Episodes
Monday Jul 17, 2023
The Role Models We Need: Architect Barbie & Despina Stratigakos
Monday Jul 17, 2023
Monday Jul 17, 2023
Join us with guest Despina Stratigakos, who participated in a fascinating effort to get the Mattel Corporation to give Barbie a career in architecture. We like to keep things of topical interest here on PreserveCast and with the new Barbie movie out this week, it seemed fitting to revisit this conversation about representation and the future of the field.
We all need role models – and we need to see ourselves represented – whether in film, print . . . or in Mattel’s iconic Barbie. Today’s guest, Despina Stratigakos, Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence at the University at Buffalo, is a writer, historian, and professor. She is the author of three books that explore the intersections of power and architecture. Her most recent book, Where Are the Women Architects? confronts the challenges women face in the architectural profession.
Monday Mar 07, 2022
Monday Mar 07, 2022
Join us today for another Trades Takeover! Director of The Campaign for Historic Trades (powered by Preservation Maryland) Natalie Henshaw is joined by Abbey Vander Sluis, former member of NPS' Traditional Trades Advancement Program.
Hailing from Knoxville, Tennessee, Abbey Vander Sluis moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee to attend the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology. Abbey originally went to school to become an archaeologist but applied for a myriad of jobs that allowed her to work outdoors, a top priority for her. After finding the Traditional Trades Advancement Program and getting the opportunity to work in a National Park, Abbey became determined to further her career in the National Park Service, finding that preservation was closely tied to archaeology. Abbey currently interns with Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.
Related: The National Park Service and private industry need tradespeople with specialized skills to preserve and maintain our country’s valuable historic structures, and The Campaign for Historic Trades is working to meet that need. 2022 positions are open for the Traditional Trades Advancement Program (TTAP) and the Historic Stewards Program. The Traditional Trades Advancement Program started in 2018. TTAP members serve in parks across the country. The Historic Stewards Program is a new initiative from the Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC). For this inaugural year, positions are available at the HPTC in Frederick, Maryland, to applicants with prior experience.
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Monday Aug 09, 2021
[RE-RELEASE] The Role Models We Need: Architect Barbie
Monday Aug 09, 2021
Monday Aug 09, 2021
We all need role models – and we need to see ourselves represented – whether in film, print . . . or in Mattel’s iconic Barbie.
Today’s guest, Despina Stratigakos, Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence at the University at Buffalo, is a writer, historian, and professor. She is the author of three books that explore the intersections of power and architecture. Her most recent book, Where Are the Women Architects? confronts the challenges women face in the architectural profession.
Despina also participated in a fascinating effort to get the Mattel Corporation to give Barbie a career in architecture. It was a study in representation and the future of the field – a story that we’ll detail in miniature and more on this week’s PreserveCast.
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 Dec 14, 2020
John Brown's Legacy Lives On in Upstate New York with Martha Swan
Monday Dec 14, 2020
Monday Dec 14, 2020
John Brown.
Few names in American history inspire as much controversy, admiration, and consternation. He was a controversial figure in his own time and remains so today. No matter your opinion, Brown’s legacy is critically important and must be explored and remembered.
Today’s guest, Martha Swan, is the founder and Executive Director of John Brown Lives!, an organization dedicated to preserving Brown’s farm in upstate New York and using his legacy to inspire future generations.
On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re talking about John Brown, memory and how to use the past to engage the present.
Monday May 11, 2020
Monday May 11, 2020
Dr. Harrison Goodall has over forty-eight years of experience with historic structures and facilities management and nearly sixty years of experience in training and education throughout the country. As a contractor, volunteer, and purveyor of preservation materials, Harrison has been involved in preserving hundreds if not thousands of historic structures around the nation. A 2016 award from the National Park Service documented that Goodall completed over 135 volunteer historic preservation projects in 55 national parks and over 40 of those projects took place in Grand Teton National Park, where he has volunteered consistently since 1976. On This week’s PreserveCast, we’re sitting down to talk with a preservation trades legend about the future of craft and the lessons learned restoring America’s most iconic places.
Monday May 06, 2019
Monday May 06, 2019
When you think of industrial furnaces you may think of the late 19th or early 20th centuries and places like Baltimore, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh. But, the history of American industry goes back much further – and one of the earliest industrial sites in Maryland is located in the foothills of Frederick County at the Catoctin Furnace.
Today’s guest, Elizabeth Comer, a professional archaeologist, is a member of the Board of the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society – an organization dedicated to preserving and interpreting this unique story. Elizabeth is instrumental in coordinating the Historical Society's Historic Building Trades Program in partnership with Silver Oak Academy, a residential boarding school for at-risk teens overseen by the State of Maryland Department of Juvenile Services. Participating students learn valuable construction skills while working alongside preservation experts gaining marketable real-world job skills that attract potential employers in preservation, conservation, museums, and the trades – or may even inspire students to start their own company. The partnership between the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society and Silver Oak Academy embodies the mythology of the phoenix rising from the ashes as the symbol of renewed life for both the historic buildings and the young people who take part in their preservation.
Make sure you have your blast shields down...we’re headed into the furnace on this week’s PreserveCast.
Monday Apr 01, 2019
Monday Apr 01, 2019
This week’s guest has used social media and Marylanders love for our quirky state flag to build an apparel brand from the ground up. Ali von Paris took a dorm room project and turned it into a career – and has used state pride as the backbone for that endeavor. We’ll explore that story and its fascinating intersection with history and the lessons it may hold for preservationists around the nation on this week’s PreserveCast.
Monday Nov 05, 2018
Monday Nov 05, 2018
Towny Anderson has over 40 years of experience with historic preservation. He has restored historic properties first as craftsman, then contractor, and later developer and owner. He was an independent scholar, cum laude graduate of Middlebury College and attended the Preservation Leadership Training program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Anderson served as Vermont’s first appointed State Historic Preservation Officer, as a Director of the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers and as Chair of the Vermont Historic Preservation Advisory Council. He is a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum. Anderson co-wrote groundbreaking statewide legislation encouraging reinvestment in Vermont’s historic downtowns. He was a founding board member of MainStreet Steamboat Springs. Two of his certified historic rehabilitation projects received National Trust Preservation Honor awards. Appointed Executive Director of HistoriCorps in August 2012, Towny Anderson is bringing together everything he loves about historic preservation – buildings, people, beautiful places, and education.
Monday Apr 30, 2018
Monday Apr 30, 2018
Preservationists come in all shapes and sizes, but have you ever heard of a preservationist cut-out doll? Today’s guest, Sarah Marsom, is a jack of all trades in terms of historic preservation. She’s a consultant, she’s a co-founder of the Rust Belt Coalition of Young Preservationists, and to top it all off she created the Tiny Activist Project, which raises funds through the sale of dolls that celebrate inspirational figures in preservation, like Jane Jacobs. Sarah and I cover all these programs and more. Stick around for a ~little~ while, on this week’s PreserveCast!
Listen here: https://www.preservecast.org/2018/04/30/sarah-marsom-and-the-rust-belt-coalition-of-young-preservationists/
Monday Jan 29, 2018
Monday Jan 29, 2018
What does it mean to be a preservationist? How does the built environment that surrounds you impact your daily life? Why does it matter? It’s never too early or too late to think about these questions, especially according to today’s guests, Matthew Craig and Christian Hughes. Matthew and Christian discuss their work through the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh to encourage young people to engage with ideas of historic preservation in their communities. Although PreserveCast may be the number one historic preservation podcast, these youngbloods have a few tricks up their sleeves with their own podcast.
Listen here: https://www.preservecast.org/2018/01/29/young-preservation-association-of-pittsburgh-preservation-podcast/
Monday Jan 22, 2018
PreserveCast Ep. 55: McMansion Hell!
Monday Jan 22, 2018
Monday Jan 22, 2018
Have you ever seen a building and had something about it rub you the wrong way, but you can't explain it? Well, today's guest may be able to help you find the right words. Kate Wagner runs the popular blog McMansion Hell, which takes a comedic approach to dissecting modern suburban architecture, as well as offering informative essays on urban planning and other architectural concepts, including historic preservation. We talked about the blog, how a building can earn the title "McMansion," and where these buildings fit in a larger historic context on this episode of PreserveCast.
Listen here: https://www.preservecast.org/2018/01/22/kate-wagner-mcmansion-hell/
Monday Dec 11, 2017
PreserveCast Ep. 49: The Anarchist's Podcast on Historic House Museums
Monday Dec 11, 2017
Monday Dec 11, 2017
It may not come as a surprise that some historians and museum professionals are not always quick to adapt to change, but that’s only some of us. There are others out there, like today’s guest Frank Vagnone, who not only are capable of adapting, but thrive on inverting the status quo of museums and public history. Frank and I spoke about the book he co-authored, The Anarchist’s Guide to Historic House Museums, his position as the President and CEO of Old Salem, and examples of good ways for house museums to defy expectations. There's anarchy in the USA, the U.K., and beyond on this week's PreserveCast.
Listen here: https://www.preservecast.org/2017/12/11/frank-vagnone-the-anarchists-podcast-on-historic-house-museums/
Editor's note: The music in the segment came from a 1994 recording of a Virginia Pow Wow, and included a traditional Eastern Woodlands and Iroqouis song/dance called Gadasjot.
Monday Oct 02, 2017
PreserveCast Ep. 39: Joe McGill and the Slave Dwelling Project
Monday Oct 02, 2017
Monday Oct 02, 2017
Few historic moments continue to reverberate through our nation quite like the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. But despite the way the history lives on, there are some parts that will always be challenging for us to face as a nation. Joe McGill, the founder of the Slave Dwelling Project, joined me to discuss the work he does to shed light on some of the most painful, yet powerful, places in America. Join us for a discussion on the value of remember all aspects of our past, from slave dwellings to Confederate monuments, on this week’s PreserveCast.
Listen here: https://www.preservecast.org/2017/10/02/joe-mcgill-and-the-slave-dwelling-project/
Producer's note: This episode is part of our focus series on the history of the Antietam Battlefield.
Monday Jul 17, 2017
PreserveCast Ep. 28: We Are The Next: Youth Engagement in the 21st Century
Monday Jul 17, 2017
Monday Jul 17, 2017
Historic Preservation is meant to keep the best parts of the past alive so that future generations can partake in these shared cultural resources. But what is the point of that if future generations aren't interested, or simply don't know how to approach the world of preservation? Thankfully, Katie Rispoli Keaotamai, the founder and executive director of We Are The Next, is here to share about the work her nonprofit is doing to help youth in traditionally underserved and overlooked communities learn how to be active citizens, and understand the value of preserving their neighborhoods and communities. Katie's joining us from Southern California, but her message applies around the world because this is PreserveCast.
Listen here: https://www.preservecast.org/2017/07/17/katie-rispoli-keaotamai-we-are-the-next-youth-engagement-in-the-21st-century/