here - “We Here seeks to provide a safe and supportive community for Black and Indigenous folks, and People of Color (BIPOC) in library and information science (LIS) professions and educational programs, and to recognize, discuss, and intervene in systemic social issues that have plagued these professions both historically and continue through present time.”

Social Media Accounts You Should Follow: 

• AAM Accountable - “ Holding the @AkronArtMuseum accountable to the public trust for unchecked discrimination and toxic work environment.”

• Change the Museum - “Pressuring US museums to move beyond lip service proclamations by amplifying tales of unchecked racism.”

• Decolonize the Art World - Anti-colonial art school for dreamers. 

• Design As Protest - “Mobilizing our collective power to confront the violence and injustices of architecture, design, and urban planning practices.”

• Equity By Design - “Repositioning Architecture by Equitable Practice - Equity is Everyone's Issue. Minimizing Barriers to Maximize Our Potential for Success”

• For the Culture 2020 - “A coalition of current/former Black & Brown employees & allies united together to call out systemic racism in Museums & other cultural institutions.”

• Indigenous Archeology Collective -  “The Indigenous Archaeology Collective is a network of Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars within archaeology and related fields.” 

• MCAccountable - A coalition of workers of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago demanding accountability from their leadership.

• No Neutral Alliance - A coalition of Black artists fighting against censorship and anti-Blackness at SFMOMA.

• Parlour - “Parlour: gender, equity, architecture. Bringing together research, resources & informed opinion.”

• Visitors of Color - “Blog documenting the experiences of marginalized people with museums. “

• VMFA Reform - “The purpose of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Reform Committee is to hold museum administration accountable for their complicity in systemic racism 365 days a year.”

• xSFM0MA - A coalition working against racism at SFMOMA.

Toolkits/Articles/Database:

• OF/BY/FOR/ALL - has free toolkits, articles, and a self-assessment.  

• The Dreamspace Project: A Workbook and Toolkit For Critical Praxis in the American Art Museum, created by Alyssa Machida.

• The Incluseum - “a project based in Seattle, Washington that advances new ways of being a museum through critical dialogue, community building and collaborative practice related to inclusion in museums.”

• Women Also Know History - A crowdsourced database of women and non-binary individuals whose primary occupation is historical work

• The Guide to Managing Up and Across (Harvard Business Review) - A guide to how to present unpopular opinions to your supervisor and making change within institutions.

Books/Podcasts: 

• Cultura Conscious - Paula Santos hosts conversations “with other museum and cultural workers, educators, artists, activists, and leaders about how we work with our communities and the public at large.”

• FWD: Museums - A yearly journal produced by graduate students at the University of Illinois at Chicago that “strives to create a space for challenging, critiquing, and providing alternative modes of thinking and production within and outside of museums.”

• Opening up the Museum - A TEDxSanta Cruz Talk by former director Nina Simon of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History talking about engaging the diverse community around the museum and being okay with losing established donors and board members in the process. Also read her book, “The Art of Relevance”.