Author: David

Thomas F. King really dived into the issue of protecting our heritage in his book, but that is a very obvious observation giving such the title of his book. Interesting aspects of his book were, as others have mentioned, laws and bureaucracies. While both laws and bureaucracies bring about their own unique problems to heritage protection. Being able to examine and pick apart the issues within those two aspects of the King’s book allows the reader to come to a common conclusion in order to protect our heritage. We must not only actively participate as an individual to save our heritage, but work to get the community involved as well.

Dealing with government agencies can seem like an impossible task at times. Everyone has some story about the inability of some government agency to accomplish any task in a quick and efficient way. The ineffectiveness of certain bureaucracies and the individuals within them seems to create a stereotype that people easily accept. The stereotype being that the various bureaucracies and the laws that they use are inept to adequately handle the tasks that lay before them or to deal with the people who come to them. As Jim pointed out, King’s pessimistic attitude toward bureaucracies hides the fact that there are people within the system who want to help protect places of historical or cultural value.

Although the book King wrote has an agenda in terms of heritage sites and development, he does manage to convey to the reader the difficulties present in conservation. I think having spent a part of his life battling aspects of the system in order to protect heritage sites created a pessimistic, or defeatist, attitude within King. When you witness something destroyed and felt that the system in place proved incompetent at procuring the goal you wanted, it can become soul crushing. Knowing this perspective helps to show people the portion of the reality that exists in conservation and having this knowledge prepares one to undertake this, at times, seemingly hopeless mission.

Doom and gloom, that seems to be an underlying theme in many articles that discuss the potential job market for historians. While other professions may have the greater potential for a larger job market, it seems to me that many individuals who have spent the time and money to acquire a degree in a field such as history are there for their passion. The downside to going for one’s passion is it does not guarantee you a job. I think that is why many of the professors at Boise State promote students, especially history students, to think outside the box when it comes to how to apply your career and yourself to the career market. On the upside of the doom and gloom theme present in some of the articles that discuss it, they did show predictions in job growth in line with other professional fields. Some of the issues present in the career field for historians are issues that we have discussed in class. One being how the potential number of applicants often outnumbers the level of openings present within the market.

One of the greatest benefits that this week’s readings gave was what it potentially took to obtain and maintain a job in the field of history. These articles serve as catalysts to prepare those with an interest in obtaining a job in the field of history. It discusses education, training, and experience. The articles even go into what potential employers seek for in their future employees. Reading these articles shows how important it is to project oneself out into their desired field of employment. Through active participation, history graduates can gain the necessary experience to work in the field through internships and volunteering. Also joining history societies shows potential employers a desire that the individual displays for history. I think when you start to vigorously pursue your career in history, you must be realistic about it. It is highly doubtful that one will obtain their dream job or dream location for a job right away, but having the knowledge of what must be done in order to obtain your dream prepares oneself to undertake the journey to achieve it.

In many of the history classes I have taken at BSU, the professors often stress think outside the box with a history degree. As the readings for this week and others have stated, a job in any field is not guaranteed for life. The private and public sectors both hit financial walls or worse, they fall off of a cliff. With a history degree people assume you are either going to teach, go into law, or work within a museum related field. Knowing that an individual may not either obtain the job that they want or hold onto it, the professors at BSU show their students that a history degree gives the individual student an enormous amount of tools that many public and private institutes want in their employees, tools and skills that they would prefer not to have to teach themselves. By understanding the skills that are obtained over the course of time it takes to get the history degree, an individual can come to understand that they are not limited to a perceived narrow line of professions. That the degree braches off in a multitude of directions. In the $100 Startup the author shows the reader the possibilities of career opportunities. The world of self-employment may be positively frightening to many people, but Chris Guillebeau wrote a book that attempts to show the reader they possess the skills to accomplish this task. Even if an individual does not want to go in the direction of self-employment, Gillebeau’s book shows historians that that knowing what skills they have enables them to effectively sell themselves to an employee.

A common expression is when one door closes, another opens. Reading Crafting a New Historian the expression fit the article very well. The author, Tyler Rudd Putman, explains his situation to the reader very simply. Unable to find permanent work within his chosen field of expertise, Putman turned to what he knew, creating historical costumes. Putman demonstrates Gillebeau’s advice given in the $100 Startup. Everyone has skills and these skills have a market. When people are able to effectively recognize the skills they have developed and honed new potential career opportunities appear. Opportunities that may have been missed in the past not because they were not there, but because people do not always see the entirety of what they bring to the table in terms of ability.

This week’s readings showed me just how much I do not know about historic preservation. It doesn’t help to begin with that my knowledge of the subject was very small to begin with. What caught my eye early on in chapter 4 was the Penn Central decision and how the author stated how “it forms the legal justification for most historic preservation ordinances” (pg. 123). To understand how historic preservation laws have both grown and stayed in existence is important for historians and many others also. We must understand how these ordinances and laws have grown and existed in order to both effectively use them and explain them to others, to the public. By this point, I think we all understand that the local and federal government is involved in historic preservation; they’ve both helped to create the laws, fund portions of historic preservation, and enforce them. The important fact that the Penn Central decision demonstrates to us is how the government is able to enforce these laws in the face of private ownership. From the Penn Central case we come to understand that historic preservation laws or ordinances are an appropriate tool used by cities to accomplish a government goal, in this instance preservation of a building. At the same time, this case shows the conflict between private owners of recognized historical sites and the government; especially private owners who fall under a more direct historical preservation ordinance. Both entities exist with their own goals in mind. One wants their revenue increased and the other wants a space saved for current and future generations. At the end they both managed to achieve their goals within the defined city ordinance. The Supreme Court upheld the historic preservation law which led to the owner of Penn Central to abandon one plan and institute another, which proved successful. Some people may view this as government stepping across some line and enforcing its will upon the private landowning citizen, but in this instance it was needed. The owner knew what kind of property Penn Central was and I am sure they were fully aware of the preservation ordinance in place; the only thing I do not know is when the station was designated as a historical site and who the owner was at the time. Penn Central demonstrates how grassroots support and historical preservation laws can help to save landmarks that are both representative of a people and time. If people look in Boise in the Basque block it’s evident. With both local support from the people and government funding/support, a piece of Boise culture has been both restored and preserved for everyone to enjoy.

Like others have mentioned in their blogs and by Norman Tyler, 1976 represented a crucial year in terms of United States history and historic preservation. 1976 was the bi-centennial anniversary of our nation, a time that prompted people to remember the history of the United States, both the good and the bad. This remembrance is seen in popular culture such as in the comic books of the day. Archie comic books devoted many stories to various historical figures, buildings, and events throughout their 1970’s stories. That popular culture items promote those ideas and things demonstrates a want or desire to hang onto our cultural heritage. Anniversaries or important dates help people to remember the past or reconnect with it; as important as 1976 stood out to people, for a nation 1966 represented a truly pivotal moment in American history. The National Historic Preservation Act in 1966 showed a step forward for historic preservation. This act had the goal of getting governments, both federal and local, to work together in order to preserve American cultural heritage for current and future generations. Boise stands as a good example of both a failure and success of the National Historic Preservation Act. So much of the cultural sites of Boise were torn down and either replaced or left as eyesores; I have heard some people argue that the buildings that replaced the demolished structures such as city hall are eyesores. A success of preservation in Boise is seen in the Basque community with the preservation of a prominent Basque family house. As others have mentioned historic preservation may convey a feeling of a pet project for historians in America, but I do believe there is a want on some portion of the populace, aside from many historians, on wanting to preserve their cultural heritage. In another class we were giving the opportunity to take an impromptu tour of an individual’s historical home, an individual who, outside of having a passion for history, has no connection to historians or to being a historian.

There feels like there will always be some sort of conflict in preserving historical buildings in the United States. The question that is associated with preserving buildings is the same question that museums deal with. What do we want to represent us? Learning a little bit about the hanging Indian mural located in Boise, I think this question is ever present within American society. Indians were hung in the Boise region that is a part of both the city and the state’s history. The hanging Indian mural also represents some of the difficulties in preserving our past. For some they merely want to show the past knowing that it will better future generations, for others portions of the past should be buried.

It was interesting to learn how architects worked with historic buildings in order to preserve them with new structures. That is definitely a topic I did not know very much about, but is something that is important to know about no matter who you are. At the end of the day, it is up to the community to help preserve the historic buildings within their area. Those buildings are of immediate cultural importance to them first, they live with them. In Boise, residents take pride in their Egyptian Theatre, Basque houses, and various other historical sites. It is through a solid grassroots effort in conjunction with the local and federal governments that will help preserve our heritage for future generations.