Historic Preservation and the Recent Past

As preservationists continue to grapple with how best to establish contexts and evaluate the built environment of the recent past, communities across the country are realizing that buildings constructed during the 1950s are becoming eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. A few recent articles include:

-- "50s buildings in S. Florida: They're 'historic' but are they worth preserving? by Erika Slife from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

-- Honey, Our House is Historic, a feature in the October 2006 issue of Governing by Christopher Swope. The article describes efforts by city planners and consultants to survey and determine the historic and architectural significance of the approximately 10,000 houses constructed in Arlington, Texas during the 1950s. The article gives an excellent overview of the issues related to historic preservation of the recent past and also includes Question and Answer pieces with Dwayne Jones, executive director of Preservation Dallas; Julie Lawless of the Forth Worth Planning Department; and Ron Wright, City Councilman from Arlington, Texas which provide further information and different perspectives about preserving the recent past.

Additional resources include:

--the National Park Service, Technical Preservation Service's Recent Past Initiative web site, which includes background information and links to additional articles, publications, conferences, and other resources.

-- Two special thematic issues of the National Park Service publication CRM: Cultural Resources of the Recent Past (Vol. 16, No. 6, 1993) and Preserving the Recent Past (Vol. 18, No. 8, 1995).

-- Guidance from the National Park Service/National Register of Historic Places, including National Register Bulletin Number 22: Guidelines for Evaluating and Nominating Properties That Have Achieved Significance Within the Last Fifty Years and National Register Bulletin: Preserving Historic Suburbs.

-- National Park Service's Common Ground News Closeup Summer 2003, Making Sense of the Suburbs: New Guidelines Point the Way for Preservation.

-- The web site of the Recent Past Preservation Network. The information-packed site (allow plenty of time for browsing) includes a Recent Past Glossary, extensive information about efforts around the U.S. to document and preserve resources associated with the recent past, and numerous links to related organizations such as Docomomo/US and the Society for Commercial Archeology (see sidebar to right).