PreserveCast

A Year on the Field: Preserving Agricultural History by Doing with Claus Kropp

Common wheat is one of most important field crops around the world and has been for millennia. In an effort to bring together different museum sites, living history farms, the “Year on the Field” Project seeks to exchange knowledge about common wheat cultivation through the centuries and in different parts of the world. Sites and farms participating in the project will create a valuable database on different regional cultivation traditions, regional seed varieties and traction methods and enable deep networking on an international level, raising awareness and public interest in agriculture, its historical implications for the present and the future of food production.

 

[RE-RELEASE] Illuminating Southern Appalachian History At Foxfire Museum

Foxfire is the bioluminescence created by some species of fungi present in decaying wood. It is a wonderfully evocative word selected by a teacher and student over 50 years ago to be the title for their new project to document life in the southern Appalachians.

What started initially as a student project has live on for decades and is today an open-air museum and outdoor village with over 20 historic log buildings and the Foxfire Archive, which consists of over 50 years of oral history interviews, images, and video.

With the light of the foxfire marking our path, on this week’s PreserveCast we’re talking with Kami Ahrens, the Assistant Curator for the Foxfire Museum about the special work they’re doing to preserve the past.

The Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts With BBC‘s Alex Langlands

To regular listeners of PreserveCast, you know that I’m a huge fan of the BBC “farm” series – which have explored Tudor, Victorian, Edwardian and other eras of British history. Alex Langlands rounds out our interviews with each of the presenters from the series – and Alex also recently published a new book, Craeft: An Inquiry into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts, which is a perfect topic of conversation at a moment when the world is almost entirely virtual. 

Cultivating Common Ground at Sotterley Plantation with Nancy Easterling

Our nation is confronting challenges on almost every front – so why invest money in historic sites when the challenges are so great?

Places like Historic Sotterley, located in Southern Maryland, can make the case for why we should invest. Sotterley has worked to become an exceptional cultural and educational resource for its region and state, and through ongoing work strives to help build a better community with local and regional partners.

On today’s episode of PreserveCast, we’re talking with Nancy Easterling, the Executive Director of Historic Sotterley about tackling the complex history of a plantation and how that conversation can improve communities.

First Person Interpretation of America's True Story with G. Peter Jemison (Seneca, Heron Clan)

As a child growing up in Western New York, with Mohawk cousins, the history and world of native American culture always fascinated me. The story of the native peoples of America speak through many voices – music, art, culture – but all too often are missing from the landscape of museums and historic sites.

Today’s guest, G. Peter Jemison, is a renaissance figure in native culture, art, and heritage and also serves as the Historic Site Manager of Ganondagan State Historic Site, the location of a 17th-century Seneca town in Victor, NY.

On today’s PreserveCast, we will explore the rich history of the Iroquois and learn how their heritage continues in the present.  

Best of the West with Katherine Wonson of the National Park Service's Western Center for Historic Preservation

Wyoming is a mysterious and magical place. The very word conjures up visions of roughhewn buildings, horses, and wide open spaces. Preservation seems a natural fit in that majestic setting – and today’s guest is plying the craft and trade of preservation in Jackson Hole as the Director of the National Park Service’s Western Center for Historic Preservation. So, tighten your girth and slacken your rein, we’re headed to Wyoming to talk preservation, western style, on this week’s PreserveCast.

Illuminating Southern Appalachian History at Foxfire Museum with Kami Ahrens

Foxfire is the bioluminescence created by some species of fungi present in decaying wood. It is a wonderfully evocative word selected by a teacher and student over 50 years ago to be the title for their new project to document life in the southern Appalachians.

What started initially as a student project has live on for decades and is today an open-air museum and outdoor village with over 20 historic log buildings and the Foxfire Archive, which consists of over 50 years of oral history interviews, images, and video.

With the light of the foxfire marking our path, on this week’s PreserveCast we’re talking with Kami Ahrens, the Assistant Curator for the Foxfire Museum about the special work they’re doing to preserve the past.

PreserveCast Ep133: Creating Places for Nature in Urban Communities with Alden Stoner of Nature Sacred

In challenging times, nature brings us peace. From time immemorial, humans have taken to nature to soothe their anxious and tired souls. In today’s busy and built world, opportunities to experience and commune with nature are limited – but today’s guest is doing something about that.

Alden Stoner is the CEO of Nature Sacred, an organization dedicated to bringing natural sanctuaries to urban communities to reduce stress, improve health and strengthen communities. It is work that was important before and is becoming increasingly more important every day the nation confronts its current challenges.

Take a deep breath and find your favorite tree – we’re talking nature in urban spaces on this week’s PreserveCast.

PreserveCast Ep116: [Healthy, Hip & Historic] What the Future Holds for Historic Preservation and Community Revitalization with Storm Cunningham

As this current international pandemic has changed the everyday ways that we interact with each other and our communities, it’s clear that our environment has important physical and psychological effects on us all. Preservation addresses the physical material of our built environment – and those materials’ potential positive or negative health impacts – so too, does preservation address an emotional connection to a time and place in history.

This five-part special podcast series, Healthy, Hip & Historic on PreserveCast will feature five preservation visionaries that will place our preservation work in a broader context, identify challenges, and illuminate solutions for linking historic preservation and healthy communities.

Preservation Maryland brought Storm Cunningham, an author whose work is leading the way for partnerships between preservationists and environmentalists, to our annual statewide conference held in 2016 in Frederick, Maryland. Storm Cunningham is the publisher of Revitalization News online, and the author of "The Restoration Economy," "reWealth," and the forthcoming "Planetary Renewal: A Strategy To Reverse Our Decline."

As a regional partnership planner, he has facilitated comprehensive revitalization processes, not just a vision, project or plan which help places enhance their economy, boost the quality of life and increase climate resilience by repurposing, renewing and reconnecting their natural built and socioeconomic assets.

Storm joined our group of preservationists, planners and heritage tourism and museum professionals to show the group how they can think differently about who they partner with and what benefit comes from those partnerships. If we want to make the world a better and more sustainable place, we need to breakdown the silos each discipline has wedge themselves.

One example Storm will share was a potential relationship between “water people” and “solar people.” Instead of saying “we have nothing in common,” think about your goals and how they overlap. “Solar People” want solar panels to make clean energy and “water people” want to get safe and clean water long distances. Water evaporates unless it is covered, so why not cover the water channels with solar panels? This is a win-win. More energy and less water loss.

PreserveCast Ep. 101: A Retrospective with Your Host, Nick Redding

This is also our 101st episode – and we’re changing the format slightly today to offer a brief retrospective on what we’ve learned about ourselves and preservation over the past 100 episodes – and to talk about where we’re headed moving forward...

If you’ve enjoyed these past 100 episodes, we hope you’ll consider making a year-end gift to offset our significant expenses in bringing you this content. Think of us as your Preservation Netflix – even a one-time $20 gift would go a long way! You can make a simple online donation to Preservation Maryland at presmd.org and hit the DONATE button in the upper right corner.

PreserveCast Ep. 95: The Intersection of Historic Preservation and Smart Growth With Kimberly Golden Brandt

Historic Preservation and Smart Growth are cut from the same cloth – and a interconnected in a variety of important ways. When we grow smart, we revitalize historic communities and keep from sprawling outward.

It’s a message that Preservation Maryland has been making for years – but in the past several months the organization has become much more serious about this issue following its merger with 1000 Friends of Maryland, the statewide smart growth organization.

Kimberly Golden Brandt, the former Executive Director of 1000 Friends now heads up Smart Growth Maryland, a campaign of Preservation Maryland.

On this week’s PreserveCast we’ll learn why the organizations merged and what it could mean for the future of Maryland.

PreserveCast Ep. 62: The Enchanted Forest at Clark's Elioak Farm

If you’ve ever wanted to dive deeper into classic fairy tales, you may have enjoyed Maryland’s once famous attraction the Enchanted Forest. But what happens to all of the buildings and unique concrete structures of a 1950s amusement park when it closes? In this case, they found a second life as part of Clark’s Elioak Farm, thanks to the efforts of the petting farm’s owner, Martha Clark, as well as the many who volunteered. Stick around to learn about the history of this Maryland icon, the story of a roadside attraction being saved by the community around it, and what it takes to maintain a massive concrete shoe. This is better than a bag of magic beans, this is PreserveCast!

Listen here: https://www.preservecast.org/2018/03/12/the-enchanted-forest-at-clarks-elioak-farm/

PreserveCast Ep. 61: Berea, Kentucky: Gateway to the Mountains, and to the Arts

In Berea, Kentucky, the local government has taken stock of the town's historic artistry and crafting traditions, decided to invest, and the craziest part? It seems to be working. Mayor Steven Connelly joined Nick to share some of the unique history of his town, for instance how they pushed back against segregationist policies of the Jim Crow South, and he shared news of what will hopefully be a bright future driven by tourism based on the local folk art heritage.

Also, just so you know, this is episode is brought to you in partnership with the Rural Maryland Council, as we explore historic rural communities on this week's PreserveCast!

Listen here: https://www.preservecast.org/2018/03/05/berea-kentucky-gateway-to-the-mountains-and-to-the-arts/

PreserveCast Ep. 44: Primitive Technology and the Food of the Future with Bill Schindler

As historic preservationists, we often can fall into only thinking about history through the framework of buildings and sites, or even get caught up on buildings from just one era. That is not the case for our guest today, Dr. Bill Schindler. Bill is one of the world’s leading experimental archaeologists and an expert on primitive technologies and historic foodways. Join us as Bill explains how food has driven technological development throughout human history, how we are uniquely positioned in that history, and why we may want to look at ancient foodways to inform how we eat in the future. Hopefully we won’t make you too hungry, on this episode of PreserveCast.

Listen here: https://www.preservecast.org/2017/11/06/dr-bill-schindler-primitive-technology-and-the-food-of-the-future/

PreserveCast Ep. 37: Save Historic Antietam Foundation: How to Preserve a Battlefield

It's hard to talk about the history of the Civil War without touching on the Maryland Campaign, which came to an end with the Battle of Antietam. This battle was not only the single bloodiest day of the War, but also preicpated Abraham Lincoln's issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation. And as important as the battle was, it would be extremely challenging to pass the history of that day on to future generations without the preserved Antietam Battlefield in its proper context, which is the way it is today thanks to Dr. Tom Clemens and the other members of the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Learn more on this week's PreserveCast.

Listen here: https://www.preservecast.org/2017/09/18/dr-tom-clemens-save-historic-antietam-foundation-how-to-preserve-a-battlefield/

Producer's note: This episode is part of our focus series on the history of the Antietam Battlefield. 

PreserveCast Ep. 27: Energy Sprawl and Open Space Preservation in Kent County

The spread of clean energy technologies is the wave of the future, but where exactly should wind and solar plants go? Nick sat down with Elizabeth Watson and Janet Christensen-Lewis, of the Kent Conservation and Preservation Alliance in Kent County, Maryland, to discuss their experience working to find alternative locations for wind turbines away from Kent County's scenic and historic farmland. Janet and Elizabeth are tackling a difficult problem, but they believe that the necessary move to create sustainable energy does not have to mean erasing our past. 

Listen up here: https://www.preservecast.org/2017/07/10/elizabeth-watson-janet-christensen-lewis-energy-sprawl-and-open-space-preservation-in-kent-county/

PreserveCast Ep. 19: Revitalization and the Restoration Economy

Here at Preservation Maryland we know that historic preservation can be a part of a larger world of reuse and revitalization, and we know that these projects are occuring all over the world. That's why we brought in Storm Cunningham, a speaker, consultant, and thinker whose ideas have been put into practice all across the globe about his perspective on revitalization. Learn about the bigger picture of community revitalization and how we can make the most of our existing world in the 21st century on this episode of PreserveCast.

Listen here: https://www.preservecast.org/2017/05/15/storm-cunningham-revitalization-and-the-restoration-economy/

PreserveCast Ep. 11: Planning for Self-Driving Cars: Now is the Time

We're not too far from a future where self-driving cars are just another part of your daily commute. And according to our guest, Atul Sharma, that will change a lot more than just how you drive. Come and learn how Atul, a planning expert working for Montgomery Country, MD, sees self-driving cars affecting everything from parking and traffic to where we choose to live and how we choose to utilize our historic buildings and communities. Just hit play and sit back while the podcast plays itself.

Listen here: https://www.preservecast.org/2017/03/28/atul-sharma-planning-for-self-driving-cars-in-historic-places/

PreserveCast Ep. 09: A Friend of Maryland is a Friend of Mine

1000 Friends of Maryland is not an actual tally of the Old Line State's friends. It's an advocacy group dedicated to helping Maryland communities develop in ways that we can afford - socially, economically, and environmentally. Dru Schmidt-Perkins, the Presdient of 1000 Friends of Maryland, is on this week to talk to Nick about smart growth and sustainable technology in Maryland's agricultural communities and beyond. Come make a new friend, on PreserveCast.

Listen here: https://www.preservecast.org/2017/03/06/dru-schmidt-perkins-1000-friends-of-maryland-smartgrowth/