By Hope J. Gibbs, Techniques Contributing Writer
Columbia University offered the nation’s first degree in historic preservation in the early 1970s. Almost overnight, similar programs began springing up from coast to coast. This was one factor that led the National Trust for Historic Preservation to sponsor a higher education study group to examine preservation academics and make suggestions to the National Trust. The group recommended the formation of an association of preservation educators. This was the birth of the National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE) and the development of guidelines for minimum standards in preservation education degree programs. Today, the NCPE has more than 50 member institutions across the nation offering academic programs in historic preservation.
As with the building trades, there is a shortage of the skilled labor force to fill the anticipated vacancies that will be brought about by the retirement of today’s labor pool. This situation is compounded by the fact that very specialized training is required to produce first-rate historic preservation technicians.
“The problem is exponentially worsened when dealing with historic buildings,” says David Mertz, chair emeritus for the NCPE, “because of the level of skill, experience and critical thinking skills necessary to understand, recreate or restore historic elements.”
Over the past 15 years, Mertz has also served as a consultant to the St. Clairsville Board of Architectural Review in Ohio, home to Belmont Technical College. According to its Web site (www.btc.edu), the school is “recognized nationally as the leader in providing hands-on training in the preservation trades.” Mertz is currently the vice-chair of Ohio Heritage, has served on the Board of Advisors for the Preservation Leadership Institute (a division of the National Trust), and has held the position of vice president for the Ohio Preservation Alliance. This level of involvement has made his role as director of the Building Preservation Technology Program at Belmont Technical College (BTC) invaluable.
When the program was established in 1988 with a grant from the Ohio Department of Education, BTC hired Mertz to fine tune the curriculum. The first classes began in the winter of 1989, and he has been there since then.
“Our program has helped establish similar programs,” says Mertz. Harford Community College in Maryland and the College of the Redwoods in Eureka, Calif., are among the many schools that have benefited from BTC’s pioneering spirit and Mertz’s passion for historic preservation.
The BTC program offers a rigorous academic curriculum working toward an associate of applied science degree. As stated on the BTC Web site, the program is built on a foundation of preservation technology and theory, allowing the student to explore various trades used in preserving historic buildings and providing the practical application of theoretical knowledge through real-world experience. BTC’s approach to historic preservation education won it the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office Public Education and Awareness Award in 1994.
Core subjects include composition and technical writing, natural science and math, but the true flavor in this area of study is found in courses such as Building Pathology, Model and Mold Making and Historic Research. Herein lies the essence of historic preservation.
Students may use the technology of today to study, but they must immerse themselves in the craftsmanship of years gone by. Their love of history and its preservation through restoration of old homes is among the many draws to pursuing a career in this field.
“Most of our students are drawn to objects of antiquity and love older homes,” says Mertz. “They have a pretty good sense of history and are fairly artistic. They enjoy and receive great satisfaction from working with their hands as well as their minds.”
Mertz has written a wonderful article titled, “So You Want to Be a Professional Preservationist?” that can be found on www.oldhousejournal.com. Focused on how to jumpstart a career in the historic preservation field, Mertz’s article discusses the advantages to a formal education. He offers several different options in pursuing a preservationist career today, and one of the most valuable approaches has been around as long as there have been master craftsmen—apprenticeships.
“Generations ago, an apprentice was often indentured to a master by a signed contract that ensured that the master would recoup his investment,” writes Mertz. “Today with indenturing a thing of the past, many craftspeople are reluctant to take on apprentices due to bad past experience. In instances where apprentices learn the trade and then leave the master at the halfway point to set up their own business, the master not only fails to recoup his investment in the apprentice but also must now compete against him or her for future work. If you are looking for a traditional apprenticeship, you will need to convince your future master that you are dedicated to the trade and willing to fulfill your obligations.”
BTC’s Building Preservation Technology Program is housed in the Science and Engineering Building, a 10,000-square-foot-plus space that has everything from a woodshop to a resource room filled with computers and more than 1,000 volumes of books, videos and magazines specifically dealing with historic preservation and construction.
“The biggest problem we face,” notes Mertz, “is storage issues. I’m not sure we could get much bigger without increasing the size of our facilities, because although there are time slots open in the labs, we have no place to store the projects students are working on.”
No wonder—the program is currently experiencing its largest enrollment in the past seven years.
The preservation program at BTC goes beyond the walls of the campus to historic sites such as the Swaney House located in the Morristown Historic District in Morristown, Ohio. This 1846 brick, Federal-style masonry house is an ongoing project for the department. The old house is used as a laboratory providing students with hands-on training. Inside this almost 160-year-old building, future historic preservationists can experiment and practice the techniques they have learned in the classroom on the real thing. More importantly, Swaney House envelops the students in the spirit and ambience that reveal why historic homes are worth preserving.
In addition to the Swaney House experience, students of the program may travel with the department’s faculty to attend symposiums and conferences where they have the opportunity to meet and speak with professionals in the field. There is also an excellent internship program in coordination with the National Park Services Preservation Training Center. One student is selected each year to intern with the Park Service, and upon graduation from the program, may return for a permanent position.
Summer brings a special field lab to a site of national historical significance, such as the Frank Lloyd Wright house, Fallingwater, in Bear Run, Pa., or the Octagon House designed by William Thornton located in Washington, D.C.
Mertz says that his office receives more offers for the program’s graduates to fill job openings in the historic preservation field than his program can meet.
“Moreover,” says Mertz, “the buzz at most preservation conferences focuses on the apparent lack of good, qualified craftspeople to carry out preservation-sensitive work.”
Whether a graduate from BTC’s Building Preservation Technology Program goes on to work at a historic site (which many have done), or takes on a more construction-oriented role, one thing is certain—they leave the program with a deep appreciation for what was and what can be.
W.H.H. Davis’ The History of Bucks County tells the story of General George Washington’s famous crossing of the Delaware. According to Davis, one man in each of the Bucks County townships was charged with the task of collecting blankets for the freezing soldiers. This is just one thread of American history that is woven into the rich fabric of Bucks County, Pa., which is home to a model historic preservation program at Bucks County Community College (BCCC).
With a built environment extending back more than 300 years, it is clear to see why a program such as BCCC’s would have much to offer the aspiring historic preservation technician. Bucks County’s heritage and strong sense of community can be found in historic downtown areas and in small villages dotting the beautiful countryside. The school itself is housed in what is described as a baronial estate. It is a 60-room mansion once owned by the banker George F. Tyler, thus named the Tyler Estate. The French-Norman style house with its towers and castellated balcony sitting on more than 200 acres of natural and manicured landscape is the perfect setting for students attending BCCC’s Certificate Program in Historic Preservation.
The program began in 1991 through the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and has been busy building a history of its own since then. Students take field trips to Bucks County’s own treasure trove of historical sites as well as to venues both near and far, such as Williamsburg, Va., or Oxford, England.
They have documented nine historic buildings, including two Louis Kahn designed dormitories at Camp Hofnung, the Slifer Log Kitchen, Hampton Hill, the Brawner Farmhouse and Mt. Gilead AME Church. They are currently documenting the corncrib, barn and brick silo on the Araby/Thomas farm.
Drawings by the program’s skilled students in the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) workshops are an integral part of the process of documenting these historic treasures. The quality of the work done in these HABS workshops has earned the program the Charles Peterson Award, not once but twice over the past eight years. These award-winning drawings are officially deposited in the Library of Congress files. Because of the efforts of these dedicated students, these historic sites will be preserved forever.
But, preservation begins at home, and for BCCC that means the “Octagonal Room” in Tyler Hall. Providing the valuable tool of hands-on training, Restoration Workshop Instructor Jim Rodgers and Conservation Instructor Ray Tschoepe guided Historic Preservation and Humanities students through the painting and plastering of this eight-walled space. Originally, the walls of the room were adorned with hand-painted wallpaper, but today only a few damaged pieces survive and are on display at the Athenaeum in Philadelphia.
As often happens in restoration, it is necessary to rely on today’s technology to determine what materials may have been used long ago. Tschoepe had samples of the paint from various walls and moldings in this unique room analyzed by a laboratory to discover the original paint colors. By using an authentic color palette, the final result was a well-restored room with a fresh look.
Another series of interesting projects the preservation students have undertaken are restoring springhouses. Springhouses are small storehouses constructed over a spring and were used to keep food cool. To date, the students have restored a springhouse on their own campus, one at Bucks Country Gardens in Danboro and one at Elm Lowne in Yardley.
“Learning about preservation at Bucks always takes on many exciting forms and shapes throughout the year,” writes the program’s director, Lyle Rosenberger, in Department News, a section of Community Preservation, the department’s newsletter that is published two times each year. “Bucks students participate in all aspects of preservation at the local and state level—from management to restoration to research and documentation.”
The word “community” in the title of BCCC’s newsletter is well chosen. The program has formed valuable alliances to keep actively engaged in historic preservation within its own locality. “We have a ‘partnership’ agreement with the National Park Service (NPS),” says Rosenberger, “whereby students can be taught by instructors from the NPS, and Bucks faculty provides instruction for the NPS.”
This kind of educational exchange has been part of the program since 2002 and fostered a deep respect between the two entities.
The BCCC Certificate Program in Historic Preservation attracts students from all walks of life but imparts to each one the necessity to assume more responsibility in their community and to appreciate the historical value of restoration and preservation. Along with such courses as Introduction to Historical Archeology, History and Theory of Historic Preservation, Methodology and Documentation, and Building Conservation, students attend restoration exhibits and special lectures.
“Bucks sponsors two major Forum Lectures each year,” says Rosenberger. “Since 1990, we have held 26 of these lectures, which have ranged in subject from the Philadelphia Water Works to the Gardens at Winterthur.”
BCCC has also hosted several preservation conferences, including the NCPE 20th Annual Conference, PHMC Urban Sprawl Symposium and the Pioneer America Society Conference.
The curriculum is fortified with field trips and hands-on training at historical sites, providing students with real-world experience. The more industrious student may consider becoming a member of BCCC’s active chapter of Sigma Pi Kappa, an international honor society for students who demonstrate outstanding leadership and scholarship.
“We are very strong at the local level, starting at the main campus of Bucks,” says Rosenberger. “Equally important is the fact that wherever the Bucks presence is present, a passion and determination to document, preserve, restore and stabilize is always felt.”
The certificate program invites homeowners, community planners, developers, realtors and members of the various historic boards and commissions, local government and conservancies to participate, demonstrating once again BCCC’s conviction to strengthening its ties with the community.
“It is the students that make a difference in the community,” states Rosenberger. “Buildings and the landscape have been preserved because of their efforts. The future for teaching historic preservation is at the community college level. The resources are there; all that is needed is direction and guidance. We at Bucks are always eager to share what we have done.”
A visit to the BCCC Web site (www.bucks.edu) gives all the details of the Department of Social and Behavioral Science’s Certificate Program in Historic Preservation, but the real journey begins with a student’s first visit to that historic site and the skilled work that goes into preserving it forever.
In the Techniques January 2003 issue, Rhonda L. Deeg wrote, “Preservation trades craftsmen—those who work with historical building materials and technology—have acquired an irreplaceable skill unknown to many and, unfortunately, are part of a disappearing profession.”
As long as historic preservation programs found in schools like Belmont Technical College and Bucks County Community College are dedicated to replacing these fine craftsmen, there is little doubt that the restoration of this workforce is secure.
Here are some Web sites to visit for more information about historic preservation.
National Council for Preservation Education
www.uvm.edu/histpres/ncpe
NCPE provides the NCPE Guide to Academic Programs in Historic Preservation and Allied Fields as a reference source to assist prospective students in identifying various historic preservation education degree programs in the United States. Further information may be obtained by contacting the particular institutions directly.
National Trust for Historic Preservation
www.nationaltrust.org
Preservation Trades Network
www.ptn.org
Preservation Directory
www.preservationdirectory.com
- Techniques April 2005 Issue -
