Public historians must be mindful of the manifold challenges of preserving the spaces and places of the past. According to Thomas Cauvin, historic preservation was originally conceived as “an antidote to modernism, seeking evidence of simpler times in an idealized agricultural folk culture or an adventurous and virtuous colonial experience” (Cauvin 2016, 55). This conception unfortunately lent itself to the nationalistic glorification of those in power at the expense of the exclusion of anyone in the periphery of that experience.
A focus of preserving the “legacy of wealth and power” by creating “shrines to historic personages” led not only to the elevation of an exclusively white, Anglo-American perspective but also in many cases to the destruction of sites connected with minorities (Cauvin 2016, 59, 62). Particularly egregious in this white washing of American history is the fact that, as Rem Koolhaus points out, difficult histories are often simply “airbrushed” out of historic preservation projects leading to “a new form of historical amnesia, one that, perversely, only further alienates us from the past” (Ouroussoff 2011). In addition, the tendency of historic preservation projects to not just gloss over minorities in their interpretations of sites, but to also physically push them out of these areas through " gentrification and social displacement, driving out the poor to make room for wealthy homeowners and tourists” has become increasingly alarming (Ouroussoff 2011). Delores Hayden calls for a shift in focus to “social and political issues, rather than physical ones” which can embrace the “primary importance to the political and social narratives of the neighborhood, and to the everyday lives of the working people” (Cauvin 2016, 79).
Of course, historic preservationists and public historians today are thankfully becoming more abundantly aware of their fields’ problematic pasts which have done so much harm in the antiquated effort to preserve America’s “great white history.” Knowledge is the first step to wisdom, after all. In recent years, steps have been taken to begin equalizing our national narrative and a focus on shifting perspectives of sites from celebratory “shrines” to commemorative spaces. Viewing projects with the concept of tout ensemble is one way to successfully shift this perspective because rather focusing on "individual places and buildings as something quite apart from the larger context” (Stipe 2003, 7). This idea encourages preservationists to view the site as only one of many that together create the character of an area (Stipe 2003, 7). The image below of The President's House Site is an excellent example of the progress of the recent decades to rectify the problematic white washing of sites, such as Independence Hall, which was among the first historic preservation projects in America (Stipe 2003, 1). This site now stands with a poignant and moving exhibit that interprets the story of the enslaved at the site and "examines the paradox between slavery and freedom in the founding of the nation" (NPS).
A fundamental component of the fields of historic preservation and public history is understanding the mechanisms of the systems that we work within. This includes the layers of government structures that impact our work, in addition to the “universal nature of the preservation/conservation process itself,” and of course, one of the biggest hurdles that we face, the enormous influence that our free-market economy plays in preservation (Stipe 2003, 24). Understanding these systems leads to successful projects that, with care and attention to the problematic past of historic preservation, can achieve the tenuous balance between of our sense of history and our sense of place.
Bibliography
Cauvin, Thomas. “Historic Preservation.” In Public History. 53-88. 1st ed. New York: Routledge, 2016.
Ouroussoff, Nicolai. “An Architect’s Fear that Preservation Distorts.” New York Times, May 23, 2011.
"President's House Site." National Park Service. Accessed February 25, 2023, https://www.nps.gov/places/000/presidents-house-site.htm
Stipe, Robert E., ed. A Richer Heritage: Historic Preservation in the Twenty-First Century. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003.
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