All posts filed under: Historic Preservation

King's College Courtyard

Opening views from the 16th International Conference of National Trusts

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Cambridge, England, has proven to be a delightful host for the 16th International Conference of National Trusts, co-sponsored by the National Trust of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the International National Trusts Organisation (INTO).  More than 250 delegates and guests have arrived for the preliminary INTO meetings and the five days of conference sessions, tours, and discussions. Candice and I arrived mid-day on Saturday for the INTO meetings, which began the next morning at Anglesey Abbey, a wonderful National Trust property near Cambridge. While most of the day was spent in meetings, we were given a delightful tour of the house, gardens, and mill by National Trust staffer Justin Scully and his team.  It was enough to whet our appetite for a return visit with the full conference later in the week. Each day we’ve taken our meals in the Great Hall at King’s College – a splendid space in which to enjoy good conversation with fellow delegates from around the world. And on Monday evening, it was also the setting for our opening …

Seattle PiP Launch

Growing the National Trust movement

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(The following is the text of a presentation I made on September 7, 2015 at the 16th International Conference of National Trusts in Cambridge, U.K. The session – Looking Ahead:  Contemporary Challenges and Opportunities – was chaired by Emily Drani, Executive Director of the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda.  My fellow panelists were Shivranjani Rajye, Trustee, Mehrangarh Museum Trust, Jodhpur, India; and Professor Ruan Yisan, Director, National Research Center for Historic Cities, Tongji University, China.) Thank you to INTO and to the National Trust for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland for the opportunity to focus on our efforts in the United States to build a growing and more inclusive historic preservation movement. Our goal is a movement that recognizes all the facets of our diverse history, enables all our citizens to see themselves in our collective story, and – as a result – become engaged in this work. I hope you will find elements that ring true with your work in your countries. Our preservation movement (and I will use the terms historic preservation and heritage …

Salute to the Chairman

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We arrived in Cambridge mid-day on Saturday for the 16th International Conference of National Trusts.  Even through our jet-lagged fog, we were charmed by this beautiful city as we met two friends and colleagues from the International National Trusts Organisation (INTO) for lunch in an English pub across from King’s College. The meal and an afternoon nap were the refreshments we needed before heading out to dinner at the Polonia Club (who knew they had a Polish Club in Cambridge?).  The occasion was a delightful evening with the members of the INTO Executive Committee and Secretariat to toast our outgoing chairman, Simon Molesworth of Australia.  Simon has guided INTO for 10 years, first as head of the steering committee and then as the founding chairman, first elected to his post in New Delhi in 2007. Several of us spoke that evening about Simon’s service as the founding chairman of INTO, and his indefatigable work ethic through the years.  There was more than one mention of his joining our bi-monthly conference calls at midnight from Australia, …

Beach reading

Summer reading 2015

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This has been a busy summer, full of travel, family changes, work, and good food!  During the past three months, I’ve also had a chance to read a few books – a couple just okay, one interesting, and one terrific.  So here’s a short summary, from mediocre to recommended. The Language of Houses: How Buildings Speak to Us, by Alison Lurie.  I picked up this 2014 book – with its promise to highlight how buildings speak to us in ways simple and complex, formal and informal – with great anticipation.  Written by a Pulitzer Prize winning author, I expected great – or at least good – writing that would pull me along.  Unfortunately, I found it a simplistic and rather bland work that I had trouble finishing.  This is a topic that holds a great deal of promise.  Unfortunately, Lurie’s work doesn’t deliver. The House with Sixteen Handmade Doors:  A Tale of Architectural Choice and Craftsmanship by Henry Petroski.  I bought  this quirky work in Seattle while on my cross-country trip with Claire in 2014.  …

Ahhhh…The Taste of Vacation

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Vacation.  Holiday.  Time off. Whatever you call it, the prospect of a couple of weeks off put me in the celebratory mood on Thursday evening, after wrapping up a series of meetings over three days in Austin and San Antonio, Texas.  There had been good conversations with colleagues and partners, delightful shared meals where we mixed preservation and brisket at Austin’s Scholz Garten, the oldest restaurant in Texas, and a reception in San Antonio that featured an amazing array of 19th and early 20th century military helmets! By the time my meetings were over and all that was left was the flight home, I was ready for a bit of relaxation. My colleague Katherine and I basically stumbled upon Biga on the Banks – an excellent New American restaurant that’s a draw for foodies in the region.  I asked for a bourbon, and our server said, “Let me get you our list.  We have an excellent selection.”  And then he pointed out their three options of Old Rip Van Winkle and I thought, “Why not?  …

Remembering Oklahoma City

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Twenty years ago today, an unspeakable horror took place at the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Five years ago, I visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial, erected to memorialize the lives lost, and wrote this post about that place and the need for remembrance. In his recent series about Why Old Places Matter?, my  colleague Tom Mayes wrote about the importance of memory.  He quotes Randall Mason in noting that “Memory is an essential part of consciousness….”  Tom adds, “Memory contributes to the sense of continuity. Memory also gives people identity—both individual identity and a collective identity.” No place demonstrates that better than the Oklahoma City National Memorial. At the 20th anniversary of the events of April 19, 1995, this memorial continues to help us to remember, while also helping us to regain the consciousness we need as humans. More to come… DJB

Religious Freedom 101: A Lesson from Old Places

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We are hearing a great deal these days about religious freedom. Much of it comes from individuals who appear – from their comments – to know little of our country’s history.  For the past three days, I’ve been immersed in a state where all Americans would be well advised to come for a class on Religious Freedom 101. One of the truly misunderstood stories in American history is that of Rhode Island and the establishment of religious freedom. My father – that lonely breed of Southern Christian liberal – has spent the past decade or more writing letters to the editor that remind his fellow church-goers of the importance of the separation of church and state. For my part, I’ve been in Providence and Newport this week, and took the time to visit two of the landmarks of the nation’s move to ensure that all had religious freedom, including the right not to worship. Friday, I was in Newport for a series of meetings that began at Touro Synagogue, a National Historic Landmark and an …