G. Milton Small & Associates, Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, built 1966. Designed by architect Milton Small, this small office building shows Small's mastery of the language of architectural expression developed by Mies van der Rohe, a dominant force in American building in the 1950s and 1960s. (Bill Garrett, North Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1994)

A case can more readily be presented and accepted for a property that has achieved significance within the past 50 years if the type of architecture or the historic circumstances with which the property is associated have been the object of scholarly evaluation. The scholarly sources available to assist in evaluating properties from the post-World War II era are becoming plentiful. Journals of architectural history, social history, landscape architecture, landscaping, industrial archeology, and urban development offer solid scholarship on many kinds of resources likely to be encountered. Previous National Register nominations may assist in establishing appropriate context and additional scholarship. Papers presented at conferences may contain research and analysis useful for resources of recent origin. In short, the application of scholarship—not popular social commentary—does not demand the presence of a published book. A wide and growing array of scholarly interest in historic properties can greatly assist evaluation of recent properties.