Join us on this week's PreserveCast episode as we talk with Mary Cleary, Senior Editor at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Michael Knapp, Chief of Historical Services at the American Battle Monuments Commission, about the newly released book, Time Will Not Dim: American Battle Monuments Commission, A Century of Service, 1923 - 2023. Mary and Michael will take us through the book, their experience working on the book, and the history and future of the ABMC.

On the heels of The Campaign for Historic Trades' announcement that is has successfully registered its group apprenticeship program, Trades Takeover returns! The Campaign's Director, Natalie Henshaw, speaks with Héctor J. Berdecía-Hernández, founding Director-General of the Centro de Conservación y Restauración de Puerto Rico (CENCOR). CENCOR is a unique institution that seeks to develop the capacity of communities in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean to protect and conserve their cultural heritage. Its initiatives, programs, and projects provide educational and professional development opportunities to public and private cultural institutions, professionals, and the general public. Through preservation and conservation projects, study and research, education and training, dissemination, and promotion of cultural heritage, CENCOR helps people to know and explore Puerto Rican culture, history, and heritage, to protect and preserve it. In this episode, Natalie and Héctor discuss his career path into conservation, leading to the founding of CENCOR.

Cemeteries, like historic buildings and landscapes, provide critical connections to our past. On today’s episode of PreserveCast we’re talking with Preservation Maryland’s Program & Outreach Manager Christiana Limniatis about U.S. presidential gravesites – how presidents are laid to rest, cemetery architecture, and a discussion about the unique features of presidential gravesites across the country.

Join us this week's PreserveCast episode as we talk with Senior historian and interpretive planner, Scott Vierick with the History Associates, Inc (HAI). We’ll talk with Scott about the Falling Waters Battlefield and how HAI and Preservation Maryland worked to conduct an interpretive reconnaissance survey and the impact it had on plans for the Battlefield.

Join us on this week’s PreserveCast as we talk with Robyn Hodgson about her book Abandoned Maryland Houses: Ruins of the American Dream, which she co-authored with her partner Rhea Hodgson. Her book takes the reader through abandoned historic homes throughout Maryland through photographs and history. Robyn will share some of the behind-the-scenes of her photography and book.

A brief disclaimer on this episode – neither PreserveCast nor Preservation Maryland, which powers this podcast, endorses, suggests or encourages anyone to ever explore, enter or otherwise investigate a historic place without owner consent. Always engage in ethical documentation and exploration of historic places.

Learn More: https://www.instagram.com/morning_reveries/

Order the Book: https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/products/9781634994361

Although Salem is certainly the most famous American community to be beset by the mania of witchcraft, it was far from alone in its paranoia. On this special edition of PreserveCast, we're exploring the history of accusations of witchcraft and sorcery in Maryland.

At this time of the year, as we look for opportunities to get the good shivers, we’d be wise to balance the frightening tales of witchcraft with the harsh reality of the lives ended by the hysteria and the lesson in that story – that well meaning people can make strange decisions driven by fear of the unknown. Perhaps, the story of witchcraft fascinates us, because in each of us there is fear of the supernatural and we wonder, if only subconsciously, if we too, could fall for an equally absurd fallacy. 

Our team has happily welcomed "spooky season" and this week we're bringing you a tale of old about the story of Michael Zittle – the Wizard of South Mountain. If you enjoy this type of content, you'll also want to tune in next week for another Halloween-inspired episode, an in-depth feature on the Maryland Witch Trials.  

Much of what we know of Michael Zittle and the lore of South Mountain comes from Madeline Vinton Dahlgren, a 19th-century author, tavern keeper, anti-suffragist, and owner of the still-operational South Mountain Inn. New research, writing, and dramatic reading by your host, Nicholas Redding. 

As the chill of autumn arrives and we approach All Hallows Eve, we'll indulge in this haunted history and talk of wizards, spells, and sorcery...

You’re visiting New Orleans and you want to get off the beaten path – out of the French Quarter and into neighborhoods to experience the real, authentic cultural assets this historic, over 300-year-old city has to offer. So where do you go and what do you do? On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re sitting down with Danielle Del Sol, the Executive Director of the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans and Nathalie Jordi to talk about an Authentic New Orleans experience.

Join us this week's PreserveCast episode as we talk with Dr. Christopher Finan about his book Drunks: The Story of Alcoholism and the Birth of Recovery. We’ll talk to Chris about the history of alcoholism in America, the story of recovery, and how the preservation and museum community can approach telling the full story of alcohol at sites and places across the nation. All that and more on this week’s PreserveCast. 

BIO: Chris Finan is executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship, an alliance of 56 national non-profits that defends free speech.  Mr. Finan has been involved in the fight against censorship for over 40 years.  He is former president of American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression.

A native of Cleveland, Chris is a graduate of Antioch College. After working as a newspaper reporter, he studied American history at Columbia University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1992. He is the author of How Free Speech Saved Democracy: The Untold History of How the First Amendment Became an Effective Tool for Securing Liberty and Social Justice (Steerforth Press), Drunks: An American History (in paperback, Drunks: The Story of Alcoholism and the Birth of Recovery) (Beacon Press) and  Alfred E. Smith: The Happy Warrior" (Hill and Wang), a biography of the New York governor who was the first Catholic to run for President.

His book, From the Palmer Raids to the PATRIOT Act: A History of the Fight for Free Speech in America (Beacon Press), won the American Library Association’s Eli M. Oboler Award for the best work on intellectual freedom published in 2006 and 2007.

Chris is married to Pat Willard, a writer whose most recent book is "America Eats! On the Road with the WPA - the Fish Fries, Box Supper Socials and Chitlin Feasts that Define Real American Food" (Bloomsbury). They have two sons and live in Brooklyn, New York.

Learn More: https://www.chrisfinan.com/

Find the Book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/drunks-the-story-of-alcoholism-and-the-birth-of-recovery-christopher-m-finan/7213639?ean=9780807019931&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chrisfinan.com%2F&source=IndieBound&title=Drunks%3A+The+Story+of+Alcoholism+and+the+Birth+of+Recovery

Get a peek behind the curtain and join us on this week’s PreserveCast as we talk with Ann Powell, Principal Owner of Plan B. Ann will share what she does as an owner's representative and how she supports preservation projects. After 25 years as an architect, Ann will let us glimpse the complexities of preservation projects and how an owner's representative can benefit the project.