Recent Preservation Activities
CAMP Vice President Nick Reynolds compiles a monthly newsletter featuring historic sites across the country responding to the challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The intent is to stay in touch with old and new members, and to share information that is interesting and useful, in the hope that we will create a community of practice among those preserving the nation’s military past. Each issue will focus on one or more sites. The original Persistent Preservationist was an excellent newsletter produced by CAMP member Col. Hal Youmans, USA (Ret).
Persistent Preservationist #16 August 2023
Nick Reynolds visits Fort Adams in Newport, RI
Persistent Preservationist #15 April 2023
The story of an Eagles Scout’s project to put up an interpretive panel at a bridge in Upperville, VA.
Persistent Preservationist #14 December 2022
This one discusses the situation with Confederate memorials in Virginia.
Persistent Preservationist #13 August 2022
We’re dropping the Pandemic part at this point but will be continuing with these columns. This one featuring Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument.
Persistent Pandemic Preservationist #12 April 2022
Featuring the Camp Blanding Museum near Jacksonville, FL
Persistent Pandemic Preservationist #11 December 2021
Featuring the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, MD
Persistent Pandemic Preservationist #10 August 2021
Featuring Virginia Hall (the person) and various updates.
Persistent Pandemic Preservationist #9 April 2021
Featuring the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
Persistent Pandemic Preservationist #8 March 2021
Featuring an unusual museum and one of its artifacts in California.
Persistent Pandemic Preservationist #7 February 2021
Featuring the new National Museum of the U.S. Army at Fort Belvoir, VA.
Persistent Pandemic Preservationist #6 January 2021
A bit of a change from the usual, this issue features short articles on a new historical board game company and the National Cryptologic Museum.
Persistent Pandemic Preservationist #5 December 2020
Featuring preservation efforts along the Fort King Military Road in Florida and a former Navy seaplane hanger at the University of Washington
Persistent Pandemic Preservationist #4 November 2020
Featuring Washington DC area Civil War forts
Persistent Pandemic Preservationist #3 October 2020
Featuring Fort Concho TX
Persistent Pandemic Preservationist #2 September 2020
Featuring National Museum of Nuclear Science & History Albuquerque NM, International Spy Museum Washington DC
Persistent Pandemic Preservationist #1 August 2020
Featuring Fort Ontario, Oswego NY
Below are items previously submitted by Colonel Hal Youmans who started the Persistent Preservationist initiative. His vision was to survey news about historic preservation and prepare a periodic summary. Nick Reynolds is continuing this.
We welcome feedback and input.
MARE TRANQUILLITATIS, THE MOON. – OK, Space Cadets. Get your helmets and ray guns
out. We are going to identify an historical preservation site on…the Moon! That’s right. Next stop: Mare Tranquillitatis, located at 0°4’5″N latitude, 23°42’28″E longitude, The Moon (that’s on the sunny side). On 21 February, National Public Radio featured the efforts of “For All Moonkind,” a nonprofit group devoted to protecting historic sites in space. A proposal was brought before the United Nations’ Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, seeking to place the 1969 Apollo 11 landing site (Tranquility Base) on the list of UNESCO World Heritage cultural treasures. You know: the Egyptian Pyramids, China’s Great Wall, etc.
As if lawyers don’t have enough to do, the group seeks a UN resolution addressing a lingering legal
issue associated with the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. It seems that we and other signers of the treaty
agreed that no nation can claim sovereignty over anything in outer space. We own the flag left by the astronauts, but not the footprints. No sovereignty; no cultural site. Let’s hold the ray guns back until the issues are resolved. (Source: National Public Radio broadcast, 21 February 2019).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted March 2019
SANTA CLARA, NEW MEXICO. – Fort Bayard, a nineteenth century U.S. Army fort near here,
manned by detachments from the Ninth Calvary (Buffalo Soldiers) was originally placed to protect
travelers and homesteaders in the area. The fort has had multiple uses since the capture of the Apache Chief Geronimo in 1886. The Village of Santa Clara and a not-for-profit Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society seeks to transform the site into a living heritage park.
The fort was used as a hospital. The military hospital was transferred to the Department of Veterans Affairs many years ago. The VA hospital was closed in 1965 and the state used the site until a Department of Justice investigation deemed the medical center to be “life-threatening.” A new facility was constructed in 2010 and the older building raised. The Village and the Society seek to have the state transfer the site to their control for further scaled preservation and development. A new Visitors Center will open in March and discussions are underway with the Regional Arts Council and the New Mexico Office of African American Affairs seeking to develop a Buffalo Soldier landmark. The site is off U.S. Highway 180 northwest of El Paso, Texas. (Source: Silver City Daily Press, 8 February 2019).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted March 2019
STERLING, VIRGINIA. – Just down the street from the Walmart Super Center near Sterling,
Virginia, forgotten by all but the most diligent preservationists is a single 3/5-mile stretch of the old Vestal’s Gap Road listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2000. Surely a hunting path for Algonquian-speaking native tribes, the road has had military significance from the passage of the first late 17th century English-speakers to the post-Civil War era. British Major General Edward Braddock, George Washington and even Daniel Boone were said to have trod their way through the Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains 65 miles from Alexandria, Virginia.
According to some historians, before the Leesburg Pike was built in 1830, the very essence of our
democracy was smuggled out of Washington City during the War of 1812. Yes, the copies of the
Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were carted along the Road from the capital during the British incursion in 1814. Contending forces during the Civil War were also said to have travelled the Road. Today the site is more familiarly known as Virginia State Road 604. The Sterling Historical and Heritage Preservation Committee is seeking more protections as the privately-owned portions of the roadway are repurposed, again. (Source: Loudoun Now, posted 5 February 2019).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted March 2019
FRANKLIN, TENNESSEE. – The Tennessee Wars Commission and Tennessee Historical
Commission have announced their February approvals of more than $115,000 for four preservation
sites throughout the state. These funds traditionally provide support for protecting and interpreting
Tennessee’s historic military sites ranging from the French and Indian War through the American Civil War era. The big prize of $50,000 went to to assist the Battle of Franklin Trust in the design and purchase of museum exhibit displays for the new $3.1 million Carter House State Historic Site Visitors Center in Franklin.
Other grants went to Parkers Crossroads Battlefield in Henderson County near Wilderville for the
purchase of a replica Civil War artillery caisson and limber and other wayside signage ($48,800), to
Johnsonville State Historic Park for a new interpretive replica Civil War-era artillery equipment
($15,000), and to the Alvin C. York State Historic Park in Pall Mall to enhance their interpretation of the impact of the Civil War in the Wolf River Valley ($1,810). (Source: Tennessee Wars Commission, posted 22 February 2019).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted March 2019
MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA. – By the time you read this the free tours sponsored by the
Milledgeville-Baldwin Convention & Visitor’s Bureau in honor of Black History Month would have
passed, however, the Bureau’s attempts to highlight this Antebellum State Capital’s complex African-American history is worth noting. Cotton, slavery, emancipation, life skills and military service in support of the nation came past the free trolley tours through the City in February.
Tour stops included the Sallie Ellis Davis House Museum, Flagg Chapel Baptist Church, Memory Hill Cemetery, the grounds of the Old State Capital (now Georgia Military College) and the historic black business district known as “The Strip.” Sallie Ellis Davis spent her life educating generations of African-American children. Wilkes Flagg purchased his freedom in pre-Civil War years and spent his life ministering to the community’s needs. The visit to the Memory Hill Cemetery tells of the days when deceased slaves rarely received Christian services. By one estimate there are over 500 unmarked graves in the area. Compare this with the vibrant African American businesses along “The Strip.” All in all a respectful remembrance of their contributions to this innovative Southern city. (Source: The Union Recorder, posted 3 February 2019).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted March 2019
SACKETS HARBOR, NEW YORK. – The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has bought 24-acres of Horse Island near here and will add it to the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site. During the War of 1812 when Sackets Harbor was the center of U.S. efforts to control the upper St. Lawrence Valley and Lake Ontario, British and Canadian forces attacked across this historic island. The Americans successfully defended its naval base.
The State with approximately $136,000 from its Environmental Protection Board partnered with the American Battlefield Trust who procured a $684,000 grant from the American Battlefield Protection Program. The purchase was concluded this winter. Approximately 80,000 visitors a year are attractedto this State Historic Site where guides dressed in period military clothing reenact the local War of 1812 events and the camp life of the common soldier. (Source: Frankly Media and WWNY, posted 5 February 2019).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted March 2019
MIDDLETOWN, PENNSYLVANIA. – Military Preservation aborning. The Lower Swatara Historic
Preservation Society has had its first guest speaker. The presenter, Mr. Dustin D’Agostino, a metal
detecting history buff, found Camp George Gordon Meade without really knowing it. Bullet casings,
buckles, buttons, horseshoes, marbles, coins, and even a ring (which many be much older than the
Camp) were discovered in this suburb of Harrisburg. But don’t confuse this 1898 Camp Meade with
other posts of the same name.
President William McKinley, who visited the site, called for volunteers at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. The Second Army Corps was moved here after an outbreak of typhoid at their home base in Virginia. The troops stayed here through that conflict and the Philippine Insurrection. They may have left in 1900. Local maps have been developed showing the current identifications of former camp facilities such as shooting ranges, bivouac areas, etc. It is undetermined whether soldiers actually stole chickens from the coops kept by local farmers of the day. Hurry, though, a local developer has filed a rezoning request. The Lower Swatara Historic Preservation Society will meet next on 22 March 2019. (Source: HighSpireHistory.org, posted 21 January 2019).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted March 2019
MISSOULA, MONTANA. – If you have an extra $900,000 hanging around and perhaps millions more for restoration and preservation you could buy a genuine military hospital with roots going back to 1877. This is the challenge facing the Northern Rockies Heritage Center since the historic Fort Missoula hospital went on the market. While the city and the county governments ditherer,
preservationists are anxious. Recent redevelopment patterns in Missoula do not leave them satisfied that either the Western Montana Mental Health Center’s hospital board or the city’s Historic Preservation Commission has the will to or can succeed in enforcing preservation regulations.
The last time the property changed hands it went for a fantastic $1.00. The U.S. Army sold it as surplus in the 1960s. The Mission-style hospital built in 1911 worked to control outbreaks of Spanish influenza and polio when opened. In 1941 it served to provide medical and dental needs of the local World War II internment camp at Fort Missoula. (Source: Missoula News Journal, posted 5 February 2019).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted March 2019
MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA. – What’s not known to the hundreds of thousands of
visitors who drive past Myrtle Beach Warbird Park is that the displayed military aircraft are on loan and are still the property of the Department of Defense. A close examination will tell that the Park is a reminder of the long-gone Myrtle Beach Air Force Base. This month the city allocated nearly $86,000 to repaint and restore the displays pursuant to an agreement with the federal government.
The City had put off the painting for several years citing funding concerns, but a contract is a contract. To meet the loan conditions the old paint will be removed, multiple coats of new paint will be applied, stripping will be hand-painted, and new decals procured and installed. It’s hand-crafting and expensive but as the parks superintendent indicated recently the finished project will honor the men and women who served at the base those many years ago. (Source: WMBF, Myrtle Beach, SC, posted 12 February 2019).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted March 2019
LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA. – Which is more important: saving an historic structure used to support
military operations and training for over 100 years or possibly promoting safety and improving an
aquatic habitat along the tranquil Maury River? On one side of this legal quandary is the Virginia
Military Institute (VMI) that uses a site created by the old and deteriorated Jordan’s Point dam to train cadets in water operations and American Dams, an industry support group. On the other side is the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) seeking to dismantle the dam. The DGIF is behind a determined state-wide environmental effort to “free” water courses of old dams and obstructions in order to restore fish, insect and wildlife habitats. In the middle is the City who can neither pay to refurbish the dam nor ill-afford to lose the U.S. Fish and Wildlife offer to fund the demolition costs.
American Dams, who say they can repair the dam at a far lower cost that the State DGIF estimates,
may sue to prevent the demolition. All sides have good legal arguments. The cost-benefit analysis may overstate the gains to be made from removal. But there has already been injuries and one unnecessary drowning death at the site. If you can believe it, demolition proponents contend that remnants of the structure (supporting posts) will give future visitors a sense of what was once there. This author believes that VMI needs to be thinking about alternative places to train its cadets in military water skills. (Source: Chesapeake Bay Journal, Salisbury, MD, posted 29 January 2019).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted March 2019
SWEETWATER, TENNESSEE. – The Tennessee Military Institute (TMI) Residential District in Monroe County, the source of many commissioned officers during World War II, is under review for placement on the National Register of Historic Places. On January 30, 2019, the Tennessee State Review Board met at Nashville to examine this and about six (6) other nominations.
TMI closed in 1988 and sold its property to Meiii Gakuin University which operated a Japanese High School on the site (since locally called TMG). Also on the January 30th agenda is the old U.S. Marine Hospital in Shelby County, Tennessee That’s Memphis, you know: Graceland, Beale Street, and the grand Mississippi, etc. An update will be sought by the Persistent Preservationist. (Source: The Advocate Democrat, Sweetwater, TN, posted January 9, 2019).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted February 2019
WASHINGTON, DC. – The U.S. Supreme Court has a couple of historic preservation cases. Normally the Court accepts only a small percentage of the cases seeking a hearing. The April calender seems full but several are of interest to the Persistent Preservationist. While going on the April calendar poses problems relating to timing the filing of the briefs, two cases are seeking placement and may be argued in the Fall. If accepted by the Court they may be heard together.
The Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders in New Jersey approved the expenditure of $4.6 million to help preserve twelve churches in the county. The Freedom from Religion Foundation sued to prevent the project. Two issues arise. First whether the available historic preservation funds to repair or restore a house of worship constitutes a “religious use.” Second, whether the categorical exclusion of all active houses of worship from historic preservation grants violates the First Amendment as an exclusion based on religious status. The Board is appealing having lost in the lower court. Concurrently the Presbyterian Church in Morristown has appealed on the issue of whether a categorical exclusion of active houses of worship from a competitive government grant program advancing the secular interest of historic preservation violates the free exercise clause of the Constitution of the United States.
An Editorial Comment: If a purist reader thinks this is not an issue to be followed, consider the monuments, sites and places of historic interest dedicated to wars periodically unpopular, i.e., the American Civil War, Vietnam, etc. You may also consider the thousands of tombstones carrying religious symbols now at Arlington National Cemetery. (Source: SCOTUSblog, posted January 16, 2019).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted February 2019
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA. – Historic preservation for the young and young-at-heart. The Historic Savannah Foundation is hosting the 2019 Race for Preservation through five historic Savannah neighborhoods on February 23, 2019. The 5K walk, a 5k run, and a 10k run will endeavor to highlight the importance of historic preservation and to educate the public on the work of the Foundation in a fun and interactive way.
Hurry, now. Registration is open until February 21st. What better way is see the historic neighborhoods from Forsyth Park to Daffin Park on a pleasant February day. Weather will be with us whether or not. Additional information is available at www.myhsf.org. (Source: Savannah Morning News, posted January 13, 2019).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted February 2019
READING, PENNSYLVANIA. – Early colonial settlements, Native American trading centers and military expansion were topics at a recent presentation at the 1716 Mouns Jones House in Douglasville, Amity Township. Sponsored by the Historic Trust of Berks County, Pennsylvania, two historians told the story of perhaps the earliest venture west from Philadelphia by European traders and settlers in William Penn’s Province. Jones, the son of a Swedish military officer, traded with the local natives for land, established his “Plantation,” opens trade routes, and brought increasing quantities of meat, fur and wheat in exchange for the sugar, rum, tobacco, and coffee arriving from European and other markets in Philadelphia.
It is difficult to say whether military activities always preceded trade, facilitated settlement, or protected these and similar trading routes. But if you need something to think about as you drive generally west along Pennsylvania Route 422 or the Schuylkill Expressway, remember that you are riding over the foundations of an 18th century trade route heading into a vast wilderness. (Source: Reading Eagle Company, January 13, 2019).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted February 2019
LOVELAND, OHIO. – The Ramsey-Paxton Cemetery, holding the remains of local settlers with Revolutionary War service is getting needed renovations thanks to grants from the local Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) and other donors. Paxton was with Washington at Valley Forge in 1777 and with General Anthony Wayne at Fallen Timbers in 1794. Ramsey was a Captain during the Revolution and was one of the first settlers in Clermont County, Ohio. Renovation funds are being managed by the Ramsey-Paxton Cemetery Association Inc., a non-profit 501-c3 organization.
Community involvement was, and is, vital. To support the removal of an older deteriorating fence and the installation of a protective, secure fence, the Clough Valley Chapter of the NSDAR, the Cemetery Association, Loveland Magazine, city government, and local contributors moved in support of the project. Additional funds, however, are needed to complete the work. (Source: Loveland Magazine, posted January 11, 2019).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted February 2019
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA. – Novogradac & Company LLP is a national professional services company in the certified public accounting, valuation and consulting arenas headquartered in San Francisco, California. Their work relating to historic preservation is highlighted in their on-line newsletters. Quotes from their January 9, 2019, Journal include:
St. Paul, Minnesota. – “Officials of the [Minnesota] Department of Natural Resources signed an agreement Nov. 21 with Dominium, an affordable housing development and management company, to transform historic buildings at the Fort Snelling Upper Post in St. Paul into affordable housing. Preference will be given to military veterans and their families. Redevelopment will include transforming 26 buildings, built in the 1800s, into 176 affordable housing apartments on the 41-acre site. The $100 million development’s financing includes equity from low-income housing tax credits, federal and state HTCs [Historic Tax Credits], and tax-exempt bonds. The property is expected to open in 2021.”
Brooklyn, New York. – “The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation announced Nov. 14 the $42 million closing on financing for the redevelopment of Building 127 in Brooklyn. This is the last adaptive reuse project for the property, which was built for boat construction by the U.S. Navy in 1904. Construction will add 95,000 square feet of modern industrial and manufacturing space. Financing included new markets tax credits, HTCs [Historic Tax Credits], private debt and New York City capital. The property is expected to be complete early 2020.”
Des Moines, Iowa. – “The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) announced $23 million in [Historic Tax Credits] HTCs Nov. 20 for the historic preservation of seven properties throughout the state. For the October 2018 round, IEDA received 14 applications requesting $62 million in HTCs.”
Washington, DC. – “The National Trust for Historic Preservation [a privately-funded non-profit] published a report, “State Historic Tax Credits: Maximizing Preservation, Community Revitalization, and Economic Impact,” November 4 to serve as a guide for state and local policymakers to understand the benefits of historic rehabilitation and key factors to structure an effective state HTC program. The report highlights the 35 states with a state-level HTC and the characteristics of the HTCs that drive the most reinvestment. The report is available at www.historictaxcredits.com.”
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted February 2019
FORT SILL, OKLAHOMA. – “Reveille, Drill, Retreat…Reveille, Drill, Retreat…Repeat…” For 150 years soldiers of many branches of the U.S. Army have trained and served on this, “the most complete Indian Wars era fort of original structure still in existence.” For CAMP, though, it is almost historic preservation by accident. Limestone block houses built by the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry are still in use.
General Phillip Sheridan chose this spot to build a fort near the Medicine Bluffs, naming it for his deceased Civil War comrade, Brigadier General Joshua Sill. From cavalry to infantry to artillery; through new weapons, new tactics, new missions, the old fort commemorated its Sesquicentennial on January 9, 2019. (Sources: For the Fort’s Museum: http://sill-www.army.mil/. For this story: KFOR, a Tribune Broadcasting Station, Oklahoma City, OK).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted February 2019
STILLWATER, MINNESOTA. – If you are ever in Stillwater, about 30 miles east of Minneapolis, stop in at the National Guard Readiness Center and Armory for a different view of local history and historic preservation. The history of Stillwater is the history of the National Guard in Stillwater. From the graphic panels containing short biographies of present and former guardsmen, you can delight in discovering their local homes and haunts. Geography indeed makes interesting “associations.” This note was posted in the Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Leader Telegram website on January 15, 2019.
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted February 2019
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA. – Dugong Diversity Delays Digging. As noted in last month’s Persistent Preservationist, the Center for Biological Diversity, a national, nonprofit conservation organization, and its legal plaintiff’s have filed its Brief at the 9th U.S. Circuit Count of Appeals challenging the redevelopment of the U.S. Marine Corps’s base on Okinawa. Hundreds of thousands of people have signed petitions seeking to stop the project as the dugongs near the edge of extinction. Dugongs are objects of national cultural significance under Japan’s Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties. The U.S. Department of Defense has yet to file its Reply Brief. (Source: Center for Biological Diversity release at www.biologicaldiversity.org, dated January 8, 2019).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted February 2019
TAMUNING, GUAM. – Readers of this essay may recall that in December 2018 construction on an expanded U.S. Marine Corps base here was halted when “prehistoric cultural features” were discovered at the site. After further review, U.S. Marine Corps officials, basing their decision on an in-house archeologist’s assessment, have resumed construction.
Although denying the Guam Preservation Trust’s request to stop construction, base officials have “cleared” the area without bulldozing and secured artifacts and latte stones for preservation and further study. The command says the the site may not have been a permanent settlement and that its may have been a work station where forest products were harvested and removed to the coast for processing and use. The command’s decision to resume construction may not be the final word. (SOURCE: The Guam Daily Post, filed December 31, 2018).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted February 2019
ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA. – There are 2,500 buildings in this city’s Master State File, not a few “military related,” like the Spanish Military Hospital Museum. That building had been under CAMP’s radar for a while. During Black History Month (February 1-28, 2019) attention will turn to the sites in St. Augustine affiliated with the record set by our African-American citizens and their proud preservation history. It’s a 450 year story; perhaps the longest in the nation. Lincolnville, St. Augustine’s historically African-American neighborhood, south of downtown, is well worth touring.
Some historical sites are gone, but among the remainder is a spirit of pride and success. The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., was here. Segregated accommodations led him to the old Monson Motel, where at one point he was arrested. The motel was lost to civil rights history when it, along with the Ponce de Leon Motor Lodge, was demolished in the early 2000s. Saved, though, was the residence of Dr. Robert Hayling, “The Father of the Civil Rights Movement in St. Augustine,” which is now as a museum managed by ACCORD, Inc. Noted too are memories of several of the original Freedom Riders, present and former St. Augustine residents who traveled the Freedom Trail in the 1960s. Add to these the efforts at the Lightkeeper’s House on Anastasia Island, Fort Mose Historical Site, and the civil rights monument in the Plaza of the Foot Soldiers and you have a fuller if not complete story of Black History in St. Augustine and the value of historic preservation. (Source: The St. Augustine Record, posted December 30, 2018).
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted February 2019
San Francisco, California. – The Partners in Preservation is a joint program sponsored by American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. On November 13, 2018, American Express announced a $450,000 grant to three non-military sites in San Francisco. Citing their unique cultural heritage, the Doolan-Larson building (1903), noted for its counter-culture activities in Haight Ashbury during the 1960s, Nihonmachi Little Friends, a childcare center in Japantown housed in a pre-WW II structure, and the Roxie Theater in the Mission District shared the grant. Nihonmachi and the Roxie received previous grants.
Since its inception in 2006, Partners in Preservation has pledged more than $22 million in support of over 200 historic sites in the USA. Its goal is “to increase the public’s awareness of the importance of historic preservation in the United States and to preserve America’s historic and cultural places.” Competition is stiff. For information on the nomination and selection process contact: For American Express, Ms. Amelia T. Woltering (212-640-7034; or amelia.t.woltering@aexp.com); and for the National Trust, Ms. Germonique R. Ulmer (202-588-6475; or gulmer@savingplaces.org). FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS Business Wire, November 13, 2018.
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted January 2019
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. – Gettysburg National Military Park, the site of the deadliest battle fought within the United States, is literally falling apart. This Fall the acting superintendent of the Park reported an estimated $55.5 million deferred, or backlog, maintenance shortfall. Roads ($16.2 million), the area around the iconic Little Round Top ($16.0 million), and historic buildings on site ($11.0 million) are at the top of the list. Little hope is given to a $6.5 million stopgap bipartisan bill now in the U.S. Senate. The funds are for the National Park Service and nothing is said as to where the Service will allocate these meager funds.
Neither appropriated budgets or visitor’s fees and purchases are enough to even maintain the Park or enhance it’s presentations. Each year hard decisions have to be made to prepare the park for visitors. An additional factor not often recognized is that today locally 923 jobs are related to Park operations. This is a major impact on the surrounding communities. National Park Service deferred maintenance estimates nationwide are astronomical. (Editor’s comment: Perhaps the new Congress will focus on infrastructure and at the same time include funds to protect and preserve military historical sites in its appropriations.) FROM WHTM-TV, ABC-27, Harrisburg Pa., Newsfeed, November 1, 2018.
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted January 2019
Greenwood, South Carolina. – In November 2018 the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded a grant to Lander University’s College of Behavioral and Social Sciences to host a symposium of World War I’s effects on the South. The two-day event, March 14-15, 2019, in Greenwood entitled: “Time of Tradition and Transition: A Symposium on the South and World War I,” will include panel and plenary sessions on wide-ranging topics, including military planning.
Participants will include noted academics as well as South Carolina citizen-advocates in public conversations about a local war memorials, commemorations, and historic preservation. The sponsor hopes to highlight how World War I impacted the South and to promote local history. Further information is available by contacting the sponsors at 864-388-8176. – FROM The Index Journal, Greenwood, SC, November 6, 2018.
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted January 2019
Seattle, Washington. – A battle is raging in Seattle. According to the November 2018 issue of Seattle Magazine, “The Preservationists,” identified influential groups like “Vanishing Seattle” and “Historic Seattle,” are locked in verbal combat with those in the city bent on demolition and displacement of some of the city’s most historic sites and buildings. The City Council is engaged with proposals to provide $500,000 in seed money to acquire, restore, and preserve historic properties in the city.
Local advocates know that Seattle was the site of early attempts at racial integration of military and civilian work forces by the U.S. Navy during World War II. Working with the Seattle Housing Authority the Navy created workplaces, neighborhoods, schools and community centers on a completely non-discrimination basis. Several of the remaining sites including the Decatur Annex have been nominated for landmark status. That status will protect the site from the demolition balls. Hearing were held in late November. Watch this column for updates. FROM The Capitol Hill Times, Seattle, WA, November 7, 2018.
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted January 2019
Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. – History is where you find it. This Georgian Bay city had a digital preservation day on November 4, 2018. Members and descendents of the Royal Canadian Legion are justly proud of their military efforts during World War I and II. While many of the participants have passed, the descendents maintain, sometimes unwittingly, treasure troves of letters, souvenirs, and other artifacts supplementing official records at the more formal national and regional archival centers.
Such was the experience of the Koepke family at the Billy Bishop Home: Museum, Archives and National Historic Site in this city recently. Their veteran, the grandfather of the visitor, left letters, Christmas cards, troop menus, and other artifacts describing his personal experiences during World War I. These items together with the formal records of their grandfather’s service expanded the family’s and the nation’s knowledge of his valor and service. Directors at the Billy Bishop Home are planning future special exhibits in honor of Canadian forces at Normandy on D-Day 1944 and doing more research on the Owen Sound training site for elements of the Polish Army during World War II. National historic sites in Canada play an important role in military preservation world. FROM The Own Sun Times, Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, November 4, 2018.
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted January 2019
Fayetteville, North Carolina. – One cannot get more history and evidence of historical preservation efforts than through a visit to this North Carolina city and its adjacent military installation, Fort Bragg. Downtown hosts the 1832 Old Market House, saved by the local Woman’s Club of Fayetteville in 1906. The Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad Depot, another protected structure, hosts a museum focusing on transportation, especially the robust and almost forgotten steamboat trade on the Cape Fear River. Near the North Carolina Veterans Park is the privately-funded Airborne & Special Operations Museum.
Military preservationists and traditionalists can only marvel at the efforts on Fort Bragg. Billing itself as “The Home of the Airborne,” this large post also houses museums and sites honoring the roles played by soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division and those trained in special operations and unconventional warfare. The “All-American Division” is traced from its activation in 1917 though World War II, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War, and the present efforts against terrorism. Unconventional warfare units certainly evolved since their use in the 18th century French and Indian War. Fayetteville and Fort Bragg – a “must-stop” for the military preservationists. FROM Your Editor’s November 2018 visit.
Submitted by Col. Hal Youmans (The Persistent Preservationist)
Posted January 2019
Council on America’s Military Past-USA, Inc.
502 N. Norwood Street
Arlington, VA 22203-2217