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In the weeks since nationwide protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have erupted, dozens of monuments and statues celebrating the confederacy, Christopher Columbus, and other anti-Black and anti-Indigenous individuals and groups have been toppled across the country and around the... View full entry
Over the weekend as courthouses, monuments, business districts, and public spaces around the country became backdrops to fierce protests seeking justice for the killings of Minneapolis resident George Floyd and other Black Americans at the hands of police, a collection of architecture, design, and... View full entry
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH), and the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), Docomomo US, and the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) have joined the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in voicing deep... View full entry
Since its founding, the National Register of Historic Places has helped to generate an estimated two million jobs and more than a hundred billion dollars in private investments. But, because many biases were written into the criteria that determine how sites are selected, those benefits have gone mostly to white Americans. One of the criteria for preservation is architectural significance, meaning that modest buildings like slave cabins and tenement houses were long excluded from consideration. — The New Yorker
Writing in The New Yorker, Casey Cep profiles Brent Leggs, director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The lengthy, eye-opening report delves into the work of preservationists like Leggs who are fighting to uncover... View full entry
The National Trust and its partners have led advocacy efforts to increase funding for five competitive grant programs: the African American Civil Rights Grant Program, the Underrepresented Community Grant Program, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Grant Program, Save America’s Treasures, and the Historic Revitalization Subgrant Program. In total, these competitive grant programs received $41 million in FY 2019. — Saving Places
The National Trust for Historic Preservation breaks down some of the recently expanded funding opportunities that have taken shape at the federal level earmarked for the preservation of diverse and inclusive built heritage. Highlighted programs include the African American Civil Rights... View full entry
On August 14, 2019, the Dallas City Council unanimously approved a resolution that temporarily halts the use of public funds on any further demolitions in Tenth Street—an important move given that to date, at least 70 of the district’s 260 homes have been demolished. Thanks to a broad-based coalition effort bolstered by the media attention of the 11 Most listing, this vote removes the immediate threat to the neighborhood and helps advance the cause. — Saving Places
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has unveiled $1.6 million in grant funding dedicated to preserving historical sites that demonstrate significance with relation to Black history and African American cultural heritage from around the country. The funding, part of a larger, multi-year... View full entry
Eight buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright, including the Prairie style masterpiece of the Robie House in Chicago and the bold concrete structure of Unity Temple in Oak Park, were named Sunday to the United Nations’ list of the world’s most significant cultural and natural sites. — Chicago Tribune
As architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune Blair Kamin writes, American Modernism is finally getting its due, at least, in the eyes of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which has named a collection of Frank Lloyd Wright-designed structures to its... View full entry
For nearly 200 years, since the opening of Pennsylvania’s Cheyney University in 1837, H.B.C.U.s have educated thousands of students, including the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Justice Thurgood Marshall, Toni Morrison, Representative Elijah Cummings and Senator Kamala Harris. But from a high of 120 such schools to about 101 in 2019, many have faced an uncertain future. In the last 20 years, six have closed, and several others remain open in name only after losing accreditation.
A recent New York Times report chronicles the increasing pace of financial woes and accreditation hurdles facing Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the United States. The report states that in the last 20 years, six HBCUs have shuttered, leaving only 101 of these... View full entry
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has named preservation lawyer and National Trust chief legal officer Paul Edmondson as its new CEO. In a statement announcing Edmondson's selection, Timothy Whalen, chair of the National Trust Board of Trustees, writes, "Through the search, the... View full entry
In a sign of the rising concern over the future of postmodern architecture in the American preservation community, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has named the 34-year-old Helmut Jahn-designed James R. Thompson Center in Chicago to its annual “America’s 11 Most Endangered... View full entry
America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places is an annual list that spotlights important examples of our nation’s architectural and cultural heritage that are at risk of destruction or irreparable damage. [...]
The National Trust’s 31st annual list includes a diverse mix of historic places across America facing a range of challenges and threats, from deferred maintenance to inappropriate development proposals to devastation wrought by natural disasters.
— National Trust for Historic Preservation
The 2018 List of America's Most Endangered Historic Places, compiled by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, comprises: Annapolis’ City Dock Area, Annapolis, MarylandAshley River Historic District, Charleston, South CarolinaDr. Susan LaFlesche Picotte Memorial Hospital, Omaha Indian... View full entry
Bowie hated it. Peep Show besmirched it. The London suburb may get a bad rap in popular culture, but now there is the chance to see a different side. [...]
Watson is helping to organise tours of Croydon taking in architectural highlights such as NLA House (now No 1 Croydon), sometimes known as the ‘threepenny bit’; [...]
The National Trust is turning to Croydon after its successful tours of London’s brutalist concrete buildings, places it argues should be cherished as much as Croydon’s towers.
— The Guardian
This year’s list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places is our most diverse list ever. Several of the places on the 2015 list focus on chapters in our history that have sometimes been overlooked, reinforcing the message that preserving the full American experience means everyone has a seat at the table and that all voices are heard. — preservationnation.org
The 2015 List of America's Most Endangered Historic Places, compiled by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, comprises:A.G. Gaston Motel, AlabamaCarrollton Courthouse, LouisianaChautauqua Amphitheater, New YorkEast Point Historic Civic Block, GeorgiaFort Worth Stockyards... View full entry
"The river was part of its immediate environment. To move it to higher ground where it never floods would be ridiculous. You would ask: 'Why is it on stilts?' It makes no sense to me." — chicagotribune.com
All along, Mies van der Rohe's iconic design for the retreat of Dr. Edith Farnsworth was intended to withstand floodwaters, but in the past 19 years, the house has flooded three times, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. These incidents were partially blamed on rapid suburban... View full entry
