Jacqueline Bass Preservation, LLC

What Trump Gets Wrong About Preservation From the White House ballroom to the proposed triumphal arch, Trump’s vision for the capital confuses stewardship with ownership, writes Israel Meléndez Ayala.

Archaeology Southwest Condemns Wanton Destruction of Ancient Ground Figure - Archaeology Southwest Archaeology Southwest Condemns Wanton Destruction of Ancient Ground Figure

Late last week, the Trump administration published plans proposing to make exterior improvements to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, a building adjacent to the White House.

In a 15-page proposal, the administration calls for painting the French Second Empire–style building’s facade white, with renderings of the repainted building from various angles. CNN reported on Saturday, however, that Trump has privately called for using a “magic paint with silicate” on the building, which has a slate-gray granite front.

However, the experts concluded that the proposed mineral silicate paint is “not suited for use on granite,” as such paints are designed to bond with stone that contains calcium carbonate, which granite does not. They also said that the paint would not improve granite’s “structural durability” or protect from deterioration; later removal of the paint “could cause additional permanent damage.” Lastly, they concluded that using such a paint would be “incredibly costly and very wasteful.”

Read more: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/trump-eisenhower-executive-office-building-paint-white-1234781079/

https://missingparkhistory.org/?fbclid=IwY2xjawQqcGFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEel14A9RscH5vmx3Hilb5q98TwR83AcyKxjJEwMYuvGNpZZxgiM_qsh-boDCQ_aem_QC7CBfzFlJuGwCvbamI9Ng

The Missing History of Our National Parks Every pin on this map is a piece of American history the current administration has flagged for removal. These are real exhibits, signs, and publications from our national parks. They are historically accurate and now targeted for censorship. Click any marker to learn more about the history and why....

This is an excellent article, and one that is important to read. I have long remembered the impression Natchez made on me while I was in graduate school, visiting the city on our last stop of a thirteen day tour of the Deep South. Of all the places we visited, it was at Melrose Estate that I was most impressed by the quality of interpretation, because of the clear commitment to historical accuracy and a refusal by the park rangers to whitewash the stories they told. The property is a National Historical Park, managed by the National Park Service. Years later, I felt proud to be part of a restoration project at Melrose, because I believed that this client was committed to getting the story right.

As discussed in this article, the heart of the NPS remains committed to this mission (despite the efforts by the current administration to stifle it). It reads, “Herbert also follows activist Ser Clifford Boxley and National Park Service employees working to preserve Forks of the Road, the second-largest domestic slave market in US history. Long neglected and nearly erased, the site stands as a stark counter-monument to the mansions celebrated during the pilgrimages. Preservation here is not about beauty or romance but about acknowledgment and reckoning.”

A documentary about Mississippi examines competing forces: the nostalgic celebration of the old south and the refusal to sanitize the brutal history of enslavement

“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”

Martin Luther King, Jr., in his Letter from Birmingham Jail

(Photo of his Birth Home taken in October 2023, during the pre-construction phase of rehabilitation work)

Over the past year I’ve been working with on a museum collection for Gulf Islands National Seashore. The last two trips we made were to Pensacola, Florida to work with their archeology collection from various Spanish Colonial sites within the park. They were long visits full of assessing thousands of artifacts - tiny remembrances of a time when this nation was just beginning and several countries vied for ownership. While there we took a trip to Fort Pickens, located along the Gulf of Mexico, just west of the city. Originally constructed in 1829-1833, the fort was built to defend Pensacola Bay and the Pensacola Navy Yard from foreign attacks.

‘Protect Every Park’ Report: National Park Service’s Mission Is in Jeopardy Here’s the state of affairs at national parks and what NPCA says Congress must do — now — to save our National Park System.

“This new order from the Secretary of the Interior instructs land managers to post signs asking visitors to report so-called negative information being shared there about past or living Americans. These signs could have a chilling effect on rangers just trying to do their jobs and tell the truth. When the Trump administration tries to rewrite American history, it is the American people who will suffer most.“

New Order Threatens Park Service’s Efforts to Protect and Explore American History .

This week I was working with on a collection condition survey for the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park. We were working on the artwork collection from the King Family Home. While there we had the privilege of visiting the home before they begin their restoration work. Located in the Vine City neighborhood of Atlanta, this is where Dr. King and Mrs. King raised their children and where she started the King Center following his assassination. The history embodied in this house is an incredible asset to the park, and to our country.

In March 2018, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation launched its West Atlanta Preservation Initiative by purchasing historic houses in West Atlanta that were sustainably rehabilitated and sold as affordable housing. Today we're spotlighting the Johnson family. Mr. Johnson (1916-2019), a ground instructor in the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, moved to Atlanta after the war and became the city’s first African American licensed electrician. Mrs. Johnson (1921-2002), a graduate of Spelman College, earned a master’s degree in education and taught kindergarten in Atlanta Public Schools. Thanks to the family of Mr. Johnson, the Trust was able to launch its West Atlanta Preservation Initiative!