Mickey Mouse History, Section III Review

Historic preservation is the new black.

As we have already seen in past readings, historic preservation took the back seat following the American Revolution. This was soon remedied however as the subject would eventually become a hobby of the elite or affluent and the 1880s saw the first real advance in preservation as individuals who felt personal ties to their historic structures wanted to maintain them. Wallace lists four groups of Preservation Pioneers who spearheaded this historic movement into the 20th century. 1906 witnessed the first real intervention by Congress into historic preservation as the Antiquities Act was signed into law. But the past of historic preservation is littered with ups and downs and the Roaring Twenties indeed saw it being put on the back burner to new and exciting contemporary attitudes. Preservation bounced back again with the Historic Sites Act of 1935 and again in the 1960s with individuals protesting the bulldozing of historic buildings and neighborhoods. What Wallace calls "adaptive reuse" finds its place in the 1960s as well with corporations now using historic developments for commercial use. However, Wallace's view of historic preservation's sworn enemy (Reagan, of course) would come to power in the 1980s and the budget to preservation concerns were cut. As a result, the National Trust sought to coalesce with the real estate market which, as Wallace notes, is a mistake. Instead, Wallace feels the best bet would be to join up with other proactive groups like civil rights groups and environmentalists.

While I could see how this may prove beneficial, I feel that to ally too far to the right or too far to the left will isolate your cause and appeal to just one group. Since not everyone is really concerned with environmental, civil rights, or public housing issues, the message may be lost on many. Wallace seems intent on bringing issues of class struggle in on every essay. He criticizes programs that saved developments at the expense of converting them into housing which became too expensive for minorities and the poor. In the same breath, he complains of bulldozing which "rammed" roads through historic districts as the "growth coalition seemed to revel in leveling the past" (p. 186). Pick your battles, Wallace.