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2003 Volume 34, Issue 2

How to Be a Preservationist

Reprinted with permission from the Forum News, the newsletter for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Want to make preservationists out of people who donāt know the difference between a balustrade and a facade? A mullion and a muntin? Section 106 and Formula 409? Donāt worry, they donāt need to. There are lots of everyday activities they can do to help support preservation.

The following suggestions were collected from our preservation partners nationwide (with special thanks to the folks at the Preservation Trust of Vermont). Share this list with your friends, neighbors, and family members. If you have other suggestions, please send an e-mail to getinvolved@nationaltrust.org.

Ten Easy Ways to Support Historic Preservation

  1. Show your kids the place where you went to school or where you got married.
  2. Shop in a historic commercial district. Be sure to look up so you can admire the detail of the buildings' upper floors.
  3. Visit a place where history was made or a museum dedicated to history.
  4. Eat at a restaurant in a historic building. If you like the atmosphere, tell the owner or host.
  5. Attend a live performance or movie at a historic theater.
  6. Walk around a historic neighborhood.
  7. Join an organization, even better, more than one, dedicated to historic preservation. Become a member of the National Trust (www.nthp.org), or find out about groups in your area. (Locate some at www.nthp.org/help/statewide_org.asp. They can direct you to others.)
  8. Stay in a historic hotel, the 185 members of Historic Hotels of America are listed at www.nthp.org/historic_hotels/index.asp, or at a historic B&B.
  9. Attend services in a historic church.
  10. Take a tour of historic houses in your community.

Feeling ambitious? Take these ten additional steps.

  1. Buy a historic house and rehabilitate it.
  2. Reuse an old building in downtown for your business or organization.
  3. Keep the post office in your town center. For more information read "Developing Better Community Post Office: on the Preservation Trust of Vermont website (at www.ptvermont.org).
  4. Say no to sprawl development that would undermine the vitality of your community. (Learn more about this issue at www.nthp.org/issues/smart_growth.html)
  5. Let your town or county board know that old buildings are important to your community. Encourage them to keep municipal offices in your downtown or village center.
  6. Tell your representative and senators to support the Historic Homeownership Assistance Act, which would give tax credits to people who buy and rehabilitate older homes. (Find out more from Preservation Action at www.preservationaction.org.)
  7. Encourage your friends and neighbors to learn about historic preservation.
  8. Convince your school board to keep using your historic schools. (Go to www.nthp.org/issues/historic_schools.html to see how other communities have done it.)
  9. Encourage an ethic of stewardship and high quality rehabilitation work in your community. No vinyl siding!
  10. Volunteer with organizations where preservation makes a difference: the planning commission, development review board, library board, downtown organization, or regional planning commission.

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