In this Issue

	First Lady Leads Capitol Hill Grants Event
	Mississippi Governor Honors Communities and Grantees
	Preserve America Communities: Register Now for October 2 Workshop
	Event Planner Now Available
	Community Spotlight: Richmond
	Communities Total 521
	Denver Receives Grant for Trail Project
	Important Dates

Links

Preserve America News |August  2007

First Lady Leads Capitol Hill Grants Event

Mrs. Laura Bush presented nearly $2.6 million in Preserve America Grants July 12 at a ceremony at the Cannon House Office Building honoring 43 grantees. She, along with Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, ACHP Chairman John L. Nau, III, and Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Brad Miller and Rep. Michael Turner, also recognized recently designated Preserve America Communities. Numerous congressional representatives and community leaders were at the event to support local projects in historic preservation. Read more.

From left, Rep. Michael Turner, Mrs. Laura Bush, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, and ACHP Chairman John L. Nau, III

Mississippi Governor Honors Communities and Grantees

Representatives and officials from the 14 designated Preserve America Communities and first four Preserve America Grants in Mississippi met at the Southern Cultural Heritage Center Aug. 16 to celebrate their heritage tourism and historic preservation accomplishments.

The event was headlined by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and coordinated and emceed by John L. Nau, III, chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Also addressing the gathering were Mitch Butler, the Department of the Interior’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, and Vicksburg Mayor Laurence Leyens. Read more.

From left, Mitch Butler; Paige Hunt, executive director of the Greenwood Convention and Visitors Bureau; and Gov. Haley Barbour

Preserve America Communities: Register Now for October 2 Workshop

Space is still available in a workshop exclusively for Preserve America Communities at the National Trust for Historic Preservation conference this fall in St. Paul, Minnesota. Advisory Council on Historic Preservation staff will update you on new developments in the Preserve America initiative, offer networking opportunities with other communities to share successes and best practices, and offer guidance on getting the most out of your Preserve America Community designation.

To register, contact Judy Rodenstein at jrodenstein@achp.gov or 202-606-8584. The session will be Oct. 2 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 11 E. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, Minnesota. The workshop is free for designated Communities. General registration to the National Trust's conference is not required to attend this information session.

Landmark Center in St. Paul

Event Planner Now Available

Now available on the Preserve America Web site, the Event Planner is an invaluable tool for planning and implementing Preserve America events. The Event Planner offers online guidance in the form of checklists, sample press releases, speeches, talking points, fact sheets, logos for printing event materials, contacts, and more for making Preserve America event planning easy.

Local community leaders, state, tribal, or federal government officials can all organize Preserve America events to honor designations of communities, grant recipients, or to support historic preservation initiatives in the spirit of Preserve America. View Event Planner. 

From left, Jody Graichen and Katharine Moore of the German Village Society, along with Lynn Scarlett, Deputy Secretary of Interior, at a Preserve America designation event in Columbus, Ohio 

Community Spotlight: Richmond

Richmond, California, a Preserve America Community of 103,000 people, came into being as a result of two major industrial events at the end of the 19th century. In 1899, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad established its western terminus in Point Richmond, and in 1900, the first passenger train arrived in Richmond from Chicago.

For the heritage traveler, one of Richmond’s most notable destinations is the Rosie the Riveter--World War II Home Front National Historic Park, the first park established to commemorate the U.S. home front. Fifty-six war industries operated in Richmond, more than in any other city of comparable size. The park commemorates and interprets the important contributions that 6 million women made to the war effort.

The city of Richmond’s PRISM project (Preserve Richmond to Interpret and Support Memories) recently was awarded a $75,000 Preserve America grant to sponsor reconnaissance survey work that will identify historic resources to be incorporated into the Rosie the Riveter--World War II Home Front National Historical Park. Learn more.

WWII industrial recruitment poster

Communities Total 521

As of July 31, the number of designated Preserve America Communities is 521. All states and the U.S. Virgin Islands are now represented with Preserve America Communities.  Mrs. Laura Bush sent a letter of congratulations to the 20 newest communities which now include several large cities.

The 20 new communities are the following: St. George Island, Alaska; Little Italy, San Diego, California; Savannah, Georgia; Letcher County, Kentucky; Mt. Vernon, Kentucky; New Orleans, Louisiana; Ferndale, Michigan; Carver, Minnesota; Baldwyn, Mississippi; Las Vegas, Nevada; Dutchess County, New York; Ossining, New York; New Bern, North Carolina; Shelby, North Carolina; Canal Winchester, Ohio; Ponca City, Oklahoma; Horry County, South Carolina; Blount County, Tennessee; Columbia, Tennessee; and Bradford, Vermont. View complete list of Communities.

Columbia Square in downtown Savannah (photo courtesy city of Savannah)

Denver Receives Grant for Trail Project

Denver was designated a Preserve America Community in February and in August was awarded a $64,300 Preserve America Grant for its Denver Heritage Trail project.  The city and county of Denver will design a heritage tourism system to highlight and attract local residents and
tourists to Denver’s historic neighborhoods, while promoting a city and county-wide preservation ethic.

“Denver is a proven national leader in preservation,” said Ann Pritzlaff, an expert member of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and conference coordinator for Colorado Preservation, Inc., who presented the certificate on behalf of Mrs. Bush. “A vibrant downtown, diverse neighborhoods, and active non-profit partners join the city in working to share Denver’s heritage with a broad audience." View complete list of Grants.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and ACHP Expert Member Ann Pritzlaff at the Preserve America Grant event

Important Dates

Next Preserve America Community application deadlines Sept. 1 and Dec. 1, 2007

The Twin Cities National Preservation Conference Oct. 2-6, 2007, St. Paul, Minnesota

2008 Preserve America Presidential Awards nomination forms are to be postmarked by Nov. 1, 2007