Surveying the past, present, and future of historic preservation in America, this book features fifteen essays by some of the most important voices in the field. A Richer Heritage will be an essential, thought-provoking guide for professionals as well as administrators, volunteers, and policy makers involved in preservation efforts. An introduction traces the evolution of historic preservation in America, highlighting the principle ideas and events that have shaped and continue to shape the movement. The book also describes the workings - legal, administrative, and fiscal - of the layered federal, state, and local government partnership put in place by Congress in 1966. Individual chapters explore the preservation of designed and vernacular landscapes, the relationship between historic preservation and the larger environmental and land-trust movements, the role of new private and nonprofit players, racial and ethnic interests in historic preservation, and the preservation of our intangible cultural values. A concluding chapter analyzes the present state of the historic preservation movement and suggests future directions for the field in the twenty-first century. Contributors include preservationists, local-government citizen activists, architects, landscape architects, environmentalists, an archaeologist, a real-estate developer, historians, a Native American tribal leader, an ethnologist, and lawyers.
Robert E. Stipe is Emeritus Professor of Design in the Landscape Architecture Department at North Carolina State University. He is coeditor of The American Mosaic: Preserving a Nation's Heritage.
"[This volume] is at once an invaluable text book for students new to the field, an orienting pole star for those who have been engaged in the field over the past few decades, and a thoughtful advocate for necessary change. . . . I wish that A Richer Heritage could find its way to every historical commissioner, planner, student, and volunteer, so that we might now put preservation on each local agenda." -- The Public Historian "A book with the subtitle Historic Preservation in the Twenty-First Century is timely, and the book's title, A Richer Heritage, is justified, as the nation's heritage becomes deeper and richer each year. . . . The essayists present instructive and interesting material, and Robert E. Stipe, who introduces the work and closes it, chose them well." -- North Carolina Historical Review "A milestone and signpost, indicating both where we are and where we might want to go. . . . A Richer Heritage offers an excellent introduction to the state of the field and how it got there." -- Vernacular Architecture Newsletter "Raises important questions for those at the highest levels of the ongoing fight to preserve." -- Charleston Post and Courier "The breadth and depth of subject matter enrich our understanding of what it means to preserve, and each author's impassioned approach invites the reader's participation in a meaningful discourse. . . . There can be little doubt that this book can facilitate a critical dialogue among members of the preservation community. Furthermore, its broad scope and provocative content make it a potent addition to preservation literature." -- APT Bulletin "There is plenty of food for thought in these essays. One can only hope that the issues raised here are taken up systematically within preservation circles." -- Vernacular Architecture Newsletter "Whether you're curious about the broader [preservation movement] or just want to bone up on details . . . this is the tome for you." -- Preservation
