PreserveCast

[RE-RELEAE] The Civil War Photo Sleuth: A Conversation with Kurt Luther

The American Civil War was the first war to be truly photo-documented. The haunting images stare back at us and make the brutal conflict real and humanize the tragedy. Yet, for all of the photos, many of the identities of the individuals captured are now unknown. Today, Civil War Photo Sleuth is using modern-day technology to rediscover the lost identities in American Civil War-era photographs. This new endeavor holds tremendous potential not only to uncover the lost history of the Civil War–but of countless other anonymous photographs. On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re talking artificial intelligence, Civil War history and the future of historical investigations.

[RE-RELEASE] Rich History Of Food With Brent Rosen Of The Southern Food And Beverage Museum

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 this episode'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 bag, but don’t bring any food – we’ve got that covered on this episode of PreserveCast.

More About Our Guest

Brent Rosen, President & CEO, oversees the programming of NatFAB, the Southern Food and Beverage Museum and the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans. He also works with affiliate museums such as the Pacific Food and Beverage Museum in Los Angeles. Brent’s job descriptions have varied, but his work as an attorney and consultant has involved coalition building, business development, marketing, fundraising, and developing and executing strategic plans. His experience in those areas, combined with his passion for food and culture, have led him to create a number of successful culinary experiences, publications, restaurants, festivals, and promotional activations before beginning at NatFAB. Brent and his wife Caroline Nabors Rosen live in a restored Creole Cottage in New Orleans.

[RE-RELEASE] The ”Animagic” of the Holidays with Rankin/Bass Production‘s Official Historian, Rick Goldschmidt

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, but do you recall Rankin/Bass – the company behind some of America’s most beloved stop-action holiday films? Our guest, Rick Goldschmidt, does. He’s a historian of Rankin/Bass Productions – the creative team that created Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Year without a Christmas, and dozens upon dozens more.

Preserving the legacy of those films and the actual props has been a lifelong passion for Rick and on this episode of PreserveCast, we’ll head back to the 1960s to talk TV preservation and memory with an authority on the subject.

PreserveCast Conversations Ep 5: The Professor And The Practitioner

On this fifth edition of PreserveCast Conversations: The Professor and the Practitioner, a new monthly feature of PreserveCast, co-hosts Nicholas Redding and Dr. Whitney Martinko explore the trends, topics and issues that are making headlines in the world of preservation this month. They’re covering a lot of ground in today’s conversation on preservation and the issues that matter. For regular listeners, also, be sure to send any questions you have about this episode or questions you’d like answered in next month’s conversation to info@presmd.org.

Dr. Whitney Martinko is an associate professor of History at Villanova University, where she teaches classes about the early United States, environmental history and sustainability, and material culture. She also directs the graduate program in public history. She earned her AB in History from Harvard College and her MA and PhD in History from the University of Virginia. She lives in West Philadelphia. Learn more about Martinko and her work at https://www.whitneymartinko.com/

The Age of Wood with Roland Ennos

Today we're speaking with Roland Ennos, author of The Age of Wood: Our Most Useful Material and the Construction of Civilization.

 

As the dominant species on Earth, humans have made astonishing progress since our ancestors came down from the trees. But how did the descendants of small primates manage to walk upright, become top predators, and populate the world? How were humans able to develop civilizations and produce a globalized economy? Now, in The Age of Wood, Roland Ennos shows for the first time that the key to our success has been our relationship with wood.

 

Roland Ennos is a visiting professor of biological sciences at the University of Hull. He is the author of successful textbooks on plants, biomechanics, and statistics, and his popular book Trees, published by the Natural History Museum, is now in its second edition. He lives in England.

A 1970s British Kitsch Christmas at Kiplin Hall with James Etherington

Christmas at a historic home normally conjures up images of a roaring Victorian fireplace or perhaps even an early 20^th century Christmas with tin toys and pleasant smells coming from the kitchen. But, what about the kitschy charm of the 1970s? On this week’s PreserveCast we’re revisiting with James Etherington, the Director of Kiplin Hall – a historic site in England which interprets the ancestral home of the Calverts, one of Maryland’s earliest and most prominent colonial families – to hear about their very 1970s Christmas and what we can learn from the way we celebrated exactly 50 years ago.

James previously joined us on PreserveCast to talk about how Kiplin Hall, a historic site in the UK, addresses the story of the Calverts, one of the earliest European families in Maryland. When Kiplin Hall reached out about their unique 1970s Christmas celebration – it seemed the perfect fit as we here in the states’ begin to grapple with preserving the vestiges of that decade as it becomes eligible for preservation 50 years later.

Historian for Hire with Scott Vierick of History Associates, Inc.

There are many ways to be a historian – and on this week’s PreserveCast we’re exploring the world of historians for hire – contract historians who do work to help organizations, corporations, agencies and law firms dig deep into history when the stakes are high.

During his time at History Associates Incorporated, Scott Vierick has traveled from the Colorado mountains to the Florida Everglades, and from the National Archives to frozen Civil War Battlefields. As a historian and project manager with the company, he works with clients and stakeholders to produce engaging historical content for museum exhibits, smartphone apps, and websites.

Fighting Blight and Building Community with Nneka N’namdi

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.

[SPOOKTACULAR] Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween with Lisa Morton

Some holidays are so ingrained into our lives, it’s hard to imagine the time before they existed – but Halloween wasn’t always the holiday we know today. On this year’s PreserveCast Spooktacular we’re talking with Lisa Morton. Morton recently published Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween, a comprehensive history of one of America’s favorite holidays.

PreserveCast Conversations Ep 4: The Professor And The Practitioner

On this fourth edition of PreserveCast Conversations: The Professor and the Practitioner, a new monthly feature of PreserveCast, co-hosts Nicholas Redding and Dr. Whitney Martinko explore the trends, topics and issues that are making headlines in the world of preservation this month. They’re covering a lot of ground in today’s conversation on preservation and the issues that matter. For regular listeners, also, be sure to send any questions you have about this episode or questions you’d like answered in next month’s conversation to info@presmd.org.

Dr. Whitney Martinko is an associate professor of History at Villanova University, where she teaches classes about the early United States, environmental history and sustainability, and material culture. She also directs the graduate program in public history. She earned her AB in History from Harvard College and her MA and PhD in History from the University of Virginia. She lives in West Philadelphia. Learn more about Martinko and her work at https://www.whitneymartinko.com/

The Nitty Gritty of Preservation: How to Use Section 106 to Save Places that Matter with Jacqueline Drayer

Saving places requires a variety of tools and skillsets – including an understanding of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. It sounds dull – but it’s a tool everyone who cares about historic places should know about and get involved in – because it can save places and use the loss of historic resources to fuel preservation elsewhere. On this week’s PreserveCast, Jacqueline Drayer, a 106-specialist is leading us down the road to 106 awareness.

Hitting the Road: Place Based Tourism and Content Creation with Maryland Road Trips

Connecting people to places is the work of preservationists everywhere – and on this week’s episode we’re talking with the creative minds behind Maryland Road Trips, a new site dedicated to encouraging place-based tourism. It’s a story rooted in Maryland, but one with lessons for preservationists and historians across the globe.

PreserveCast is a nationwide podcast – exploring topics in history, preservation and place from all around the world – but our heart will always be in Maryland where we’re based and produced. So, this week, we’re talking with Laura Rennie, the editorial manager of Maryland Road Trips to see how one new site is working to connect people to place – with lessons learned along the way for anyone listening who cares to do the same.

More About Our Guest

Laura Rennie’s curiosity and inquisitive nature leads her toward finding the story unseen. With a background in print journalism, she explores the unknown both with ease and genuine interest. At Maryland Road Trips, a Postern Publishing publication, Laura approaches her work like any seasoned adventurer would; by dusting off the path less traveled and looking where others might not think to look. After all, everyone has a story to tell and Laura has what it takes to tell it.

Visit Maryland Road Trips at: www.marylandroadtrips.com

Taking Action for Historic Preservation: The Future of Funding with Merrill Hoopengardner

Preservation without funding is just good intentions. That’s why people like Merrill Hoopengardner and her team at the National Trust Community Investment Corporation are so integral to the future of this work. Right now, they’re working on big changes to federal funding for preservation – a timely and critical issue we knew had to be on PreserveCast.

Merrill Hoopengardner may not be a household name in preservation – but she should be. Merrill is the President and CEO of the National Trust Community Investment Corporation and is part of an effort to vastly improve the nation’s historic tax credit – the federal government’s largest investment in preservation. As President of NTCIC, Merrill directs fundraising and acquisition opportunities, develops and implements overall strategy and new lines of business for the company, and coordinates governing board/staff relations.

On this week’s PreserveCast, listeners have an opportunity to take action and make a difference and Merrill is leading the charge.

Exploring Maryland Foodways with Old Line Plate‘s Kara Harris

On this week's episode of PreserveCast, we are excited to be talking with Kara Harris, a blogger, historian and Maryland food lover. Kara Harris is the blogger and historian behind "Old Line Plate," a fantastic Maryland based food history website that I personally love, and something that I knew we had to bring to this week's episode of PreserveCast. The blog "Old Line Plate," a play on Maryland's historic state nickname "Old Line State," seeks to tell the story of Maryland's historic foodways and cooking traditions.

Let's sink our teeth into today's episode of PreserveCast!

Expertly Weaving History and Food Together with Christina Tkacik

Yep, you guessed it, I connected with Christina on Twitter – where she learned about a historic rehabilitation project Preservation Maryland was undertaking. Since then, I’ve become a huge fan of her work and the way in which she expertly weaves history and food together – two of my biggest passions. For anyone with an appetite, this is the interview for you.

Christina Tkacik has spent her career telling important stories – and has a talent for weaving history and food together as the dining reporter for the Baltimore Sun. From crabcakes to sno-balls to log cabins, Christina is doing her part to preserve our past in the pages of the Baltimore Sun and is serving up a tasty helping on this week’s PreserveCast. 

[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.

[RE-RELEASE] Elevating Authentic Stories from the Underground Railroad

On this week’s re-release of PreserveCast, we’re heading back to the brackish marshes of Maryland’s Eastern Shore to talk Tubman, slavery, and freedom.

Few names have become as synonymous with grit, determination, and liberty as Harriet Tubman. A Moses for her people, Tubman has become an almost mythical character who represents the best of the American spirit in the face of incredible suffering and inhumanity. Yet, for many years, she lacked a rigorous and scholarly biography. Today’s guest, Dr. Kate Clifford Larson, addressed that historical inequity and helped bring Harriet’s real story to a new generation.

Drawn to Combat: Bill Mauldin & the Art of War

A two-time Pulitzer Prize winning artist, Bill Mauldin’s cartoons embodied the spirit of the infantryman during World War II before turning his critical pen to those in the political sphere. On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re talking with James Brundage, the curator of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library to explore the preservation of this unique art and how Mauldin’s message still resonates.

 I’ve personally always loved the art of Bill Mauldin – it’s honest, real and sometimes even a little cheeky. In many ways, the art has come to define the GI of World War II and colors our memory of that conflict. That’s why when the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, long-time friends of the podcast, approached us about their new exhibit, I felt it was a story perfect for PreserveCast.

Listen: https://www.preservecast.org/

[RE-RELEASE] The Role Models We Need: Architect Barbie

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.

Using Data Analysis to Inform Visitor Driven Organizations

How do serve your mission, your visitors and keep the lights on? That’s a question that nonprofit leaders in the cultural and museum fields ask themselves every day and is all in a day’s work for Colleen Dilenschneider, today’s guest on PreserveCast. Colleen provides data and analysis to inform the evolution of visitor-serving organizations so that they may optimize mission execution and financial sustainability. I’ve been following Colleen’s blog for many years – and have always found her analysis to be some of the very best out there for visitor serving organizations – a voice I knew I wanted to bring to our growing PreserveCast audience.

PreserveCast Conversations Ep 3: The Professor And The Practitioner

On this third edition of PreserveCast Conversations: The Professor and the Practitioner, a new monthly feature of PreserveCast, co-hosts Nicholas Redding and Dr. Whitney Martinko explore the trends, topics and issues that are making headlines in the world of preservation this month. They’re covering a lot of ground in today’s conversation on preservation and the issues that matter.

Documenting the Physical Vestiges of Slavery and Tenant Farming with Jason Church

Preservation requires a solid and significant understanding of our past – and on this week’s PreserveCast we’re talking with Jason Church, a National Park Service preservationist who is leading an effort to expertly document the powerfully important physical vestiges of slavery and tenant farming. As these humble and simple structures fade away, work like this takes on a new level of importance and significance.

All across America, the physical evidence of slavery is being lost to the ravages of time and indifference. Without expert documentation – there’s a real chance we could lose all memory and understanding of these important buildings. That’s why Preservation Maryland is partnering with the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training to laser scan structures on Maryland’s eastern shore as a part of a broader national effort – a topic we knew we had to bring to our listeners.

Saving Places and Making Preservation Relevant with Landmarks Illinois

This week’s guest is unique; we’re bringing back Bonnie McDonald to talk about the work of her organization, Landmarks Illinois, as they celebrate their 50th anniversary and look forward to the next 50 years of saving places and making preservation relevant in a rapidly changing world.

PreserveCast Conversations Ep 2: The Professor and the Practitioner

On this second edition of PreserveCast Conversations: The Professor and the Practitioner, a new monthly feature of PreserveCast, co-hosts Nicholas Redding and Dr. Whitney Martinko explore the trends, topics and issues that are making headlines in the world of preservation this month. From philanthropy to Mohawk ironworkers, they're covering a lot of ground in today's conversation on preservation and the issues that matter. For regular listeners, also, be sure to send any questions you have about this episode or questions you’d like answered in next month’s conversation to info@presmd.org.

Exploring Heritage Entertainment with Past Preservers Founder Nigel Hetherington

On this week’s PreserveCast, we’ll explore the intersection between heritage, education and entertainment with Nigel Hetherington, the founder of Past Preservers. With a global reach, Past Preservers serves as a creative hub between the media and heritage worlds. The heart of the operation lies in their expert database which currently contains over 1,400 professionals from over twenty countries and includes archaeologists, historians, Egyptologists, classicists, conservationists, forensic biologists, anthropologists, authors, and heritage consultants.