[MassHistPres] historic homes plaques

[James Hadley]

I see it as another tool in the struggle to hold on to our historic building 
stock.  Surprisingly, awareness of the history of our local houses is 
limited, and plaques - as straightforward as they seem - will help.  Imagine 
a world where the knowledge of what a cow is has been lost and you'll see 
what I mean. (Actually this isn't far fetched. I worked with the Phoenix 
house drug rehab facility on an historic facilityin rural New York Stateand 
the staff was constantly surprised when members of the mostly urban 
population reacted with surprise at seeing their first cow..)
Jim Hadley, Chair, Orleans Historical Commission
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jonathan Feist" <jfeist at charter.net>
To: <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 8:05 AM
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] historic homes plaques


> This is probably a good idea, and I'm probably just being a 
> stick-in-the-mud
> about it, but I have mixed feelings, both as a HDC chair and the owner of
> the:
>
>    Harvard Shaker Meetinghouse
>    1791
>
> On one hand, it raises awareness of the town's historical significance.
>
> On the other hand, it's a little like having a painting and writing "cow,"
> "house," "tree," etc. with arrows pointing at the different elements. And
> it's a little like bragging, too. Does it inspire burglaring?
>
> It's a step away from being a real place and towards being a living 
> history
> museum, and that aspect of it doesn't sit well with me. I want beauty to 
> be
> normal, not just for special occasions.
>
> A solution that's been discussed here is to have a sign at one end of the
> village with all structures labeled. That's a little better, I guess.
>
> --Jonathan
>
>
> ===============================================
>
> Jonathan Feist, Chair
> Harvard Historical Commission
> 978-772-4864 (home)
> 617-747-2148 (Berklee office)
>
> Preserve Historical Harvard, MA:
> http://harvard.ma.us/histcomm.htm
>
>
>
>
>
> on 3/6/08 2:36 PM, annsinclair14 at comcast.net at annsinclair14 at comcast.net
> wrote:
>
>> The Orleans Historical Society is looking into establishing a program for
>> plaques for historic homes.  We would appreciate information from 
>> historical
>> societies having such programs.  We would like to know what your
>> guidelines/ctireria are.  Is there an application?  If so what does it
>> contain?  What do you charge?  How do you handle replacement of plaques 
>> when
>> they "wear out"?  What does the plaque look like.
>> I would appreciate any information you can give me either by email or 
>> phone.
>> Ann Sinclair
>> Orleans Historical Society
>> annsinclair at comcast .net
>> 508-255-5371
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