Saving History Saturday: How’s COVID-19 Affecting Preservation Organizations?

Yesterday’s article in the Architectural Digest asked a key question for preservation of historical homes and structures: “will historic preservation survive COVID-19?” Diving deeper, the author shared insight from Historic Savannah Foundation, the Los Angeles Conservancy, a chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The article focuses particularly on the preservation of historic structures and the smaller, local organizations that advocate, operate the museums, or host programs at these sites.

Check it out: The Architectural Digest, June 19 2020

Are you involved with a local preservation group that does structure preservation or tours? Have you been able to reopen or fund-raise yet? Have you been able to do online programming? How can the Civil War community be more supportive of these smaller, significant preservation efforts in this challenging time?

 



1 Response to Saving History Saturday: How’s COVID-19 Affecting Preservation Organizations?

  1. @ Friends of Wilderness Battlefield we are blessed to be financially solvent enough to endure a season of lost revenues and the property has long been owned by the Federal government. We would not be solvent if not for almost 20 years of fund raising and donations collection. I am certain many fledgling groups will not survive this depression. Any that do open need responsible visitation and increased donations to compensate for the loss of revenue that is lifeblood to most- donations. Donations can be done without visiting and scheduling @ tour @ a later date. Wear masks to make others safer and more comfortable. Be aware of personal space when visiting sites. Look where you are going. Have patience with those wearing masks; listen carefully as interpreters can be harder to hear through masks or from a social distance. Don’t loiter longer…Visit, tour, ask questions and move on so the next group won’t make a crowd. Choose a time to tour when it appears less crowded. I often pass by sites a couple times to see if they are busy; often a trip for a soda and when I return there’s less of a crowd…
    One extra note, our plans to reopen after the Covid crisis had to be modified by the protesting/demonstrations crisis. Certain Confederate monuments/icons are to be treated differently to avoid drawing unwanted attention.

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