Episodes
Monday Feb 12, 2024
Monday Feb 12, 2024
As we continue to recognize Black History Month, honoring the triumphs and struggles of African Americans throughout U.S. history, we're revisiting a conversation with Candacy Taylor, an award-winning author, photographer and cultural documentarian working on a multidisciplinary project based on the Green Book. In Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America, Taylor has masterfully pulled together this story of resilience and segregation in a way that elevates and memorializes this history – a history still rooted in countless towns and cities across America.
Monday May 08, 2023
Working with Our Hands in a Hands-Free World with BBC’s Peter Ginn
Monday May 08, 2023
Monday May 08, 2023
I have been a big fan of Peter Ginn ever since I watched the first episode of Victorian Farm, where he portrayed a Victorian-era farmer in England alongside Ruth Goodman and Alex Langlands. Peter has deftly combined his knowledge of the past with entertainment and is a proud ambassador for preserving historic trades and crafts. In short, he’s the ideal PreserveCast guest.
Monday Mar 13, 2023
Using History and Heritage to Engage Minorities in Aquaculture
Monday Mar 13, 2023
Monday Mar 13, 2023
On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re heading to the brackish waters of the Chesapeake Bay to revisit an episode with Imani Black, founder of Minorities in Aquaculture, a dynamic new organization that is using heritage and history and a host of other innovative tools to develop opportunities for minorities to engage in this growing and sustainable industry.
Like many guests, I read about Imani in an article and knew we had to get her on PreserveCast – especially because of her background, heritage and focus on using history to get minorities interested and engaged in careers in aquaculture. We’re talking sustainability, environmentalism, history and the bay on this week’s PreserveCast.
Monday May 02, 2022
Fade To Blue: Engaging Communities Through Photography
Monday May 02, 2022
Monday May 02, 2022
When a building’s fate is settled, what can be done to save its memories? How can a community be engaged and given an opportunity to tell their story about that place? For Cumberland, Maryland-based photographer, Michael Hunter Thompson, the answer is through detailed photography. On this week’s PreserveCast we’re talking about how this photography project engaged thousands and underscored the power of place that preservationists around the nation should think about as they work to rally communities of their own.
Michael Hunter Thompson is a photographer living in Cumberland, Maryland. He has a BA from Frostburg State University in Graphic Design. Thompson began experimenting with photography in 2011 using layering, texturing, and other manipulation techniques. His style has evolved, now mainly shooting at dusk/nightfall using a more cinematic approach. Thompson’s work has achieved acclaim at the local, state, and national level. He is currently working on a historical preservation photography project of his old high school, which is set to be razed 2022. The project is titled Fade To Blue.
Learn more at: http://www.michaelhunterthompson.com/fadetoblue
Monday Feb 21, 2022
The Future of Post-Industrial Cities with Mac McComas
Monday Feb 21, 2022
Monday Feb 21, 2022
How cities will survive and thrive post-COVID is a question on a lot of people’s minds. Today’s guest has been thinking about the future of cities since before the pandemic and has continued that work as the world grapples with this latest shock to the system. Mac McComas is the senior program manager of the Johns Hopkins University 21st century cities initiative – an effort aimed at providing cities with up-to-date economic information and analysis to help build a more sustainable future.
Monday Jan 24, 2022
Monday Jan 24, 2022
On this episode of PreserveCast, Natalie Henshaw of the Campaign for Historic Trades is talking with Mae Bowley of Re:Purpose Savannah in our first ever trades takeover! Join us as Natalie and Mae discuss all things historic trades.
More About Our Guest
Mae Bowley moved to Savannah in 2015. Out of a desire to learn more about the charming and mysterious city, she started taking classes in Historic Preservation and Restoration at Savannah Technical College. When she encountered Emergent Structures (parent organization of Re:Purpose Savannah) in 2018, she fell in love. She was an avid volunteer for six months, and was then hired on as Assistant Executive Director. In 2019 Mae took over as Executive Director after her predecessor, Scott Crotzer.
Monday Jan 17, 2022
Monday Jan 17, 2022
Established in 1969, the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture is the nation’s first-ever ethnic commission and has a 50-year track record of exploring, researching, commemorating and preserving important places associated with the African American history of the Old Line State. On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re talking with Chanel Compton, the Executive Director of the Commission, about their work and the exciting future of African American preservation in Maryland and beyond.
The Commission is the oldest ethnic commission in the nation and doesn’t just talk about preserving history – it directly invests millions of dollars in brick-and-mortar projects across the state. It’s a Maryland story with national implications and one we had to bring to PreserveCast.
MORE ABOUT OUR GUEST
Chanel Compton is inspired and passionate about her role as Executive Director for the Banneker-Douglass Museum (BDM) and Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture (MCAAHC). She also currently serves as Board Chair of the Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center and board member to Afro Charities, Maryland Humanities and Future History Now. Compton has been a life-long supporter of museums; stating, “A museum can be such a powerful place. As a young person, it was my initial visit to museums and galleries that opened my eyes and mind to new perspectives, cultures, and history. African American museums are instrumental in inspiring a new generation of leaders and innovators because it is a place of empowerment, of learning, and a place of individual and collective transformation.” As Executive Director of BDM and MCAAHC, Compton is dedicated to serving arts communities and artists in Maryland. She has a home and art studio in Baltimore, Maryland.
Monday Nov 01, 2021
Fighting Blight and Building Community with Nneka N’namdi
Monday Nov 01, 2021
Monday Nov 01, 2021
Blight doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of countless decisions, bad policies and disinvestment over decades. Nneka N’namdi is the founder of Fight Blight Baltimore, an economic, environmental, and social justice initiative that is working to address these systemic barriers and challenges to communities in some of the state’s most historic neighborhoods.
N’namdi was recently profiled in Baltimore Magazine, where I learned about the innovative and dynamic initiative she’s leading – which holds tremendous promise for legacy communities around the country confronting decades of disinvestment and is a story that deserves national attention on this week’s PreserveCast.
Thursday Sep 09, 2021
[RE-RELEASE] Illuminating Southern Appalachian History At Foxfire Museum
Thursday Sep 09, 2021
Thursday Sep 09, 2021
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.
Monday May 17, 2021
The Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts With BBC‘s Alex Langlands
Monday May 17, 2021
Monday May 17, 2021
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.
Monday May 10, 2021
Highlighting History and Culture in Nashville with NashvilleSites.org
Monday May 10, 2021
Monday May 10, 2021
Connecting place to story to digital resources is a challenge confronting communities across the globe. That’s why when I learned about nashvillesites.org, I knew we had a winner for PreserveCast. Not only is Nashville an amazing town – but this story holds many lessons for countless other places looking to bring their history to life.
There are over 150 metro markers, over 50 more state and nationally designated and recognized historic markers, sites, buildings, and districts in Metro Nashville. NashvilleSites.org augments Nashville’s unique history with multimedia information and dynamic online resources.
Monday Mar 29, 2021
Art Heals: The Jingle Dress Project with Eugene Tapahe
Monday Mar 29, 2021
Monday Mar 29, 2021
The Jingle Dress project originated from a dream to unite the beauty of the land and the healing power of the jingle dance during these uncertain times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The origin of the jingle dance to the Ojibwe people happened during the influenza pandemic of 1918-19. It came as a dream to a father whose daughter was sick with the virus. His dream revealed the new dress and dance that had the power to heal. When the dresses were made, they were given to four women to perform the dance. When the little girl heard the sound of the jingles, she became stronger. By the end of the night she was dancing too.
Today’s guest, Eugene Tapahe, also has a dream to take this healing power to the land, to travel and capture a series of images that will document spiritual places where ancestors once walked. The goal is to unite and give hope to the world through art, dance and culture to help us all to heal together. Learn more about the project and support it at: https://tapahe.com/jingle-dress-project.html
Monday Mar 15, 2021
Shattering the Glass Ceiling of Trades Training with Lisa Sasser
Monday Mar 15, 2021
Monday Mar 15, 2021
Without trained hands able to restore buildings – we can’t “do” preservation. It’s just that simple. Today’s guest is a true trailblazer in the preservation trades; an accomplished historic architect, accomplished tradesperson and notably, the first woman to complete the National Park Service preservation trades training program. On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re talking with Lisa Sasser about women in the trades and the future of trades training in America.
Monday Mar 01, 2021
Monday Mar 01, 2021
Established in 1969, the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture is the nation’s first-ever ethnic commission and has a 50 year track record of exploring, researching, commemorating and preserving important places associated with the African American history of the Old Line State. On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re talking with Chanel Compton, the Executive Director of the Commission, about their work and the exciting future of African American preservation in Maryland and beyond.
Monday Feb 22, 2021
Building a Legacy of Service: A Conversation with Colonel Jennifer Pritzker
Monday Feb 22, 2021
Monday Feb 22, 2021
Historian, businesswoman, investor, developer, and philanthropist. Colonel Jennifer Pritzker has led an amazing life. A retired Lieutenant Colonel of the U.S. Army, for nearly three decades Col. Pritzker served in the U.S. Army, U.S. Army Reserve, and the Illinois Army National Guard. Today, her legacy of service continues in her philanthropic investments across the nation in heritage, veterans’ issues and beyond. On Today’s PreserveCast we’re talking with a legend of preservation philanthropy. Learn more at: tawanifoundation.org
Monday Feb 08, 2021
Small Change: The New World of Crowdfunded Real Estate Investments
Monday Feb 08, 2021
Monday Feb 08, 2021
What if individuals could band together to make change that they couldn’t possibly accomplish alone? That’s the concept behind Small Change, a real estate crowdfunding investment platform founded by today’s guest, Eve Picker. We’ll dive into the new world of crowdfunded real estate investments and how that could shape the future of preservation on this week’s PreserveCast.
Monday Jan 25, 2021
Monday Jan 25, 2021
As nearly anyone who has seriously studied American history can attest – there is no American story without the story of slavery. It is central to our origin and must be included in order to get a full and complete picture of our history. Unfortunately, the records of slavery are spread far and wide and are often siloed and incomplete. In this two part series, we’re talking to two of the minds behind Enslaved: Peoples of the Historic Slave Trade – a digital preservation effort aimed at connected the dots and knocking down the silos of slave history. Learn more at www.enslaved.org.
Monday Jan 11, 2021
Market Morality and the Politics of Preservation with Whitney Martinko
Monday Jan 11, 2021
Monday Jan 11, 2021
What we preserve tells as much about us as it does about the history itself. Preservation is a movement with a history unto itself – but all too often that story is overlooked in favor of the history of the sites that are preserved. Whitney Martinko, an associate professor of History at Villanova University, is tackling that story and recently published Historic Real Estate: Market Morality and the Politics of Preservation in the Early United States, an in-depth look at why and what we preserve and how interconnected our preservation landscape is to our market driven economy. On this week’s PreserveCast we’re talking about the impulse to preserve and what it says about us, the preservers.
Monday Jan 04, 2021
The Civil War Photo Sleuth: A Conversation with Kurt Luther
Monday Jan 04, 2021
Monday Jan 04, 2021
Monday Dec 28, 2020
Monday Dec 28, 2020
Food is powerful. It has the ability to transcend artificial divisions and to unite – and it can speak to our history and heritage if we’re willing to listen, or think with our tastebuds.
For today’s guest, using food to tell a story is all a part of his daily work. Brent Rosen is the President and CEO of NatFAB, the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, and the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans, Louisiana.
So, pack your back, but don’t bring any food – we’ve got that covered on this week’s PreserveCast.
Monday Nov 30, 2020
Monday Nov 30, 2020
Change can be difficult. Building momentum, engaging diverse audiences, and bringing history to life is the tough stuff of preservation and community engagement.
Today’s guest, Dana Saylor, has made it her mission to help fellow preservationists, artists, community leaders, and interested citizens in developing strategies that turn ideas into action. Dana is a creative community connector and mentor to fellow changemakers. Her work is about building emotional connection to place. She is based in Buffalo, New York, and is an Advisor to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re talking the nuts and bolts of making change happen with a leading voice for this critical and timely work.
Hey, Nick here, and before we get started – just a quick reminder to please consider making a donation – even $5 would go a long way – and you can do it at preservecast.org; also would you be willing to give us a five-star rating and maybe a quick review. We haven’t had a new review in way too long and I need your help! And, finally, today’s episode is made possible thanks to the support of The 1772 Foundation. Now, let’s make some change happen!
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Cultivating Common Ground at Sotterley Plantation with Nancy Easterling
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Monday Nov 02, 2020
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.
Monday Oct 19, 2020
Monday Oct 19, 2020
There are some topics that are easy to introduce to our PreserveCast listeners. Today’s episode is not one of those – but it is a topic we feel compelled to cover and explore.
Among his many responsibilities and positions, today’s guest, Dr. David Fakunle, is also currently serving as the as Chair of the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the first state body in the United States dedicated to chronicling and bringing justice to racial terror lynchings.
It is a dark and painful chapter in our history – but a history which we’ll confront and discuss on this week’s PreserveCast with a leader dealing with the legacy of lynchings and the effort to bring justice to those who were denied it.
Tuesday Sep 29, 2020
Tuesday Sep 29, 2020
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.
Monday Jul 20, 2020
Monday Jul 20, 2020
The story of where we live is uniquely personal. Many historic homes have been preserved and opened to the public – places that tell a story about the way we once lived.
However, American public housing – places built and maintained by governments – has been long been overlooked, forgotten, and worse yet, maligned.
Today’s guest, Dr. Lisa Lee, is working to solve that gap in memory and understanding as the Executive Director of the National Public Housing Museum, the only cultural institution devoted to telling the story of public housing in the United States.
Find the best spot to sit and relax in the place you call home as we talk about the history of housing on this week’s PreserveCast.