[MassHistPres] historic homes plaques

[Tucker, Jonathan]

Alternatively, you could look at it as an opportunity to invest the
owners of those houses with pride and knowledge they might otherwise not
have had,  turning them into conscious custodians of that heritage.
There's nothing wrong with bragging, if what you say is true.  [Walter
Brennan, in a cheap 70s western television series about a family--father
and sons--of reluctant fast-draw artists, speaking modestly of their
skill: "No brag, jest fact".]

I agree with your concern, though.  There is a very conservative (but
very smart, otherwise) British writer, Roger Sluton, who rails against
the creep of the forces of "heritage" across the rural landscape of
Britain, when what government really should be doing (he asserts) is
supporting the property owners and traditional, resource-based rural
economic activities.  He believes that keeping historic places alive,
economically viable, and functioning as they always have will do a
better job of preserving what is really important about such landscapes
than facilitating their slow morph into preservation theme parks for
those with the discretionary income to participate in cultural tourism.

The problem with his analysis, which is very compelling otherwise, is
that rural folks are, rightly, highly pragmatic and focused on their own
near-term needs.  That's why some of the worst losses of historical
fabric we encounter are what generations of farmers (or millworkers or
merchants, etc.) have done to their houses, barns and workplaces out of
economic necessity.  There is an unavoidable and damning correlation
between economic class distinctions and the preservation of important
historic fabric.  If we support preservation over other priorities, we
need to understand that we are to an extent taking sides in the class
wars.

Jonathan Tucker
Planning Director
Town Hall, 4 Boltwood Ave.
Amherst, MA  01002
(413) 259-3040
(413) 259-2410 [fax]
tuckerj at amherstma.gov   
 

-----Original Message-----
From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu
[mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Jonathan Feist
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 8:06 AM
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
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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