PreserveCast

Queen Elizabeth II has reigned over the United Kingdom for 70 years – an unparalleled record – and one that is being celebrated across the kingdom. On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re looking at how our friends at Kiplin Hall are celebrating this monumental moment with Imogen Hayden, an intern who took a new look at the Jubilee and how it connects to a place like Kiplin.  

Talented tradespeople make preservation physically possible. Today’s guest is Amy McAuley, the preservation joiner at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, where she uses her hands and hand powered tools to repair, restore, and preserve one of America’s most historic homes.   

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: The D-Day landings were the biggest invasion by sea in history. The landings took place on June 6, 1944 after five years of war with Germany. On this episode of PreserveCast, we spoke with a Normandy-based preservation organization opposed to the creation of a D-Day land. __ With every year that passes, the D-Day landings move further and further from memory to history – an...

[HOLIDAY RE-RELEASE] 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 Wa...

On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re sitting down with fellow podcaster Liz Clappin, host of Tomb with a View, to talk about the world of cemetery history and preservation to explore this unique and ever-present resource on America’s landscape.  Liz is an architectural historian based in Atlanta, GA. She has a BA in Anthropology from the University of Rhode Island and an MFA from the Savannah Colleg...

Historic places are evocative, authentic, and powerful backdrops for events – and today’s guest has breathed new life into historic places across Maryland – and gained a massive following on social media as a result. We’re talking about celebrating in historic spaces and how to make history pay with Kate Dear of Fêtewell™. Kate Dear has always had a passion for epic celebrations and historic space...

When a building’s fate is settled, what can be done to save its memories? How can a community be engaged and given an opportunity to tell their story about that place? For Cumberland, Maryland-based photographer, Michael Hunter Thompson, the answer is through detailed photography. On this week’s PreserveCast we’re talking about how this photography project engaged thousands and underscored the pow...

In life the servants and staff of Kiplin Hall moved through the house silently undertaking their duties. We see traces of them in the historical record through things like accounts ledgers and diary entries. Then and today, they are shadows, without whom Kiplin Hall could not have existed and thrived. On this week’s episode of PreserveCast, we’re talking with Alice Rose, Programming Curator and Pr...

Tucked away in Thirsk, England is the home of one of the 20th centuries most popular authors James Alfred ‘Alf’ Wight who wrote under the now famous pseudonym James Herriot. On today’s PreserveCast, we’re heading back across the pond to talk with Ian Ashton, the Managing Director of the World of James Herriot to talk about interpreting and preserving the life and legacy of this famed 20th century...

On this sixth edition of PreserveCast Conversations: The Professor and the Practitioner, an ongoing 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 li...

There is something profoundly satisfying about seeing art produced in front of you – and something mesmerizing about seeing a silhouette cut in mere seconds that captures the look and feel of an individual. Today’s guest is preserving a historic artform passed down through the generations and is helping to tell important and diverse stories with her hands, paper and delicate scissors. On this week...

History is a big field made up of a variety of disciplines. Finding the right people to do the job can be tough – but one of the nation’s foremost history firms is working to address that challenge with the launch of bestjobsinhistory.com. We’re talking for-profit history and recruiting the best and brightest with Beth Maser and Addison Williams of History Associates Incorporated.   Beth Maser is...

One of the best ways of learning is by doing – which is exactly what ALHFAM – the Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums is dedicated to supporting. In a digital era, working with your hands is becoming an outlet for expression and sustainable action – topics we dive into with Kathy Dickson, the President of ALHFAM, on this week’s PreserveCast.   Kathy Dickson is the Directo...

At its core, historic preservation should be about instrumentalizing heritage, broadly defined, to sustain communities and promote resilience.” That’s the argument Dr. Erica Avrami makes in one of her most recent publications on the legacy of preservation policy and the future of the field – a compelling and timely topic of conversation on this week’s PreserveCast where we’ll dive deep into what t...

Historic preservationists know that our work isn’t just about physically preserving historic buildings, structures, and sites. It’s also about preserving and celebrating the intangible heritage and culture of people and their communities. I would be remiss, and so would this podcast, if we didn't lead by acknowledging the heart-breaking conflict in Ukraine and the value and importance of those int...

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 Bach...

Common wheat is one of most important field crops around the world and has been for millennia. In an effort to bring together different museum sites, living history farms, the “Year on the Field” Project seeks to exchange knowledge about common wheat cultivation through the centuries and in different parts of the world. Sites and farms participating in the project will create a valuable database o...

How cities will survive and thrive post-COVID is a question on a lot of people’s minds. Today’s guest has been thinking about the future of cities since before the pandemic and has continued that work as the world grapples with this latest shock to the system. Mac McComas is the senior program manager of the Johns Hopkins University 21st century cities initiative – an effort aimed at providing cit...

COVID-19 has changed all of our lives. It is a defining moment for this generation – and for American history – which means that the Smithsonian has made it a priority for collecting and interpreting for future generations. How we will remember this moment is something as a historian I’ve often thought about – and a reason I wanted to sit down with an expert at the Smithsonian who is focused on th...

As a part of our historic foods series – where we’re diving into preserving some of the most iconic foods and brands, we sat down with pizza historian Alexander Hughes to discuss his work chronicling the history of pizza in the United States and Canada and what is being done to preserve this slice of our history. Pizza, history and preservation are three of my favorite things – and it’s rare that...

On this episode of PreserveCast, Natalie Henshaw of the Campaign for Historic Trades is talking with Mae Bowley of Re:Purpose Savannah in our first ever trades takeover! Join us as Natalie and Mae discuss all things historic trades. More About Our Guest Mae Bowley moved to Savannah in 2015. Out of a desire to learn more about the charming and mysterious city, she started taking classes in Historic...

Established in 1969,  the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture  is the nation’s first-ever ethnic commission and has a 50-year track record of exploring, researching, commemorating and preserving important places associated with the African American history of the Old Line State. On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re talking with  Chanel Compton , the Executive Director of the...

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. Th...

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...

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 a...