Walking through Preservation

My most recent interaction with a preserved site was my two-week road trip out west. My friend and I stopped at Yellowstone National Park. It was nether our first times out there, but the only thing I remember of the place was I slept in a tent, it was freezing and you had to walk outside to the outhouse. As we drove through to get to our campsite, he asked me if I wanted to see old faithful. I didn’t due to the fact that the park was there for it natural elements, not the place where the most tourists go. I believe the most beautiful sight from the park was driving along the lake and having both sides of the road being splashed by water. The lake had a high water level due to the warm summer temperatures; there was no barricade from the end of the street to the start of the lake. For me when I visit preserved sites I don’t like to see the highlighted events, I enjoy finding the things that are a little harder to see.

Upon that, as a kid I was dragged all over lots of countries to see national and historical landmarks. Fortunately I was young and innocent enough to not pay attention to the tour guides, hence the finding the harder to see objects. As I got older, I was still required to attend the family trips. To be honest, I have never really seen the value of most historical places. I believed them to be fun “vacations” or places that were “cool to see” but I always felt more connected to them after reading about the history in a textbook. My imagination must have been more vivid as a child. Now, being older, I respect what my family has done for me. I have seen a lot of architecture, historical cities, master art and national parks. Then when I read about them I can go back into my memory bank and experience them again. I believe that is the one good side effect that came from being over exposed as a child.

After reading how the preservation movement came into being I was surprised to hear that women started it. I was also surprised at how well their system was in place, with regents, vice-regents with secretaries and lady managers in each county. After personally trying to kick start clubs, I understand how important structure is and how hard it is to achieve from scratch. Go ladies! Also, that the entire movement was run on patriotism and that didn’t include aesthetics until the 1900s. After architecture and revival, such as, Williamsburg, came into the guidelines of the National Trust I think that is where things started to become difficult to define as “historic.” It was because personal preference and pride became part of the referrals that were arriving at the council. After Williamsburg the Trust started growing exponential in the public’s eyes as well as catching the attention of the national government. Although the Trust did not take funds from the government until 1966, it had over 100,000 members and had already acquired about a half dozen properties. After 1998 the Trust stopped accepting public funds and I believe this is when the Trust began to struggle for money and helping the preservation movement forward. I still see the Trust as mostly patriotic sites and natural sites rather than architectural but I do believe there will be another revival in the next 20 years in the preservation movement.