SCHEDULE & SPEAKERS
2020 Statewide Conference on Heritage
UPDATE: Recorded conference sessions and the accompanying resource guide of links and sources for more information are now available.
This project was supported by a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s Keystone Historic Preservation Grant, a program funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Funding was also been provided by the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2020
10AM KEYSTONE KEYNOTE: TOMORROW’S PRESERVATION MOVEMENT
Sara Bronin will look at the ways the preservation movement needs to evolve to address pressing economic, social, and environmental challenges. How can our movement help lead the national conversation on these challenges, using our deep knowledge of the ways that at its best, preservation can improve income inequality, racial discrimination, and climate change? What’s the work we need to do internally to be prepared to lead?
Sara Bronin is a Mexican-American author, professor, attorney, and architect. She has written over a dozen articles and several books focusing on historic preservation, sustainability, property, land use, and climate change. Bronin consults regularly for public and private entities on these issues.
She is an advisor for the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Sustainable Development Code, a board member of Latinos in Heritage Conservation, and the founder of Desegregate Connecticut. Previously, she led the nationally-recognized efforts of the City of Hartford to draft and adopt a climate action plan, city plan, and zoning code overhaul. She also chaired Preservation Connecticut, Connecticut Hispanic Bar Association, Connecticut Urban Legal Initiative, and the Hartford Energy Improvement District.
Find her at www.sarabronin.com
2PM PRESERVATION JUSTICE: CENTERING EMPATHY AND EQUITY IN THE WORK OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION
Hear from three young preservation practitioners on how the field of historic preservation can better broaden its constituency, adopt more creative and flexible tools and strategies, and directly challenge stubborn inequities of the urban and historic built environment. This will be a moderated, open discussion with ample time for attendee Q & A.
Panelists:
Starr Herr-Cardillo, freelance writer and historic preservationist
Dana Rice, Project Architect at CICADA Architecture/Planning, Inc.
Maya L. Thomas, Project Manager at Mural Arts Philadelphia
Moderated by Patrick Grossi, Director of Advocacy, Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2020
10AM PRESERVING THE TRADES
There’s a quiet crisis in the preservation trades, as skilled elders retire and take their knowledge with them without a new generation picking up their tools. Taking into account economics, arts, education, activism, and environmentalism, Dr. Stephen Hartley will share his perspective, based on nearly 20 years of experience in trades training, leading workshops for organizations around the world, and promoting traditional trades education. Andy deGruchy established the Craftwork Training Center to ensure that decades of expertise from master craftsmen are preserved and passed on. Nick Redding, Executive Director of Preservation Maryland, will discuss the partnership model between the National Park Service and Preservation Maryland to create The Campaign for Historic Trades, intended to increase opportunities to enter the trades and help restore the nation’s vast and irreplaceable heritage.
2PM POWER TO THE PEOPLE: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AT THE LOCAL LEVEL
Angie Williamson of Jumpstart Germantown, David Kahley of The Progress Fund and Josh Hankey of Royal Square Development and Construction share models for development with a focus on economic revitalization and community empowerment.
PENNSYLVANIA HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARDS
CELEBRATE!
Let’s party! Join us to applaud inspiring preservation projects from across the state. Pour yourself a favorite beverage, and settle in to enjoy and be inspired by some of the state’s finest examples of preservation and progress.
Watch the awards video by clicking here.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2020
10AM, ENVIRONMENT AND HISTORY IN PENN’S WOODS
In the last 15 years, a number of archaeological projects have employed dendrochronology, historical document research, and old- fashioned excavation techniques to produce a changing picture of Pennsylvania’s environmental history. This session will document the evolving history of historic and aboriginal land use, and its implications for understanding their effects on our climate and our environment. Our speakers are Joe Baker and Katherine Peresolak, MA, RPA.
12NOON LUNCH & LEARN: THE NTHP “11 MOST ENDANGERED”: NATIONAL NEGRO OPERA HOUSE
Matthew Craig, Executive Director of the Young Preservationists Association in Pittsburgh, will talk to us about efforts to save the National Negro Opera House, once home to the first Black opera company in the United States.
2PM, SHIPPENSBURG STATION: A LABORATORY FOR HERITAGE-BASED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
This session explores the role of heritage-based initiatives as part of broader community revitalization efforts. Development of the Cumberland Valley Railroad Museum at the new Shippensburg Station trailhead of the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail has helped forge better connections among Shippensburg University, downtown businesses and local nonprofits, including the Shippensburg Historical Society. An overview of the Shippensburg Station project by a panel of participants will serve as an opening for audience engagement in discussing the potentials and pitfalls of this type of approach to community development, particularly in small towns.
Speakers: Allen Dieterich-Ward, Professor of History at Shippensburg University; Christy Fic, University Archivist & Special Collections Librarian at Shippensburg University; and Megan Silverstrim, Steering Committee Member at Shippensburg Station.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2020
10AM, PASSIONATE PURSUITS: REVIVING THE PAST
This panel discussion will explore how some preservationists have used their energies to expand our knowledge and understanding of history that was almost forgotten. Molly Lester explores why the first woman architect with her own practice was exalted in her time and then forgotten. JaQuay Edward Carter shares how his own family history inspired his research of the history of one Pittsburgh neighborhood and his subsequent efforts to revive the stories and instill pride among residents of all ages. Bob Skiba, inspired by the National Park Service’s LGBTQ theme study, started a project to research, map and highlight Philadelphia sites and their history. Listen, learn and get inspired to pursue your own passion!
12NOON, “QUICKFIRE” – UPDATES FROM PENNSYLVANIA STATE AGENCIES
Join us to hear the latest news from the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), PennDOT and Department of Community Economic Development (DCED). Speakers: Elizabeth Rairigh, Division Chief, Preservation Services, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission; Diane Kripas, Division Chief, PA Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation; Kara Russell, Cultural Resources Manager, PA Department of Transportation, and Christie Yerger, Keystone Communities Program Manager, Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development, Center for Community Enhancement
2PM, DON’T GET CARRIED AWAY WITH THE HOUSE: SHIFTING FOCUS TO FIND RELEVANCE
Let’s explore what happens when preservation becomes about more than the walls of a building, but delves into the histories of the individuals and families connected to the place. This session will explore three stories of places that in the end are about much more than architecture. Oscar Beisert lays the groundwork for understanding how places are too often ignored when relying on existing protocols for defining significance.
Alison Eberhardt, Assoc. AIA, will explain how students involved in the restoration of a house designed by modernist architect Richard Neutra pursued oral histories from the families who once called it home. Their work raised the profile of a previously under-appreciated campus resource that led to it becoming a tool for engagement with professionals, academics, students and the local community.
Louellyn White represents the efforts of the Carlisle Indian School Farmhouse Coalition to preserve and develop a vacant building on the barracks property into a place of healing for Native Americans and an interpretive opportunity to tell the stories of the children who lived and died here and the misguided, government-sanctioned efforts to strip away their cultural identities.
Ted Maust describes how Elfreth’s Alley is using historic research and podcasting to bring the street to life through lenses of diversity and intersectionality.
Please note: recordings of these sessions will be available to registered attendees. (Links will be sent at the conclusion of the conference.) Registered attendees will also receive a copy of the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Awards newsletter and the Resource Guide that offers recommendations to learn more about our speakers and their topics. Registered attendees also gain access to the Virtual Town Square for networking.