National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Post

The western United States has served as an iconic backdrop and source of inspiration for generations of writers and many a notable author has stayed in some of the many historic hotels that dot the landscape. Historic Hotels of America, a program of the National Trust, recently released their 2024 Top 25 Most Literary Hotels List. Explore nine hotels from the list where Willa Cater, Jack London, Oscar Wilde, and others spent time. https://ow.ly/5s4x50Sri0g

Nestled deep in the Colorado Rockies is Hotel de Paris, a center of food and hospitality founded in 1875 by Louis Dupuy, a man who reinvented himself over and over again as a miner, a reporter, and a hotel proprietor. For executive director Kevin Kuharic, the site is “authentic, inspiring, and inclusionary,” because the story of Louis Dupuy is also the story of second chances. Learn more about how Kuharic fell in love with history and what it is about Hotel de Paris that inspires him today: https://ow.ly/47k550SxSPX Pictured: Exterior of the Hotel de Paris a National trust Historic Site located in Georgetown, Colorado. Photo by Don Graham/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0

On this day in 1875, Mary McLeod Bethune was born in South Carolina. She was raised in a family of 19 to parents who were formerly enslaved by white plantation owners and she was the first of their children born free. Bethune believed that education was the most important step for Black Americans to have better lives so she founded a school in 1904 with five students. This school expanded and eventually became Bethune-Cookman College which to this day is the only Historically Black College and University (HBCU) founded by a woman. Among her many accomplishments and accolades, she founded The National Council of Negro Women, was the first Black woman to lead a federal agency, and worked on committees under five U.S. presidents. Read more about Mary's remarkable life and enduring legacy: https://ow.ly/AqZK50SqQyQ Pictured: Bethune stands outside her house in Daytona Beach sometime in the 1940s. Photo courtesy Library of Congress

Registration is now OPEN!! Register today for THE national event for those who work to save, sustain, and interpret historic places—PastForward 2024, October 28-30 in New Orleans. PastForward 2024 will kick off a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the National Trust and will address three of our nation’s biggest challenges: Creating Climate Resilience Through Historic Preservation, Ensuring a Representative Preservation Movement, and Encouraging Historic Preservation-Based Community Development. Register today to secure the early bird rate and to sign up for the New Orleans area Field Studies before they sell out! Learn more about this year’s theme, sessions, and details on how to register at https://ow.ly/Hu9k50SuHvE

Sponsored content by James Hardie. Historic districts weigh myriad considerations when approaching renovation projects with aesthetics, durability, resilience, sustainability, and affordability all factoring into planning and material decisions. Recent changes to the National Park Service (NPS) Preservation Brief 16: The Use of Substitute Materials on Historic Building Exteriors have expanded federal guidance on suitable replacement materials and the situations when the use of substitute materials is appropriate. Preserving historic buildings with resilient materials, like Hardie® fiber cement siding, allows echoes of the past to carry forward into future generations, protecting early memories of America amid rapid advancements and climate change. Learn more about how Hardie materials can address preservation challenges: https://ow.ly/oq0S50StCmz Sponsored content does not constitute or imply an endorsement or recommendation by the National Trust.

Long before today's fashionable digital influencers, there were iconic arbiters of taste. This summer Lyndhurst Mansion a National Trust Historic Site in Tarrytown, New York, presents Influencers; 1920s Fashion and the New Woman. The exhibition examines 1920s fashion and society through the lens of three distinct “influencers” of the era: 👗 Irene Castle, the dancer and short silent film star who created the first ready to wear celebrity fashion line. 🎩 Edna St. Vincent Millay, the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize and a bohemian "It" girl known for her menswear-inspired outfits. 👜 Coco Chanel, the French fashion designer synonymous with the 1920s and simple elegance in fashion. Explore the legacy of Castle, Millay, and Chanel on the way women lived, dressed, and presented themselves through what they wore: https://ow.ly/LVwq50SuIPn

Register today for the July 25 webinar, Monuments & Justice: Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument hosted by the National Trust's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. The work to permanently protect, preserve, manage, and interpret Chicago’s Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ and Mississippi’s Graball Landing and Tallahatchie Courthouse as part of the new Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument has profound meaning. Each heritage asset tells stories of racial violence, human worth, dignity, fairness under the law, grief, tragedy, and women-led activism. In a conversation led by renowned poet, scholar, and President of the Mellon Foundation, Dr. Elizabeth Alexander, we will explore the architecture of monument-making, the need for ethnic and cultural representation, and the role of historic preservation in fostering healing from racial trauma. This webinar is part of the Action Fund's Conversation Series, which will rebroadcast critical dialogues from our Cultural Preservation Leadership Summit held at the Ford Foundation's Center for Social Justice in New York City. Forum Webinars are currently free and open to the public. Register today: https://ow.ly/RQbi50SiLM0

From Washington, DC to Florida to California, climate change is having a dramatic impact on some of the United States' most iconic destinations and landscapes. Read mroe from USA TODAY: https://ow.ly/O6BP50StEr6

55 Stories, One Nation: Celebrating July 4th Nearly 250 years ago in Philadelphia, a fledgling America boldly declared independence from Britain to forge what the United States Constitution later deemed "a more perfect Union." Today, we understand that America's story isn't a single narrative but a tapestry woven from diverse histories. It encompasses the struggles and triumphs of countless individuals and communities who have shaped the nation's identity. This Fourth of July, delve into stories from every single state, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, and Guam. By sharing these stories, we honor our civic duty to embrace the full spectrum of American history and preserve the places integral to our collective identity. https://ow.ly/A78350StBSb

The Supreme Court's recent decision overturning the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine provides courts with more leeway to overturn federal agency decisions, including regulations. While there has been much anxiety about the potential implications of this decision, federal historic preservation law is likely to be less threatened than other arenas. National Trust staff share some initial thoughts following the Chevron decision: https://ow.ly/Lbgt50SuUZG