What exactly do Historic Preservationists do?

So a lot of people have been asking what we do as preservationists, or a lot of people ask me how my 'Historical Conservation' classes are going. This isn't exactly a new field, but most people aren't aware of the details, and it's just now starting to gain a lot of awareness given our current social, political and environmental issues.

So today I will try and briefly give an overview of what this field is all about. First lets start with the definition of preservation:

1. the activity of protecting something from loss or danger
2. the condition of being (well or ill) preserved
3. a process that saves organic substances from decay
4. an occurrence of improvement by virtue of preventing loss or injury or other change

It should be noted here that Historic Preservationists are concerned with the 'Built' environment. That means we'd like to see those really cool 100+ year old houses in Chicago preserved, rather than torn down and replaced with new construction. From what I've been learning, construction in the U.S. in the last 100 years has become less of an art, and more of a business. Unfortunately it seems as though Americans have really lost their best craftsmen, and the trades have somehow lost their prestige and importance. We place much more emphasis on academic education, and have left the trades for those that we feel aren't fit for 'book work'. (This misconception couldn't be farther from the truth- it takes considerably more mental and physical intelligence to be a good craftsperson than most of us realize.) This is a tragedy in my opinion, but that's a whole 'nother blog and I'll get to that another day.

Preservationists believe that our built environment plays a very important part of our society and culture. We should preserve our past for educational purposes, aesthetics, and craftsmanship. Ever notice how that hutch you inherited from your grandmother is still in great condition, it's super heavy, made of great quality wood and is nearly indestructible? How is it holding up to that entertainment center you bought just a few years ago? We used to place a lot of pride in our work, and that has declined in the 20th century as American's wanted their goods quicker and cheaper. Preservationists desire a return to quality, and want to make sure your Great-Uncle Henry's Queen Anne house stays there, rather than replaced with that house-in-a-box that became so popular after WWI and WWII. Don't get me wrong, a lot of these are great houses, and they met a tremendous need for inexpensive housing for a large population during this time, but the art and individuality was lost, and we'd like to gain that back.


This is surely a very quick introduction to Historic Preservation, and is clearly riddled with my opinions, which I should say, are my views, and not necessarily shared by all. But hopefully you get the point. So that's what I'm learning here in Leadville, how to preserve those old buildings that we all think are so great, I mean, somebody has to do it, right?