Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S.
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
(NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS). These programs were established to document historic places in the United States. Records consist of measured drawings, archival photographs, and written reports, and are archived in the Prints and Photographs Division of the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
.
Historic American Buildings Survey
In 1933, NPS established the Historic American Buildings Survey following a proposal by
Charles E. Peterson
Charles Emil Peterson (1906–2004) is widely considered to be a seminal figure in professionalizing the practice of historic preservation in the United States. He is referred to as the "founding father" of the professional advocation of historic ...
, a young
landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...
in the agency. It was founded as a constructive
make-work program
A make-work job is a job that has less immediate financial or little benefit at all to the economy than the job costs to support. It may also have no benefit. Make-work jobs are similar to workfare, but are publicly offered on the job market and h ...
for architects, draftsmen and photographers left jobless by the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. It was supported through the
Historic Sites Act The Historic Sites Act of 1935 was enacted by the United States Congress largely to organize the myriad federally own parks, monuments, and historic sites under the National Park Service and the United States Secretary of the Interior. However, it ...
of 1935.
Guided by field instructions from
Washington, D.C.
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, the first HABS recorders were tasked with documenting a representative sampling of America's
architectural heritage.
They began to document America's
built environment
The term built environment refers to human-made conditions and is often used in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, public health, sociology, and anthropology, among others. These curated spaces provide the setting for human ac ...
, carrying out multi-format surveys that amassed a "more than 581,000 measured drawings, large-format photographs, written histories, and original field notes for more than 43,000 historic structures and sites dating from Pre-Columbian times to the twentieth century."
By creating an archive of historic architecture, HABS provided a
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...
of primary source material and documentation for the then-fledgling
historic preservation
Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...
movement.
Earlier private projects included
Eleanor Raymond
Eleanor Raymond (March 4 1887 – July 24 1989) was an American architect.
During a professional career spanning some sixty years of practice, mainly in residential housing, Raymond explored the use of innovative materials and building system ...
's ''Early Domestic Architecture of Pennsylvania'' (1931),
Charles Morse Stotz
Charles Morse Stotz was an architect, architectural historian, and preservationist. He is known for his extensive study of the architectural history of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. He was one of the architects to practice in the field of ...
's Western Pennsylvania Architectural Survey and the
White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs
The ''White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs'', subtitled "A Bi-Monthly Publication Suggesting the Architectural Use of White Pine and Its Availability Today as a Structural Wood", was a landmark publication of drawings, photographs and des ...
.
Many of their contributors later joined the HABS program.
Important HABS photographers include
Jack Boucher
Jack E. Boucher (September 4, 1931 – September 2, 2012) was an American photographer for the National Park Service for more than 40 years beginning in 1958. He served as the Chief Photographer for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS ...
, who worked for the project for over 40 years;
Robert W. Tebbs in
,
Louis and Ida Schwartz Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis ...
in
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
,
James Butters
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguati ...
in
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
,
Richard J. Levy in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
and
Jet Lowe
John T. "Jet" Lowe is an American photographer. He is one of the photographers employed by the U.S. National Park Service on the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and Historic American Engineering Record
Heritage Documentation Programs ...
.
Historic American Engineering Record
The Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) program was founded on January 10, 1969, by NPS and the
American Society of Civil Engineers
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
. HAER documents historic sites, structures, mechanical, and engineering artifacts. The Maritime Administration works with HAER to "document historic vessels prior to their disposal."
Since the advent of HAER, the combined program is typically called "HABS/HAER".
Eric DeLony
Eric DeLony (1944–2018) served as chief of the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) from 1971 to 2003 and was a noted historic preservationist. He was a professional engineering and industrial heritage consultant with a particular interest ...
headed HAER from 1987 to 2003.
Historic American Landscapes Survey
In October 2000, NPS and the
American Society of Landscape Architects
The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is a professional association for landscape architects in the United States. The ASLA's mission is to advance landscape architecture through advocacy, communication, education, and fellowship ...
established a sister program, the Historic American Landscapes Survey, to systematically document historic American landscapes.
A predecessor, the Historic American Landscape and Garden Project, recorded historic Massachusetts gardens between 1935 and 1940. That project was funded by the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
, but was administered by HABS, which supervised the collection of records.
In 2001, along with the Library of Congress, the NPS, and the American Society of Landscape Architects signed a Memorandum of Understanding which established a working relationship between the three organizations. Following the signing of this agreement, these organizations together signed the Tripartite Agreement in 2010, making "HALS a permanent federal program".
The NPS deals with the planning and operations of HALS, standardizes the formats and develops the guidelines for recording landscapes.
Library of Congress
The permanent collection of HABS/HAER/HALS are housed at the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
, which was established in 1790 (and reestablished after the disastrous fire of 1814 in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
by purchasing former third President
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
's personal library at
Monticello
Monticello ( ) was the primary plantation of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, V ...
in 1815) as the replacement reference library of the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
. It has since been expanded to serve as the national library of the United States; U.S. publishers are required to deposit a copy of every copyrighted and published work, book monograph and magazine. As a branch of the
United States Government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...
, its created works are in the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
in the US. Many images, drawings, and documents are available through the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog, including proposed, demolished, and existing structures; locales, projects, and designs.
See also
*
Jack Boucher
Jack E. Boucher (September 4, 1931 – September 2, 2012) was an American photographer for the National Park Service for more than 40 years beginning in 1958. He served as the Chief Photographer for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS ...
, former HABS/HAER photographer
*
Eric DeLony
Eric DeLony (1944–2018) served as chief of the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) from 1971 to 2003 and was a noted historic preservationist. He was a professional engineering and industrial heritage consultant with a particular interest ...
, former chief of HAER
*
Jet Lowe
John T. "Jet" Lowe is an American photographer. He is one of the photographers employed by the U.S. National Park Service on the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and Historic American Engineering Record
Heritage Documentation Programs ...
, former HAER photographer
*
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
References
External links
Records of the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS)/Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) DivisionGuide to Federal Records
National Park Service (NPS): official Heritage Documentation Programs websiteLibrary of Congress HABS/HAER/HALS CollectionPhotographer Stepen Schafer BLOG: Frequently Asked Questions about HABS, HAER and HALS websiteNew England based Photographer Andrew Baugnet specializes in HABS/HAER photographic documentation*
Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) Collection at the
University of Maryland Libraries
The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore area. The university's library system includes eight libraries: six are located on the College Park campus, while the Severn Library, an of ...
{{Authority control
*
Photo archives in the United States
Online archives of the United States
Architecture organizations based in the United States
History of engineering
.
National Park Service
Works Progress Administration
1933 establishments in the United States