Racist monuments DEFINITELY need to come down. And they DEFINITELY don’t belong in museums.

We need to reallocate our resources to the history which these monuments have attempted to silence.

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Project Old is Gold: Family Heirlooms and Traditions

I married into a house with a white Christmas tree. I thought it was kind of… ugly. When I made fun of it, my spouse jokingly told me that he bought it because you could decorate it for every holiday. #ChallengeAccepted Little did he know this was to become a defining family tradition. Our “holiday…

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Project Old Is Gold: Parts of a Historic Building & a Scavenger Hunt

I live in the southwest, and my favorite building type here is ADOBE. Adobe, Spanish for mudbrick. Adobe bricks are easy to make, and easy to construct with.  They are durable, yet biodegradable.  As a structure, they are largely fireproof and water resistant, offer excellent thermal efficiency and low sound transmission levels.  There are so…

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Project Old is Gold: My Family Tree

My family tree is ever evolving because there are many roots but also the trees around us which become so entwined with ours that these strangers by birth become family by choice.  Our children have collected aunties and uncles and cousins from our travels around the world, and we are grateful for this extended family.…

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Project Old is Gold: What Historic Preservation Means to Me

What is historic preservation?  Is it remembering our ancestors?  Revitalizing a downtown?  Preserving a ruin?  Practicing a tradition? In the United States, “historic preservation” has often been equated with architectural history.  Specifically, preserving buildings designed by and for WWM (wealthy white men).  But over the last few decades, many in our field have worked not…

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Project Old is Gold: Mission Briefing

The National Trust for Historic Preservation started celebrating Preservation Month in 1973.  There are likely events going on in your community.  The National Trust has a really cool list of 31 ways to celebrate… would make a good monthly challenge!  But this Building Hugger will be completing her Girl Scout Historic Preservation Badge.  You can…

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Project Old is Gold: Earning Our Preservation Patch

“Make new friends, but keep the old. One is Silver, and the other Gold.” Girl Scouts have been singing “Make New Friends” since at least 1927 when it appeared in the Girl Scout Pocket Songbook. (I know because I am a Girl Scout AND history geek and I own one.) So when SCAD and Girl…

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Tucson Museum of Art’s Historic Block, a tour!

Hello from sunny Tucson!   Our family has officially been Tucsonians for two years,  and what a busy busy two years it has been.  I have been working part time as an architectural historian, and spend a good deal of time exploring the city with my sassy silly twins.  After almost two and a half years,…

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