PreserveCast

Today we're sitting down with Renée Hamidi, executive director of Valleys Planning Council, a nonprofit that works to protect land and resources, preserve historic character, and maintain the rural feel of 130 square miles of northwestern Baltimore County, Maryland. We'll cover a bit about the work of Valleys Planning Council, and a current issue, the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, that would put irreplaceable heritage sites and thousands of acres of public-and-private conserved lands at risk. 

Historical archaeologist Dr. Eleanor Breen currently directs the renowned public archaeology program and museum that preserves and interprets the buried history of the City of Alexandria, Virginia. She joins us along with return guest Scott Vierick, who serves on the Alexandria Archaeological Commission. Together they'll discuss the work of connecting Alexandrians with the Port City’s past. 

Gene Kansas, an award-winning cultural developer, preservationist, and social entrepreneur, joins us to discuss his upcoming book Civil Sights (UGA Press, 2025), about the Sweet Auburn Historic District in Atlanta and the movement to preserve it.

On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re setting a course for the Chesapeake Bay with first-generation Maryland crabber Luke McFadden. Luke’s story is anything but typical – from beginning crabbing at age 12 to developing a social media following to help build a brand – but his atypical approach to crabbing might just be what the industry needs at this challenging moment. We’re talking with Luke about the beautiful swimmers, maintaining crab boats, and how his can-do approach may just help sustain Maryland’s iconic watermen heritage.

Today’s episode of PreserveCast returns to the United Kingdom to open a conversation with Colin and Dan Richards of CJR Heritage, a company that has spanned continents and worked with princes to save priceless heritage. From Transylvania to the Great Wall of China, we’re talking with two of England’s most accomplished tradespeople about the future of historic trades.

Today we're talking with Vedet Coleman-Robinson, Ph.D., who serves as the president and CEO of the Association of African American Museums (AAAM), an organization bringing stories of civil rights and social injustice to the forefront, chronicling the strides that have been made, and emphasizing inequalities that still exist today.

AAAM is hosting its 46th Annual Conference in Baltimore August 13-16. 

Learn more:  

AAAM Website: Association of African American Museums – The official web site of Association of African American Museums. (blackmuseums.org)

Conference registration: AAAM 2024 Conference Registration – Association of African American Museums (blackmuseums.org)

Continuing with the Smart Growth theme from last episode, today we're chatting with Maria Tova Enriquez Dougherty from HDAdvisors about urban planning, policy, affordable housing, and the Virginia Zoning Atlas. As always, we'll cover the connection to history and preservation and the real world impact of this work. 

Maria is involved on a variety of projects, including providing policy research and programmatic development for HousingForward Virginia and the Virginia Statewide Community Land Trust (VSCLT) and affordable housing real estate development.

As referenced in this episode: 

www.HousingForwardVA.org

https://www.zoningatlas.org

https://www.hdadvisors.net/

Today we're talking with Preservation Maryland's Revitalization Policy Analyst Briana Paxton about the intersection of historic preservation and smart growth, zoning, barriers to infill, and what preservationists can do to incentivize smart development.

In 2021 - 158 years after the first Juneteenth - the celebration became a federal holiday, changing the understanding of awareness of the holiday for millions of Americans. On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re talking with Dr. Dennis Doster, who runs the Black History Program for the Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation about what the designation means and how Juneteenth fits into the broader American story. 

Dennis A. Doster, Ph.D. is the director of the M-NCPPC Black History Program. Dr. Doster has close to 15 years of experience in the field of Public History. He has worked for the National Archives, the Johns Hopkins University, and the Alexandria Black History Museum. Additionally, he is an adjunct professor in African American Studies, History, and Women’s Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, University College.

Learn more at: https://www.pgparks.com/1378/Black-History

Today we're talking with Rachel Robinson Vice President, Preservation at Historic Annapolis, a non-profit organization in the historic capital of Maryland. Rachel takes us through her journey to a career in preservation and the organization's current projects.