Vote for the National Trust!

Many of you may know that the Tenement Museum is affiliated with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This organization provides funds and advocacy for historic sites across America, from mid-century drive-in movie theaters to Civil War cemeteries to historic houses. They also help preservationists, historians, and communities protect the places that matter to them.

Right now, the Trust is vying to win $20,000 from American Express. If they win, the funds will support the This Place Matters campaign. View their Flickr slideshow to see the multitude of places nationwide who are part of this project. You'll see just how many people care about their communities, and about the buildings, businesses, parks, homes, forts, theaters, courthouses, museums, grain silos, and other places that make up the towns and cities they call home. Who knew that the Sacramento downtown railyards were important to somebody? Or the Molly Brown House Museum in Colorado? It's pretty inspiring to see all the people around the country who are fighting to protect and share the places that are important to them.

So, if you have a moment this week, vote for the National Trust! They are close to winning and every vote counts.

Historic Preservation Month: Places That Matter

Historic preservation has gone grass-roots: People all over the country are uploading photos of buildings near and dear to their hearts (ranging from a church in Goldsboro, North Carolina to the multipurpose Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma) onto a Flickr pool launched by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Over 700 entries have been compiled so far, but it doesn't look like New York is anywhere in the mix. Where in the city would you place a small white "This Place Matters" sign?



The Orchard House in Concord, MA matters to a museum educator dressed as Louisa May Alcott. The "Little Women" author and her family lived in the building in the mid 1800s.

National Historic Preservation Month

Every spring, the National Trust for Historic Preservation compiles a list of the country's 11 most endangered landmarks in hopes that more resources will be pooled towards their rescue. This year's roundup includes the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple in Illinois, and tiny, remote Lana'i City, Hawaii. The entire Lower East Side was featured in 2008. But thanks to the slowing real estate market and the efforts of preservationists like Tenement Museum founder Ruth Abram (who won a prestigious award last month for her work), the neighborhood’s risk of losing its historical integrity to new construction has declined. Check out some footage of current at-risk sites on YouTube.



A large corporate landowner in Lana'i City wants to demolish historic buildings to make way for commercial developments.



Lack of maintenance and plans for replacement have put the East Coast's oldest vertical lift bridge at risk.

Facts and Findings - A New Guide to Historic Sites

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is launching an online travel guide with video footage promoting heritage sites. The organization preserves historic sites around the US and keeps tabs of the most endangered spots. Their pilot video features the Lower East Side (a 2008 endangered site), with footage of the Tenement Museum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KypZBM6v5QY



Above: A boom in new construction helped place the LES on the Endangered List