In a message dated 2/19/2000 8:31:41 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> So, maybe it was the ladies of the National Trust who stopped the
>  bulldozers.  I have new and profound respect.  And why wouldn't the same
> drive to stop the bulldozers and save the best of a community's built
heritage in
>  one generation lead to engagement in the technical preservation arena in
the
>  next?

Just to give the Mt. Vernon Ladies their due, women were the first to push
for preservation of the first national historic landmark in the early 19th
Century, when Mt. Vernon was falling victim to vandals and deterioration. For
much of our country's history, women's voices were consistently dominant in
matters of conscience, precluded as they were from a more direct role in
politics and business.

Current discussions in preservation have attempted to unite this earlier and
persistent consciousness with the macro economic interests of job creation,
urban revitalization, enhancement of property values, and revenues generated
by heritage tourism -- an appropriate marriage of purpose, perhaps, but one
that is not without conflict in some instances.

Although I always try to link the positive economic aspects of preservation
to my projects and advocacy, the thing that really drives ... well, me, at
least ... is more in synch with the Mt. Vernon Ladies Assn.  I think many of
us are in this profession because we think it is the right thing to do for
all sorts of non-economic reasons. That's what makes it feel worthwhile.

Mary