William J. Murtagh (1923-2018) was a historian who served as the first “Keeper of the Records” for 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 artistic v ...

. Murtagh was a native of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and received undergraduate and graduate degrees from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, including a Ph.D. in architectural history in 1963. He was a

Fulbright scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

in Germany and also studied historic

Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ), also known as Pennsylvania Germans, are a cultural group formed by German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. They emigrated primarily from German-spe ...

barns before becoming Director of the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts. He then worked for the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...

as an assistant to the president, and he served on a committee that created the 1964 publication entitled, “A report on Principles and Guideines for Historic Preservation in the United States.” The committee's report led to the creation of the National Register of Historic Places when the Historic Preservation Act passed in 1966. The National Park Service hired Murtagh as the first Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places and he collaborated with the State Historic Preservation Officers oversee the program and gather the first nominations. The program grew rapidly under Murtagh's tenure until his departure in 1979. He then helped lead preservation programs at Columbia University and the University of Maryland before returning as Vice President to the National Trust before moving to the University of Hawaii. Murtagh published “Keeping Time: The History and Theory of Preservation in the United States.” Later in life he resided at

Penobscot, Maine Penobscot is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The Bagaduce River flows through the town. The population was 1,136 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of w ...

and

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...

where he died of heart failure in 2018.New Acquisitions in the National Trust for Historic Preservation Library: Adding to the Papers of William J. Murtagh MARCH 12, 2019 https://hornbakelibrary.wordpress.com/2019/03/12/new-acquisitions-in-the-national-trust-for-historic-preservation-library-adding-to-the-papers-of-william-j-murtagh/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murtagh, William J. 1923 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American historians American architectural historians National Park Service personnel People from Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania alumni