historic preservation 
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SOURCE: Natchez Democrat
12/30/2022
Stanley Nelson Lauded for Work Preserving Records of Violence Against Civil Rights Workers
Nelson wrote two books on "cold cases" linked to Klan activity in Louisiana and Mississippi.
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SOURCE: BBC
10/24/2022
The Hidden History of Black Coal Towns
The New River Gorge is one of the newest National Parks. Beyond natural beauty, the region allows visitors to learn the history of African American coal miners and their communities in West Virginia.
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SOURCE: Washington Post
9/4/2022
Landmark Building Embodies Past and Present of DC's Black Community
The True Reformer Building in Washington is likely the first in the nation to be designed, funded, built and owned by African Americans as part of a comprehensive mission of economic and social self-reliance and uplift in the early 20th century.
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SOURCE: Christian Science Monitor
9/1/2022
New Approach at Montpelier: Let All Voices Rise
After a controversial battle over how to incorporate the descendants of people enslaved by James Madison, Montpelier is beginning to highlight artifacts—and the process of discovering them—related to the lives of enslaved people at the estate.
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SOURCE: NBC News
8/14/2022
Airbnb Listings Latest Case of Trivializing, Commercializing Slave Cabins
Preservationists like Joseph McGill Jr., founder of the Slave Dwelling Project, say the commercialization of plantation sites has been happening for decades.
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8/14/2022
Remembering David McCullough Off the Page, as a Champion of Preservation
by Richard Moe
Having known the late David McCullough through his work advocating historic preservation, the author says McCullough lived a maxim of John Adams he often quoted: while he achieved success, he was more driven to work to deserve it.
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8/7/2022
Climate Change Just Erased the Past in Kentucky. Where Will it Happen Next?
by Tina A. Irvine
The archives of the Hindman Settlement School in Knott County were inundated by flood waters on July 28—a devastating loss of one community's history and culture, and a warning to historians that our knowledge of the past is at risk from climate change.
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SOURCE: Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
3/16/2022
Montpelier Board Appoints 11 Members from Descendants Committee
The move may finally deliver on the board's promise to grant parity in the governance of the James Madison estate to the descendants of persons enslaved at Montpelier.
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SOURCE: The Atlantic
5/2/2022
Is Historic Preservation Ruining American Cities?
by Jacob Anbinder
Historic preservation laws often have a loose relationship to the actual historic significance of buildings, and an even looser relationship to the interests of cities in meeting their residents' social needs.
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SOURCE: James Madison's Montpelier
4/27/2022
Montpelier Board Pushes Back Against Accusation they Excluded Descendants' Committee Leadership
The Montpelier Foundation board argues that the organization representing the descendants of those enslaved at James Madison's estate has rejected good faith cooperation in order to score political points in the latest escalation of the battle over how the Founder's relationship to slavery should be portrayed.
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SOURCE: Our Towns Foundation
4/28/2022
How Powerful Stories are Rebuilding a Church
by Deborah Fallows
"The stories of Mt. Holly have become the sinew that could connect the town, or borough, as it is officially designated, from its past glory days, through some recent decline, to a new version of thriving."
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SOURCE: Richmond Times-Dispatch
4/19/2022
Reversal on Power-Sharing Shows Montpelier Really Wants to Stop Talking About Slavery
by Michael Paul Williams
“They wanted to yank the narrative of Montpelier away from slavery, despite all of their protestations to the contrary,” said board member James French, chair of the Montpelier Descendants Committee.
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SOURCE: NPR
4/20/2022
Montpelier Descendants Call Foul on Board over Firings
The firing of three senior staff members who support the involvement of the Montpelier Descendants Committee in the public presentation of James Madison's estate, and the slavery practiced there, has raised questions about whether Montpelier is committed to historical honesty.
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SOURCE: Washington Post
4/18/2022
Montpelier Staffers: We Were Fired for Backing Descendants' Group
The firings suggest that there is a backlash by members of the Montpelier board against recent changes in the presentation of James Madison's participation in slavery.
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SOURCE: National Trust for Historic Preservation
4/18/2022
National Trust Condemns Actions Against Staff at Montpelier
"The National Trust strongly condemns these actions against highly regarded and nationally recognized professionals, which will impede the effective stewardship of Montpelier and diminish important public programming at this highly significant historic site."
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SOURCE: Washington Post
4/5/2022
WaPo Editorial: Montpelier Estate Board Shredding Agreement to Include Descendants of Enslaved in Decisionmaking
The Post Editorial Board says "Montpelier has a problem. It has gone from being a model for other such sites nationwide to being an embarrassment."
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SOURCE: The Metropole
3/30/2022
Historic Preservation and the Erasure of Women's History in Pittsburgh
by David S. Rotenstein
"Preservation is a fraught, power-laden process that reinforces racial, class, and gender biases. As old places become “historic,” they frequently get new names that are then inscribed upon space."
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SOURCE: Washington Post
3/25/2022
Madison's Montpelier Board Strips Power from Enslaved Descendants' Group
"Matt Reeves, the director of archaeology said he fears the effort to cut off the committee is aimed at undoing years of progress in conveying a more honest and complete view of history. 'They really want a narrative that’s restricted to nothing that’s negative about James Madison'.”
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SOURCE: San Francisco Classical Voice
3/20/2022
Preserving the Past in the Digital Age Still a Headache
"Our information and cultural history may not be as secure as we believe it to be."
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SOURCE: Paste
2/14/2022
A Civil Rights Tour of America
Writer Garrett Martin identifies the key sites on a tour of civil rights history institutions in Atlanta, Alabama, Memphis and Washington.
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