Skip to main content.
Historic Preservation Home > Syllabi > 100 Level Courses > HISP 102-02 Preserving Historic America

UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION
HISP 102-02 PRESERVING HISTORIC AMERICA

Spring Semester 2008
Prof. W. Brown Morton
TR, 8:00 - 9:15AM
Combs Hall, 237

COURSE GOALS
This course surveys the history of historic preservation and the practice of preservation with an emphasis on the method and theory of recording and interpreting historic sites, structures, objects and districts; and, on using the analytical tools of history, architectural history, social history, and archaeology. The course also considers community and government mechanisms for preservation at the local, regional, and national levels. This is the second semester of the introductory course, following after Historic Preservation 101, The American Heritage, which focused on archaeology and architectural history. In contrast, HISP 102 develops the relation between American-style historic preservation and the fields of museum studies, folklore, and preservation law and planning.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
To foster an understanding of how preservation works at the local, state, and national levels; answering such questions as “Who does preservation?” and “Why and how is preservation undertaken?”

To create an awareness of the current and common social, political, and economic issues affecting preservation in the public realm.

Through assignments, to have students interact with the “real world” of preservation, such as physical (cultural) resources, text sources, community activities, and people.

To develop an understanding of the goals and methods for museum studies, folklore, and preservation law and planning in relation to the broader field of historic preservation.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Text and Required Readings:
The following text is required:

Robert E. Stipe, editor. A Richer Heritage: Preservation in the Twenty-First Century. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 2003.

Additional Required Readings for the course will be made available through Internet links or within the course’s Blackboard webpage (see syllabus for additional details).

The following texts will be available on Blackboard for this course:.

Morton, W. Brown III. “Forging New Values in Uncommon Times.” In Past Meets Future: Saving America's Historic Environments, Antoinette J. Lee, editor. Washington, D.C.: The Preservation Press, 1992.

Morton, W. Brown III. “What Do We Preserve and Why.” In The American Mosaic: Preserving a Nation's Heritage, Robert E. Stipe and Antoinette J. Lee, editors. Washington, D.C.: US/ICOMOS, 1987.

Please view the Department’s website (via the UMW homepage) for related materials and information.

Tests and Examination:
            There will be two tests and a final examination. Test 1 is scheduled for February 14.            Test 2 is scheduled for April 3.            

            The final examination will on Tuesday, April 29, from 8:30 to 11:00 a.m.

All written assignments, tests and the final examination  must be completed to pass the class.

Writing Assignments:
While each of the course’s three writing assignments will be addressed specifically in class and through guidelines, please review the following information for general guidelines pertaining to all the assignments. You are responsible for fulfilling these requirements and grade reductions will be applied for either partial or non-completion. As necessary, students are encouraged encourage to discuss these assignments with me.

ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES:
All assignments are to be submitted at the beginning of the class period on the scheduled due date.

Each assignment will be double-spaced with one-inch margins at the sides, top, and bottom of the page.

Pages will be numbered in the upper right of each page.

Research should include  primary source documents whenever possible.  Web-based secondary source material should be used with discretion.

All papers will have traditional endnotes according to The Chicago Manual of Style .
            - The author-date format of endnotes is not acceptable in this class.
            -All information in the paper that is not self-evident must have a formal endnote           identifying the source of the information you have found.
- Endnotes will be presented on a separate page, but the endnote page does not count as a      page in an assignment of a specified length.
            - You do not need to include a separate bibliography for these assignments, but the endnote for each cited source should clearly identify that source and relevant page             numbers from which information was taken.

Do not write any scholarly paper in this class using the first person (I), such as “I think…, I noticed…Use the third person and short declarative sentences, such as “The house has a gable roof.”

Please take note that the three assignments are out-of-class projects, requiring time and effort beyond the classroom.

In two instances, the projects require time off campus, in downtown Fredericksburg. Please budget your time for “fieldwork” and drafting the paper’s text accordingly.

NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT PENALTY.

ALL CLASS ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE COMPLETED TO PASS THE CLASS.
ON YOUR HONOR.

EACH PAPER MUST BE YOUR OWN WORK, AS NO COLLABORATIVE WORK IS ALLOWED.

Assignment 1, Block Survey: You will be provided a copy of a fire insurance map for a Fredericksburg city block, a document showing how the buildings in the block appeared at a certain date in the past. The overall goal of this project is to compare architecture and functions of the block in the past with those same aspects in the present. This assignment requires that you personally survey the same block and assess its buildings, landscape, and activities; and then compare and contrast the two time periods along these lines, noting reasons for the observed changes in a three-page paper. You will be guided to other research materials, such as historic maps and photographs, to assist your analysis. Due date: February 26.

Assignment 2, Architectural Oral History: In this assignment  you will interpret a building’s social use through oral history, that is, a personal interview. In a three-page paper titled A Place in Time you will describe the appearance, room layout and use patterns of a building that you have never seen before.  You will do this by conducting an oral history interview with an older relative or friend, preferably a house (or apartment, mobile home, etc.) in which that person grew up as a child. The project’s goal is not to simply gain an architectural description of the building, but to understand how the building [and its different spaces] was used and by whom.How were special occasions accommodated?  Investigate conducting a proper oral history (one in which you take notes, describe your relation to the interviewed person, and provide context for the building) is another project goal. Finally, you will assess how interpreting architecture through oral history differs from that of purely physical observation. Due date: March 27.

Assignment 3, The Architectural Review Board (ARB) in action:
This assignment requires that you attend and analyze a working session of the Fredericksburg Architectural Review Board, an entity that applies preservation standards (part of the municipal preservation ordinance) to buildings within the City’s historic district. The April meeting will be held on Monday, April  14th, at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council chambers of the City Hall building on the corner of Princess Anne and Hanover Streets.[Note: Your attendance at this meeting is required.]  You will choose an individual homeowner or business person and his/her application for architectural changes, and take notes on the nature and outcome of the case, how the ARB made its decision, and the manner in which preservation standards were involved, specifically “The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation” and the City’s “Historic District Handbook.” Discuss the process and its results in a three-page paper. Due date: April 22.

COURSE INFORMATION
Grading Scale: A: 94-100; A-: 90-93; B+: 87-89; B: 83-86; B-: 80-82; C+: 77-79; C: 73-76; C-: 70-72; D+: 67-69; D: 60-66; F: 0-59. Your final grade will be calculated as follows: Test 1: 15%; Test 2: 15%; Assignment 1: 15%; Assignment 2: 15%; Assignment 3: 15%; Final examination: 20%; Participation (5%).

OFFICE HOURS: Combs Hall 129
Monday          11:00 - 12:00
Tuesday          9:30 - 11:00
Wednesday     9:30 – 10:30
Thursday         9:30 - 11:00
or by Appointment,
Telephone: 654-1310
e-mail: bmorton@umw.edu

HISP 102 - PRESERVING HISTORIC AMERICA
SCHEDULE OF CLASS MEETING AND ASSIGNMENTS

I. INTRODUCTING HISTORIC PRESERVATION

1.  Tuesday, January 15
Course Introduction. and Review of Syllabus
Some Definitions

2.  Thursday, January 17
What Do We Preserve and Why?
Required Reading: W. Brown Morton III. “What Do We Preserve and Why.” Pages 146- 148,
 In The American Mosaic: Preserving a Nation's Heritage. See Blackboard.
 Preservation’s Ideals, Goals, and Fundamentals.
Required Reading: [ARH] Robert E. Stipe, “Some Preservation Fundamentals.”

3. Tuesday, January 22
The Nature of American Historic Preservation and Its “Players”.
 Required Reading: A Richer Heritage: Preservation in the Twenty-First Century [ARH}Diane Lea, “America’s Preservation Ethos: A Tribute to Enduring Ideals.”

II. FIELD-BASED RESEARCH METHODS

4.  Thursday, January 24
The Role of Survey in the Built Environment:
Cultural Landscapes (the concept of “context”);  
Identifying Architectural Elements & Styles;
 Survey Methods: photography, measured drawings and historical research

 5.  Tuesday, January 29
Research Sources: primary and secondary source material.
Public Documents, Maps, books, articles.           

III. SOME MILESTONES IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION HISTORY

6.  Thursday, January 31
Early Preservation History in the USA:including Mount Vernon
Required Reading: W. Brown Morton III. “What Do We Preserve and Why.” Pages 149-153,
 in The American Mosaic: Preserving a Nation's Heritage. See Blackboard.
Required Reading:[ARH] Kathryn Welch Howe, “Private Sector Involvement in Historic   Preservation.”           

7..Tuesday, February 5
 History and House Museums: Methods, Goals, and Issues.
Required Reading: W. Brown Morton III. “What Do We Preserve and Why.” Pages 153-155
 in The American Mosaic: Preserving a Nation's Heritage. See Blackboard.

8. Thursday, February 7
Field Trip to the A.P.V.A. Mary Washington House, corner of Lewis Street and Charles St.
Be on time for an 8:00 start at the house.

9. Tuesday, February 12
Scenic Preservation, the Origins of the National Park Service, and Colonial Williamsburg.
Required Reading: W. Brown Morton III. “What Do We Preserve and Why.” Pages 155-156, 158, in The American Mosaic: Preserving a Nation's Heritage. See Blackboard.

10. Thursday, February 14
Test 1.

V. PRESERVATION LEGISLATION AS HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMES OF AGE

11.  Tuesday, February 19
The Federal Government and Preservation Law
The Antiquities Act of 1906
Required Reading: Thompson Mayes, “Preservation Law and Public Policy: Balancing Priorities and Building an Ethic.”
Required Reading: W. Brown Morton III. “What Do We Preserve and Why.” Pages 156-158, in The American Mosaic: Preserving a Nation's Heritage. See Blackboard.

12.  Thursday, February 21
Legal Concepts and Precedents.
The Historic Sites Act of 1935
Required Reading: W. Brown Morton III. “What Do We Preserve and Why.” Pages 162-163, in The American Mosaic: Preserving a Nation's Heritage. See Blackboard.

13.  Tuesday,  February 26
 Dams, Urban Renewal, and the Interstate Highway System
The National Trust for Historic Preservation
Required Reading: W. Brown Morton III. “What Do We Preserve and Why.” Pages 164-167, in The American Mosaic: Preserving a Nation's Heritage. See Blackboard.
Required Reading: see National Trust online: http://www.nationaltrust.org/
Assignment 1 Due.

14.  Thursday, February 28
The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966
Required Reading: John M. Fowler, “The Federal Preservation Program.”
National Register online: http://www.cr.nps.gov/places.htm
Required Reading: W. Brown Morton III. “What Do We Preserve and Why.” Pages 168-170, in The American Mosaic: Preserving a Nation's Heritage. See Blackboard.
Out-of-class assignment # 1 due.

March 4 & 6 NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK

15.  Tuesday, March 11
The Advisory Council, Section 106 & Cultural Resource Management
Required Reading: John H. Sprinkle, Jr., “Uncertain Destiny: The Changing Role of Archaeology in Historic Preservation.”
Section 106 online: http://www.nps.gov/phso/archeology/sec106.html
Section 106 online: http://www.achp.gov/work106.html (go to Users Guide)

16.  Thursday, March 13
State-Level Preservation.
Required Reading: Elizabeth A. Lyon and David L.S. Brook, “The States: The Backbone of Preservation.”
Required Reading: see Virginia SHPO online: http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/

V. PRESERVATION AT THE LOCAL LEVEL: GOVERNMENT, PLANNING, NONPROFITS, & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT.

17.  Tuesday, March 18
Local Preservation: Planning & the Historic District
Required Reading: Lina Cofresi and Rosetta Radtke, “Local Government Programs: Preservation Where It Counts.”
Required Reading: W. Brown Morton III. “What Do We Preserve and Why.” Pages 159-160, in The American Mosaic: Preserving a Nation's Heritage. See Blackboard.

Assignment 3 Resource: “Old and Historic District Handbook” and “Fredericksburg Historic District Ordinance” online: http://departments.umw.edu/hipr/www/Fred/toc.htm and http://departments.umw.edu/hipr/www/Fredericksburg/hfdcode/hfdcode.htm

18.  Thursday, March 20
Local Preservation and the Secretary of Interior Standards.
Required Readings: “The Secretary of Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.” http://www2.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/standguide/
“The Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.”
http://www2.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/tax/rhb
Required Reading: W. Brown Morton III. “What Do We Preserve and Why.” Pages 173-177 in The American Mosaic: Preserving a Nation's Heritage. See Blackboard.

19.  Tuesday, March 25
Applying the Secretary of the Interiors Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties
Video: “Saving Places”, National Park Service

20.  Thursday, March 27
Local Preservation & Restoration, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction.
Video: “Block by Block” – Neighborhood Revitalization.”
Out-of class assignment 2 Due.

21.  Tuesday, April 1
Field Trip: Rehabilitation in downtown Fredericksburg.
Meet at 8:00 a.m. in front of Sammy T’s Restaurant at the corner of Caroline and Hanover Streets..

22.  Thursday, April 3
Test 2

VI. PRESERVATION BEYOND BUILDINGS & IN OTHER CONTEXTS.

23.  Tuesday, April 8
Rural Preservation and Rural Landscapes
Required Reading: Genevieve P. Keller and J. Timothy Keller, “Preserving Important Landscapes.”
Required Reading: W. Brown Morton III. “What Do We Preserve and Why.” Pages 160, in The American Mosaic: Preserving a Nation's Heritage. See Blackboard.

24. Thursday, April 10
Rural Preservation and Development: The Rural to Urban Continuum.
Required Reading: Charles E. Roe, “The Natural Environment.”

Monday April 14, 7:30 PM    
Architectural Review Board Meeting, Fredericksburg City Council Chamber, Lower Level [Rear Entrance], City Hall, Princess Anne Street.
[ATTENDANCE REQUIRED]  : Note:  Prof. Morton cannot be present.

25.  Tuesday, April 15
Folklife & the Intangible Heritage
Required Reading: Alan Jabbour, “Folklife, Intangible Heritage, and the Promise and Perils of Cultural Cooperation.”

26.  Thursday, April 17
Preservation and Politics: Ethnicity, Class, & Racism.
Required Reading: Antoinette J. Lee, “The Social and Ethnic Dimensions of Historic
Preservation.”
Required Reading: W. Brown Morton III. “What Do We Preserve and Why.” Pages 170-172, in The American Mosaic: Preserving a Nation's Heritage. See Blackboard.

27.  Tuesday, April 22
Threat, Reaction, and Advocacy: Historic Preservation and Wal-Mart.
Video & Discussion: “Back Against the Wal.” 
Out of class assignment 3 Due.

28.  Thursday, April 24
International and Global Preservation.
Case Study: W. Brown Morton III,  Recommendations for The Memorial of Moses: Mount Nebo, Jordan
Required Reading: Russell V. Keune, “Historic Preservation in a Global Context: An
International Perspective.”
Required Reading: W. Brown Morton III. “What Do We Preserve and Why.” Pages 167-168, in The American Mosaic: Preserving a Nation's Heritage. See Blackboard.

Final Examination:Tuesday, April 29, 8:30 – 11:00 a.m.