The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded,
nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
based in
Washington, D.C., that works in the field of
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 ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by
congressional charter to support the preservation of America’s diverse historic buildings, neighborhoods, and heritage through its programs, resources, and advocacy.
Overview
The National Trust for Historic Preservation aims to empower local preservationists by providing leadership to save and revitalize America's historic places, and by working on both national policies as well as local preservation campaigns through its network of field offices and preservation partners, including the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government within the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of ...
,
State Historic Preservation Offices, and local preservation groups.
The National Trust is headquartered in
Washington, D.C., with field offices in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
,
Houston
Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...
,
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
,
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 wor ...
,
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, and
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
. The organization is governed by a
board of trustees
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organ ...
and led by president & CEO, Paul Edmondson. As of January 2020, the National Trust reports that it has around 300,000 members and supporters.
In addition to leading campaigns and advocacy, the National Trust provides a growing educational resource through the Preservation Leadership Forum, which offers articles, journals, case studies, and conferences and training. The National Trust issues the quarterly
''Preservation'' magazine as well as online stories.
The National Trust’s current work focuses on building
sustainable communities through the
adaptive reuse of historic spaces; preserving and empowering
cultural diversity
Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural evolution. The term "cultural diversity" can also refer to having different cu ...
through protecting sites of cultural significance; advocating for greater
stewardship of historic places on
public land; and leading innovation in the management of historic properties.
History
Toward the end of the 19th century, in response to increased immigration and the broad effort of rebuilding after the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...
, the country was developing a renewed sense of national identity and history. The government began to enact legislation for the preservation of sites and objects deemed significant to the nation’s history. In 1872, an
Act of Congress established the first
National Park
A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...
,
Yellowstone.
In 1906, the
Antiquities Act enabled the President to declare landmarks or objects as a
national monument.
Then in 1935, during the Great Depression, Congress passed the
Historic Sites Act, which outlined programs for research and inventory of historic sites.
Meanwhile, historic preservation initiatives existed on local and state levels. In 1931,
Charleston, South Carolina created the first
historic district
A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from ce ...
for protection. However, efforts to save and maintain historic sites were still largely limited to private citizens or local groups.
In the late 1940s, leaders in American historic preservation saw the need for a national organization to support local preservation efforts. In 1946,
David E. Finley Jr.
David Edward Finley Jr. (September 1, 1890 – February 1, 1977) was an American cultural leader during the middle third of the 20th century. He was the first director of the National Gallery of Art, the founding chairman of the National Trust f ...
,
George McAneny
George McAneny (December 24, 1869 – July 29, 1953), was an American a newspaperman, municipal reformer and advocate of preservation and city planning from New York City. He served as Manhattan Borough President from 1910 to 1913, President of th ...
, Christopher Crittenden, and Ronald Lee met at the
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of ch ...
to discuss the formation of such a national organization.
This meeting was followed by a larger gathering on April 15, 1947, attended by representatives from a number of art, architectural, and
historical societies, which culminated in the creation of the National Council for Historic Sites and Buildings.
The meeting’s attendants became the first charter members of the Council.
The organization’s first headquarters was in the offices of
Ford’s Theatre (Lincoln Museum) in downtown
Washington, D.C.
The Council pursued the formation of a National Trust for Historic Preservation, somewhat modeled on the British
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
, which would be tasked with the acquisition and maintenance of historic properties.
The creation of the National Trust was proposed as a bill to Congress, H.R. 5170, introduced by Congressman J. Hardin Peterson of Florida and passed.
The private, non-profit National Trust for Historic Preservation was formally established by charter through the Act of Congress when President
Harry S. Truman signed the legislation on October 26, 1949. The charter provided that the Trust should acquire and preserve historic sites and objects of national significance and provide annual reports to Congress on its activities.
Finley served as the National Trust's first chairman of the board, remaining in the position for 12 years.
[Burdick, Kim (2000)]
"Remembering Louise Crowninshield."
''Forum Journal'' 14 (3). Archaeologist Richard Hubbard Howland became the nonprofit's first president in 1956.
The National Trust and the National Council existed side by side for several years until the need to merge resources compelled the Executive Committee to integrate the two entities. In 1952, the boards of both organizations approved a
merger of the Council into the National Trust. The merger was effective the following year and was completed by 1956.
The National Trust became a membership organization and assumed all other functions of the National Council.
In its early years, the National Trust’s founders envisioned an organization whose primary purpose would be the acquisition and administration of historic sites, while encouraging public participation in their preservation. In 1957, the National Trust officially acquired its first property,
Woodlawn Plantation in northern
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...
. Since then, the National Trust portfolio of historic properties and contracted affiliates has expanded to include twenty-seven historic sites, ranging from the 18th-century
Drayton Hall in
South Carolina
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, anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
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to the
Modernist
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
Glass House in
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
.
Over the next decade, the National Trust grew to become the leading national organization in historic preservation. They began working with citizens and city planning officials on legislative matters, including federal, state, and municipal ordinances for historic preservation. National Trust staff also traveled to parts of the country to advise local communities on preservation projects.
In 1966, Congress passed the
National Historic Preservation Act
The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA; Public Law 89-665; 54 U.S.C. 300101 ''et seq.'') is legislation intended to preserve historic and archaeological sites in the United States of America. The act created the National Register of Historic ...
, significant legislation for the preservation movement. The Act also provided federal funding in support of the National Trust’s work. The funding later ceased in 1996, at which point the National Trust became entirely privately funded.
Following the adoption of the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Trust broadened in its mission beyond administering historic sites. In 1969, the National Trust created the Preservation Services Fund to provide financial assistance to local preservation projects.
[National Trust for Historic Preservation (2014)]
"A Brief History of the National Trust."
''PreservationNation.org.'' Retrieved January 15, 2014. In 1971, the National Trust opened its first field office in San Francisco.
As the organization grew, the National Trust expanded its work, consisting of programs, educational resources, and advocacy. In 1980, the National Trust initiated the National Main Street Center, specializing in revitalizing historic business districts, which has since transitioned into a subsidiary.
In 2010,
Stephanie Meeks became the organization’s president, replacing
Richard Moe
Richard Palmer Moe (born November 27, 1936) is an American attorney and historic preservation advocate who served as chief of staff to the vice president from 1977 to 1981.
Early life and education
Moe was born in Duluth, Minnesota. He earne ...
, who had led the organization for 17 years. She directed the National Trust’s work toward a more focused, cause-based approach, and conducted more robust outreach to local preservationists. As part of this new approach, the National Trust initiated the National Treasures portfolio; it specifically identifies threatened sites and creates strategies to preserve them.
In 2013, the National Trust headquarters moved from the
Andrew Mellon Building on 1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW in Washington D.C.’s
Dupont Circle to the historic
Watergate office complex.
[O’Connell, Jonathan (June 17, 2013)]
"National Trust for Historic Preservation moving offices to the Watergate."
''The Washington Post.'' Meeks said in a statement about the move, "The selection of the Watergate demonstrates our ongoing commitment to recognizing and protecting important places from every era in American history, including the recent past."
The National Trust’s programs include National Treasures, launched in 2011, which campaigns to save threatened historic landmarks; and publication of the annual list of America's
11 Most Endangered Historic Places America's 11 Most Endangered Places or America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places is a list of places in the United States that the National Trust for Historic Preservation considers the most endangered. It aims to inspire Americans to preserve e ...
, first issued in 1988, which highlights endangered sites across the country.
Meeks stepped down as president in December 2018. Former general counsel and chief legal officer Paul Edmondson is serving as president and CEO.
Programs
America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places List
First published in 1988, the National Trust’s list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places is an annual list that highlights endangered historic sites across the United States. The list serves to raise national awareness of these sites. The sites are nominated by the public and eventually selected based on a range of factors, including its significance, whether there is a local group engaged in its preservation, the urgency of the threat, and potential solutions to that threat.
Historic Hotels of America
The National Trust for Historic Preservation created Historic Hotels of America in 1989, with 32 charter members.
Historic Hotels of America identifies hotels that have maintained their authenticity, sense of place, and architectural integrity. As of June 5, 2015, the program includes over 260 members in 44 states, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
To be included in the program, hotels must be at least 50 years old; designated by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior as a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
or listed in or eligible for listing in the
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 artist ...
;
and recognized as having historic significance.
National Treasures
Initiated in 2011, the National Treasures program identifies historically significant landmarks that face imminent threat. With the support of local preservationists, the National Trust leads direct action to save these sites through fundraising, coalition building, and legal advocacy. The sites are selected based on criteria including: integrity, contribution to America’s diverse history, and preservation strategies that can be applied to other sites.
The growing portfolio of National Treasures includes, for example:
*
Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe, managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service as the Fort Monroe National Monument, and the City of Hampton, is a former military installation in Hampton, Virgi ...
in
Hampton, Virginia
Hampton () is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 137,148. It is the 7th most populous city in Virginia and 204th most populous city in the nation. Hampton ...
*
Historic Wintersburg in Huntington Beach, California
*
Houston Astrodome in
Houston, Texas
*
Miami Marine Stadium in
Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...
*The historic
Rosenwald Schools built in the early 19th century to educate African-American children.
*
South Side Community Art Center
Preservation Leadership Forum and resources
The National Trust for Historic Preservation organizes the Preservation Leadership Forum, a network of preservation professionals.
African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund
In 2017, the Trust launched an initiative called the
African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund to identify underrepresented Black cultural sites in need of funding for restoration and preservation. The program has been directed by historian
Brent Leggs.
Advocacy
The National Trust’s advocacy arm works to effect policy at the local, state, and federal level. Current advocacy priorities are:
Historic Tax Credit (HTC)
The Historic Tax Credit (HTC) is the federal tax credit program that incentivizes the rehabilitation of historic buildings. The HTC, which has rehabilitated more than 38,700 buildings and leveraged about $106 billion in private investment nationwide, is in danger of being eliminated in current budget-balancing discussions in Congress.
Federal transportation legislation
The federal Department of Transportation Act of 1966 included Section 4(f), which stipulates that planners must develop projects that protect or avoid historic resources. However, Section 4(f) is periodically challenged through the transportation reauthorization process, most recently during the consideration of MAP-21. Due to work by preservationists, Section 4(f) remains intact.
Public lands
The National Trust advocates for the preservation of historic and cultural resources on federal
public lands, partnering with the
Bureau of Land Management, the
Forest Service, and the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government within the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of ...
.
[National Trust for Historic Preservation]
"Public Lands."
''Preservation Nation.'' Retrieved January 15, 2014. The National Trust supported the
Green Mountain Lookout Heritage Protection Act, a bill that would prevent the
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
from removing a building from the Glacier Peak Wilderness Area in
Washington State unless the agency determines that the structure is unsafe for visitors.
The National Trust stating that it was "pleased that Congress has acted to protect this historically significant and locally cherished landmark. With this vote, the House joins the Senate in affirming that the preservation of this historic resource is compatible with wilderness protection."
National Trust Historic Sites
The National Trust portfolio of historic sites contains National Trust owned-and-operated sites (
stewardship sites), sites owned but not operated by the National Trust (co-stewardships), and contracted affiliates.
Stewardships
Sites owned and operated by the National Trust:
*
Chesterwood,
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
*
Farnsworth House,
Plano, Illinois
*
Gaylord Building,
Lockport, Illinois
*
Glass House,
New Canaan, Connecticut
*
Lyndhurst,
Tarrytown, New York
*
Shadows-on-the-Teche,
New Iberia, Louisiana
New Iberia (french: La Nouvelle-Ibérie; es, Nueva Iberia) is the largest city in and parish seat of Iberia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The city of New Iberia is located approximately southeast of Lafayette, and forms part of the Lafa ...
*
Villa Finale
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became ...
,
San Antonio, Texas
("Cradle of Freedom")
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, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, subdivision_t ...
*
Woodlawn Plantation &
Pope-Leighey House,
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C.
In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...
*
Woodrow Wilson House (Washington, D.C.)
Co-stewardships
Sites owned or leased by the National Trust and operated by an independent nonprofit organization:
*
Belle Grove Plantation,
Middletown, Virginia
*
Brucemore
Brucemore, a park-like, estate in the heart of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the site of a Queen Anne-style mansion, formal gardens, a children's garden, night garden, pond, orchard, and woodland. Built between 1884 and 1886 by Caroline Sinclair, widow ...
,
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city. ...
*
Cliveden,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
*
Drayton Hall,
Charleston, South Carolina
*
Cooper-Molera Adobe,
Monterey, California
Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...
*
Decatur House,
Washington, D.C.
*
Filoli,
Woodside, California
*
James Madison’s Montpelier, near
Orange, Virginia
*
Kykuit,
Tarrytown, New York
*
Oatlands Plantation
Oatlands Historic House and Gardens (formerly Oatlands Plantation) is an estate located in Leesburg, Virginia. Oatlands is operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a ...
,
Leesburg, Virginia
*
President Lincoln’s Cottage,
Washington, D.C. (President Lincoln's Cottage is owned by the
Armed Forces Retirement Home.)
Contracted affiliates
Sites neither owned nor operated by the National Trust but are included by cooperative agreements:
*
Acoma Pueblo Sky City,
Acoma, New Mexico
*
African Meeting House &
Abiel Smith School,
Boston, Massachusetts
*
African Meeting House & Boston-Higginbotham House,
Nantucket, Massachusetts
Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuset ...
*
Hotel des Paris,
Georgetown, Colorado
The historic Town of Georgetown is the territorial charter municipality that is the county seat of Clear Creek County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 1,118 at the 2020 United States Census. The former silver mining camp along ...
*
Lower East Side Tenement Museum,
New York, New York
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
*
Touro Synagogue,
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New ...
Subsidiaries and affiliated companies
Subsidiaries
* National Main Street Center
*
National Trust Community Investment Corporation
The National Trust Community Investment Corporation (NTCIC) is a private, for-profit subsidiary of the American National Trust for Historic Preservation, founded in 2000 and based in Washington, DC.
NTCIC is a tax credit syndicator. It operates ...
Affiliated Companies of the National Trust
*
Historic Hotels of America
* National Trust Insurance Services
* National Trust Tours
See also
*
Historic Artists' Homes and Studios
*
Historic Hudson Valley
Historic Hudson Valley is a not-for-profit educational and historic preservation organization headquartered in Tarrytown, New York. The organization runs tours and events at five historic properties in Westchester County, in the lower Hudson Riv ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
*
{{Authority control
Conservation and restoration organizations
Historic preservation organizations in the United States
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...
Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.
Organizations established in 1949
1949 establishments in the United States
National Humanities Medal recipients