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What is Historic Preservation?
May 22, 2025
Historic preservation is more than saving old buildings: it’s about honoring the stories, materials, and memories that shape our communities. In this Q&A, architect, preservationist, and urban planner, Dr. Christine Henry, shares how preservation can be inclusive, creative, and forward-looking. From reusing buildings to amplifying overlooked histories, she offers a thoughtful take on why preservation still matters and how we can all take part.
NBM: How do you define “historic preservation”?
Dr. Henry: Historic preservation is multidimensional. Of course, it is the physical saving of buildings and valuing the craft and materials that have gone into their creation, but it is also the saving of stories: stories about the people who designed the buildings, who built them, and who used them. Preservation is the idea that our built environment is rich with history and beauty, sorrow and triumph, and we should all try to see these many layers as we contribute new stories.
NBM: What are some misconceptions people have about preservation work?
Dr. Henry: People often think preservation is only about museums and saving a particular period of a building’s history, but this leads to the misconception that preservationists only value the past and not the present. However, I see preservation as incorporating the past into the present. This can take many forms, such as museums, but it also can look like adapting a factory for apartments or reconfiguring a school for offices. Preservation work is not about stopping time, but instead about creatively including history in our built environment as it continues to evolve and change with us.
NBM: Why is preservation important to communities?
Dr. Henry: Preservation is important for several reasons: it advocates for reducing building waste and for leaving a place better than you found it. But preservation also matters because it helps everyone see more community stories, learn how the past has shaped the present, and find ways to celebrate the many different perspectives that make a community work.
NBM: How can preservation efforts reflect and support more inclusive histories?
Dr. Henry: We must acknowledge that there are many layers to any place, and some of those layers have not been shared or have even been forgotten. Instead of interpreting “the history” of a place, I want to explore the many histories of a place, which may look very different from what we expect. We need to approach preservation with an open mind and heart and listen for the many stories that have yet to be shared.
NBM: What are some of the biggest challenges facing historic preservation today?
Dr. Henry: Time is one of our most precious resources, and we seem to have less time to reflect and think about how we shape our environment today and what we want it to look like in the future. We often rush to get building projects done, which means we prefer to build new because that seems faster and easier than assessing and finding creative solutions for the preservation and reuse of buildings.
NBM: What trends or innovations are exciting you right now in the field?
Dr. Henry: I am most excited about trying to combine old and new modes of interpretation to engage many different audiences—old and young, interested in preservation or not, from many cultures and backgrounds. There is no one way to engage people, so I like that we are trying to rethink interpretation. For example, by adding interactive QR codes, we open up engagement to audiences with low vision, who can’t yet read, or are auditory learners.
NBM: How can the public participate in or support preservation during Preservation Month?
Dr. Henry: The easiest thing to do is to be curious about your environment and explore. Visit an old place, maybe one interpreted with signage and docents, or a main street with buildings that have been around for decades. Then, use your powers of observation and listen to the stories that place tells. If there aren’t signs, look at the walls and see if you can find marks where the building has changed, where a door or window was moved. Think about the people who used the building and why they may have changed it. Ask around and see if anyone knows about the building’s history or remembers its past. To me, Preservation Month is about appreciating the many layers of the past that are all around us and understanding how lucky we are that these places still exist.
Christine Henry is a professor of historic preservation at the University of Mary Washington. She has a Master’s of Architecture from the Catholic University of America, and a Master’s of Historic Preservation and PhD in Urban and Regional Planning and Design from the University of Maryland. Dr. Henry worked for over a decade as the Federal Preservation Officer at the Institute of Museum and Library Services, in addition to working with museums around the country to manage their collections and programming projects. Trained as both an architect and as a preservationist, Dr. Henry focuses her research on placemaking, the intersection of the built environment and community identity. She is particularly interested in issues of social justice and diversifying the communities who participate in preservation.
To hear more from Dr. Henry about preservation topics, check out her podcast Verdigris Podcast at verdigrispodcast.org.
