Peterson Charles E. Richard H: Quin CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 15) box culverts and a number of 18" concrete pipe culverts for 38 drainage. "Guardrails" for the road consisted of large boulder border or coping stones, about 3' 6" in height. The stones were closely spaced SO that gaps of only about 4' appeared between them. The BPR engineer noted they made a "very substantial and pleasing" effect. 39 Similar border stones had been used on the Rockefeller carriage roads in the park and on the earlier "Mountain Road" motor road segment. Dennis Doonan, dynamite man for the McCabe company, was fatally injured on the project on 10 September 1929. Doonan had been anxious to complete the drilling and blasting on a ledge face near the lower end of the road, and asked two employees to work overtime on the drilling. As one of the men, Jean Lipscomb, was drilling a hole, the drill steel snapped off. When he removed it from the hole, he found it very hot and showed it to Doonan. Although he had had thirty years experience in blasting work, Doonan disregarded the overheated steel, and proceeded to load the hole with a charge. He placed two sticks of dynamite in the hole, and tamped them down. Nothing happened, but when he added a third stick with an electric blasting cap, the charge exploded, injuring Doonan so badly that he died in the hospital the following morning.4 40 The tragedy did not, however, seriously delay the project. On 17 June 1930, BPR District Engineer Guy M. Miller ordered the extension of the work to the summit. The grading contract was 41 completed on 1 November at a total cost of $154,221.52. In December, National Park Service Assistant Landscape Architect Charles E. Peterson came to Acadia to inspect the project for acceptance. As Peterson later recounted, "I met Grossman on the summit of the mountain. He was as proud of work as if he had just completed the Panama canal. I told him it was the worst piece of landscape damage ever inflicted on a national park. II 42 Peterson was aghast by the lack of project cleanup work. The 38 Ibid., 2-3. 39 Ibid., 3. 40 Grossman, Cadillac Mountain Highway project diary, 10 September 1930. MSS, Acadia National Park Historical Collection. 41Ibid., 2, 4. 42Charles E. Peterson interview, 23 August 1995. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 16) contractor had left debris strewn all over the project, and the blasting had cast stone a considerable distance to either side of the road. In his report, Peterson recommended against accepting the project until the contractor removed his truck tires, rub- bish, and construction equipment and took efforts to clean up the sidecast stone. Peterson told BPR engineer Miller that the contractor's general disregard for the blasting restrictions outlined in the specifications had caused extensive landscape damage. As McCabe had failed to make any money on the work, he conceded it would be difficult to have him do any further clean- up work. Peterson warned Miller that it would be necessary to place more stringent restrictions in future specifications for road work in the park. 43 Nothing was evidently done to correct the disfigurement In September 1931, Peterson put his earlier impressions in writing. "The contract of the grading work on Cadillac Mountain which was completed last year constitutes the worst piece of landscape damage which any road has done in a national park. "> The contrac- tor had been required to pick up all rock lying outside of the toe of the slope within a distance of 30' from the road shoulders, while rock and dead vegetation outside the 30' area was to be handled by force account. McCabe had completed his work, but much debris remained. Peterson noted that $11,000 had been transferred to the Acadia park books for clean-up, but doubted it would be sufficient for the work. He stated there was a "crying need" to do something more, especially because of all the criticism of road-building work in the park and because the road would be judged against Rockefeller's excellent work. 44 Peterson also urged the widening of the road in several loca- tions, especially at major curves, noting that extra grading would generally not be required. The widening could utilize some of the waste rock which had been thrown over the edge The only extra cost would involve relocating several stretches of the border stones, but he thought they could be eliminated altogether. He added that the use of guard rail (in this case, the stones) was "greatly in excess of that which we regularly follow in Park work," in some cases being employed on the insides of curves. He recommended that where the road needed widening, 43 3Charles E. Peterson, Assistant Landscape Architect, Branch of Plans and Design, National Park Service, to Guy M. Miller, District Engineer, Bureau of Public Roads, 20 December 1930, attached to Ibid. 44 Idem, "Memorandum for the Director No. 1: Clean-up on the Cadillac Mountain Road, 26 September 1931. National Archives, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 17) the stones should simply be tipped over into the ditch and covered up. Any extra widened areas would be used by motorists, he felt, because "fine views are to be had at nearly all points." He urged the BPR be directed to submit an estimate for this work, and that it be carried out as soon as possible. 45 Another criticism Peterson noted was inadequate parking at the summit, which consisted only of a widened space below the terminal loop. He thought a main parking area should be constructed inside the loop, and the existing area designated for overflow. The loop was one of the areas "devastated" by the excessive blasting, and placing the parking here would concen- trate the damage in one spot. Along with the other work, Peterson felt the parking area should be constructed before the road opened the following summer. He added that as the parking area and loop lay in a saddle below a short rise, visitors would want to leave their cars and walk around to take in the views. Accordingly, he suggested the construction of a system of trails around the summit. To determine their location, he urged that the BPR topographic map of the summit be expanded so that the location of the trails, as well as the desired tea house, could be chosen. The trails, he believed, should be 4' 6" wide and paved with crushed rock. Their surfacing could use some more of the excess rock lying along the road. He insisted that all of the work on the mountain should be done under the supervision of a Park Service landscape architect in order to avoid such 46 problems as had previously been encountered. With the grading project complete, the BPR prepared designs and specifications for the subsequent surfacing project. The Bureau of Public Roads had initially decided to surface the road with a bituminous macadam using emulsified asphalt as a binder. However, an inspection of an experimental stretch of this surfacing at Dedham, Massachusetts showed such surfacing did not hold up well, being "shot to pieces" only five months after it had been laid. Rather than risking similar failure on the Cadillac Mountain project, BPR engineers decided to utilize "Pentolithic" macadam. The specifications called for a 22' 45 Idem, "Memorandum for the Director No. 2: Special Widenings for the Cadillac Mountain Road, 11 26 September 1931. National Archives, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files. 46 Idem, "Memorandum for the Director No. 3: Parking Area on the Summit of Cadillac Mountain," 26 September 1931; "Memorandum for the Director No. 4: Path on the Summit of Cadillac Mountain, 26 September 1931. National Archives, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files. Charles E. Peterson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 1 of 7 Charles E. Peterson From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Charles Emil Peterson (1906-2004) is widely considered to be a seminal figure in professionalizing the practice of historic preservation in the United States. He is referred to as the "founding father" of the professional advocation of historic preservation, [1] the "godfather of preservation, and an "extraordinary preservationist"- who made important contributions to the knowledge of early American building practices, helped create the profession of the preservation architect, and passionately advocated for the retention and restoration of the American built heritage. According to Jacques Dalibard, a professor at McGill University School of Architecture, "with James Marston Fitch, [4] I cannot think of two people who had more influence on historic preservation in North America. "[5] During his long career, Peterson received numerous awards for his service including the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award (1966) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) medal for "vision and determination" (1979) and the Presidential Citation (1990). The AIA inducted him into the College of Fellows in 1962. [6][7] Contents 1 Early career 2 Early Philadelphia era 3 Career highlights 4 Creation of the profession of the preservation architect 5 Legacy 6 Notes 7 Further reading Early career Peterson was raised in Madison, Minnesota, and received his bachelor's degree in architecture in the early 1920s from the University of Minnesota. [2][6] In 1929, he began a thirty-three year tenure with the National Park Service. [6][7]:5 In 1931, his efforts were instrumental in saving the Moore House, the site of the British surrender, in Yorktown, Virginia. While documenting this building, Peterson created the prototype for the historic structure report, the basic format of which is still in use. [6][8] Peterson is perhaps best remembered for establishing the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), a federal documentation program that is still active and which has spawned the Historic American Engineering Record and the Historic American Landscape Survey. On November 13, 1933, while he was the Chief of the Eastern Division for the National Park Service, Peterson wrote a memo to the director which became the charter for the program and successfully garnered funds from the Civil Works Administration the following month. HABS targeted unemployed architects, draftsmen, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_E._Peterson 2/9/2016 Charles E. Peterson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 2 of 7 photographers to make as complete a record as possible of "the rapidly disappearing examples of early architecture and historic structures throughout the country." This program was credited as "the first major step upon the part of the Federal Government toward the cataloging and preservation of historic structures. ",[2][9]:1[10] The first HABS survey work began in January 1934 and later that year was formalized as a joint agreement with the American Institute of Architects and the Library of Congress. [9]:2 The HABS program has continued nearly unabated to the present. [11] During his life, Peterson constantly advocated for HABS, and was instrumental in restarting the program in 1957 and later saved it from oblivion when the Reagan administration threatened to pull funding. The end result was a stronger program with greatly increased funding. [12] Early Philadelphia era Peterson and NPS historian Roy E. Appelman were assigned to Philadelphia in early 1947 to advise the Philadelphia National Shrines Park Commission on the national park being proposed for the area surrounding Independence Hall. Peterson was the uncredited primary author and editor of the Shrines Commission's 7-volume final report to Congress (December 1947), which was incorporated into the enabling legislation under which Independence National Historical Park was created. Peterson returned to Philadelphia in the early 1950s to work at INHP. While there, he helped restore Carpenters' Hall and re-create Library Hall, and directed much of the preservation-related activity of the National Park Service in the region. It was in this era that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania demolished all the 19th- and early 20th-century buildings on the 3 blocks north of Independence Hall, to create an open European-style mall. (Independence Mall remained a state park until 1974.) Peterson oversaw the moving of the Free Quaker Meetinghouse, the only building spared in the creation of the Mall, to accommodate the widening of 5th Street. He opposed the demolition of important 19th-century buildings within INHP, but did not prevail. He retired from the National Park Service in 1962, but continued to live and work from his row house located on Spruce Street. [1][2][6][13] During Peterson's tenure at the National Park Service, he educated numerous students about historic preservation. [14] In the 1950s, Philadelphia was in decline and the oldest neighborhoods, dating to the 18th century, were being abandoned and left to decay. It was in such a place that Peterson decided to purchase two row homes in 1954, one of which became his home. The area, which is now known as "Society Hill," is today one of the most desirable areas to live in Philadelphia. Peterson not only helped name the area, but his tireless preservation advocacy secured the revitalization of Society Hill by motivating his friends and acquaintances to buy property there. [1][6] Career highlights The 1960s were an extremely productive time for Peterson. He contributed to many scholarly conferences, including the Second International Congress of Architects and Technicians of Historical Monuments in Venice in 1964. It was at this conference that the enormously influential Venice Charter was created, which established much of preservation philosophy that exists to this day and has become ingrained in the National Park Service's Secretary of the Interior's Standards for preservation. Peterson, along with the entire U.S. delegation rejected the charter, however, due to its European focus and the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_E._Peterson 2/9/2016 Charles E. Peterson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 3 of 7 radical emphasis on preservation instead of restoration. [15][16] In the 1960s, restoration-defined as the "scraping" of later layers of historic fabric in order to restore the appearance of a building to an arbitrary date-was the status quo and represented the majority of preservation work in the United States. The Venice Charter was a radical shift in preservation philosophy that would not become fully accepted in the United States until the 1980s. Peterson also served on the Committee on Principles and Guidelines for Historic Preservation established by the National Trust which helped influence the future direction of the preservation movement. [17] In the mid-1960s, Peterson was appointed as an adjunct professor to the fledgling historic preservation program at Columbia University where he taught early-American building technology. He worked closely with James Marston Fitch to build this program into the first graduate degree program in historic preservation in the country. [18][19] Columbia's program became the model which spawned the tens of graduate and undergraduate programs in historic preservation that now exist across the United States. In 1970, Peterson established the European Traveling Summer School for Restorationists that allowed architects to view and participate in restoration projects outside the United States. [20] Peterson was a founding member of the Association for Preservation Technology (APT) which was created in 1968 in an effort to provide better education for the restoration, documentation, and preservation of historic buildings. He became the organization's first president in 1969. [2][3] APT was enormously influential as it represented the first scholarly outlet for the activities of historic preservation. Peterson's activities through APT helped move preservation from an antiquarian hobby to a professional endeavor. Throughout his career, Peterson was an avid researcher on the history of American building technology. He is best known for his work on Robert Smith, [7][21] a colonial-era architect which culminated in the publication of his book Robert Smith (1722-1777): Architect, Builder and Patriot by The Athenaeum of Philadelphia and the Carpenters' Company of Philadelphia in 2000. Other topics that Peterson covered included the early architecture of the Mississippi River valley, the use of iron in roofs, the development of the I-beam, and the recovery of the "lost" history of cement and concrete construction. [22] In 1983, Peterson established the Charles E. Peterson Prize to be awarded to students displaying superior drawing abilities in documenting HABS buildings. Managed by The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, the prize is awarded by HABS, the Athenaeum, and the AIA. [2][7] He also donated all of his research papers and books to the University of Maryland in 1998, having in 1981 endowed a substantial fund to support scholarly research in American Architecture prior to 1860 at The Athenaeum of Philadelphia and gifted his Archive and Library of Early American Building Technology and Historic Preservation. [23][24] Peterson is credited as an architect of Colonial National Historical Park, Jamestown and Yorktown, Virginia, listed on the National Register of Historic Places (2) Creation of the profession of the preservation architect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_E._Peterson 2/9/2016 Charles E. Peterson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 4 of 7 According to many contemporary preservation architects, Peterson "almost singlehandedly invented and developed the profession of historical architect. ,22] In a similar vein he is considered to be "the father of modern restoration techniques. [27] From his start with the National Park Service in the 1930s, Peterson continually advocated for training of architects in the proper restoration of buildings that respected their history, technology, and authenticity. A continual theme of his was the inadequacy of most architects' work on historic buildings: The shortcomings of architects in the field of historical restoration began long ago. It became clear, even in the days of Latrobe, that the most talented designers could not always be trusted around important landmarks. Some of our most stylish architects have proposed-and have carried out-gruesome butcheries on historic buildings. The architectural profession should police its own ranks, if for no reason than that many laymen have done their homework in history (as a hobby) and are today well ahead of architects. [28]:2 Peterson explained that there are very few people who understand older buildings and how they are constructed and "as a result, things happen to historic buildings that should not happen to a doghouse. "[28]:4 Architects could not simply learn from books and drawings, but had to experience an old building in all its unrestored, disheveled, shabbiness: "The man who doesn't get his hands dirty on the job will never know enough. "[10] Peterson's work in this regard has helped spawn innumerable training programs for architects, such as that offered by the Heritage Conservation Network, that provide hands-on training on a wide variety of techniques from documentation to pointing with lime mortar. Legacy Peterson's legacy can be summed up by his tireless efforts to establish historic preservation as a professional endeavor. He made essential contributions to how old buildings should be documented and architects trained. Every holder of a degree in historic preservation should also credit Peterson for the origins of their education. Lastly, Peterson established a scholarly basis for building interventions. No longer was an antiquarian aesthetic ethic acceptable for historic preservation; all work had to be documented and changes well substantiated with historical records. [29] Notes 1. Ferrick, Tom, Jr. (September 8, 2004). "He Gave New Life to What Was Old". Philadelphia Inquirer. 2. "Charles E. Peterson, FAIA, Godfather of Historic Preservation". AIArchitect. August 27, 2004. 3. Waite, Diana S. (2006). "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004". APT Bulletin 37 (1): 2. JSTOR 40004675. 4. James Marston Fitch created the historic preservation program at Columbia University in the 1960s. 5. Dalibard, Jacques (2006). "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004". APT Bulletin 37 (1): 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_E._Peterse 2/9/2016 Charles E. Peterson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 5 of 7 6. Sims, Ronan Gayle (August 20, 2004). "Charles E. Peterson, 97, Preservationist". Philadelphia Inquirer. 7. "Charles E. Peterson, FAPT, FAIA, FSAH (1906-2004)". APT Communiqué 33 (3). 2004. 8. McDonald, Travis (2006). "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004". APT Bulletin 37 (1): 4. 9. National Park Service (1936). Historic American Buildings Survey. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 10. Peterson, Charles E. (2004). "Charles E. Peterson, FAIA". In Burns, John A. Recording Historic Structures. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons. p. viii. 11. The HABS project was discontinued during World War II and restarted in the late 1950s. 12. Kapsch, Robert (2006). "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004". APT Bulletin 37 (1): 3. 13. Gianopolis, Nicholas (2006). "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004". APT Bulletin 37 (1): 3. 14. Massey, James C. (2006). "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004". APT Bulletin 37 (1): 4. 15. Gray, Gordon (1967). Historic Preservation Tomorrow. Washington, D.C.: National Trust for Historic Preservation. 16. Miller, Hugh C. (2006). "Preservation Technology Comes of Age in North America: Part I". APT Bulletin 37 (1): 55. JSTOR 40004681. 17. Committee on Principles and Guidelines for Historic Preservation in the United States (1964). A Report on Principles and Guidelines for Historic Preservation in the United States (Report). Washington, D.C.: National Trust for Historic Preservation. p. 3. 18. Peterson, Charles E. (1964). "Restoration: An Emerging Profession". Building Research 1 (5): 5. 19. DeLony, Eric (2006). "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004". APT Bulletin 37 (1): 3. 20. Boucher, Jack E. (2006). "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004". APT Bulletin 37 (1): 2. 21. Thompson, Maria M. (2006). "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004". APT Bulletin 37 (1): 5. 22. Representative examples include: "Early Ste. Genevieve and Its Architecture," Missouri Historical Review 25, no. 2 (1941); "Iron in Early American Roofs," Smithsonian Journal of History (1968); "Inventing the I-Beam: Richard Turner, Cooper and Hewitt and Others," APT Bulletin 12, no. 4 (1980). 23. "Charles E. Peterson papers". Retrieved July 19, 2013. 24. "Charles E. Peterson Has Established". College & Research Libraries News 59 (7): 536. 1998. 25. Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 26. Waite, John G. (2006). "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004". APT Bulletin 37 (1): 5. 27. Greiff, Constance (2006). "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004". APT Bulletin 37 (1): 3. 28. Peterson, Charles E. (1976). "The Role of the Architect in Historical Restorations". In Timmons, Sharon. Preservation and Conservation: Principles and Practices; Proceedings of the North American International Regional Conference Williamsburg, Virginia, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 10-16, 1972. Washington, D.C.: The Preservation Press. 29. Roger W Moss, "Charles E. Peterson," Athenaeum Profiles: A Not-for-Profit-Education | New Castle, Del.| Oak Knoll Press, 2008| pp. 45-56. Further reading Boucher, Jack E. "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004." APT Bulletin 37, no. 1 (2006): 2. "Charles E. Peterson Has Established." College & Research Libraries News 59, no. 7 (1998): 536. "Charles E. Peterson, FAIA, Godfather of Historic Preservation." AIArchitect (Aug 27, 2004). "Charles E. Peterson, FAPT, FAIA, FSAH (1906-2004)." APT Communiqué 33, no. 3 (2004): 5. Committee on Principles and Guidelines for Historic Preservation in the United States. A Report on Principles and Guidelines for Historic Preservation in the United States. Washington, D.C.: National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1964. Dalibard, Jacques. "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004." APT Bulletin 37, no. 1 (2006): 2. DeLony, Eric. "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004." APT Bulletin 37, no. 1 (2006): 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_E._Peterson 2/9/2016 Charles E. Peterson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 6 of 7 Ferrick, Tom, Jr. "He Gave New Life to What Was Old." Philadelphia Inquirer, September 8, 2004. Gianopolis, Nicholas. "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004." APT Bulletin 37, no. 1 (2006): 3. Gray, Gordon. Historic Preservation Tomorrow. Washington, D.C.: National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1967. Greiff, Constance. "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004." APT Bulletin 37, no. 1 (2006): 3. Kapsch, Robert. "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004." APT Bulletin 37, no. 1 (2006): 3. Massey, James C. "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004." APT Bulletin 37, no. 1 (2006): 4. McDonald, Travis. "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004." APT Bulletin 37, no. 1 (2006): 4. Miller, Hugh C. "Preservation Technology Comes of Age in North America: Part I." APT Bulletin 37, no. 1 (2006): 55-59. Moss, Roger W. "Charles E. Peterson," Athenaeum Profiles: A Not-for-Profit Education New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll Press, 2014. National Park Service. Historic American Buildings Survey. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1936. Peterson, Charles E. "Restoration: An Emerging Profession." Building Research 1, no. 5 (1964): 5. Peterson, Charles E. "The Role of the Architect in Historical Restorations." In Preservation and Conservation: Principles and Practices; Proceedings of the North American International * Regional Conference Williamsburg, Virginia, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 10-16, 1972, edited by Sharon Timmons, 1-11. Washington, D.C.: The Preservation Press, 1976. Peterson, Charles E. "Charles E. Peterson, FAIA." In Recording Historic Structures, edited by John A Burns, viii-ix. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2004. Sims, Ronan Gayle. "Charles E. Peterson, 97, Preservationist." Philadelphia Inquirer, August 20, 2004. Thompson, Maria M. "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004." APT Bulletin 37, no. 1 (2006): 5. Waite, Diana S. "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004." APT Bulletin 37, no. 1 (2006): 2. Waite, John G. "In Memory of Charles E. Peterson, 1906-2004." APT Bulletin 37, no. 1 (2006): 5. Retrieved from"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_E._Peterson&oldid=687816828 Categories: 1906 births 2004 deaths University of Minnesota alumni People from Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota American architects Preservationist architects Fellows of the American Institute of Architects This page was last modified on 27 October 2015, at 22:34. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_E._Peterson 2/9/2016 8/28/2021 Preserving Philadelphia: A Conversation with Charles E. Peterson, F.A.I.A. - Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine PENNSYLV.ANIA HERITAGE Home About Highlights Past Issues Topics Features Authors Home >> Preserving Philadelphia: A Conversation with Charles E. Peterson, F.A.I.A. Written by William Kashatus in the Interview category and the Fall 1998 issue Topics in this article: architecture and architects, Bank of the United States, Benner-Walker House, Bishop William White House, Carpenters' Hall, Charles E. Peterson, Christ Church (Philadelphia), Colonial Williamsburg, Dilworth-Todd-Moylan House, Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), historic preservation, Independence Hall. Independence National Historical Park, John Torrey, John Torrey House, Judge Edwin O. Lewis, Kaufman Farm, Kid House, Library Hall, Mcllvaine House, National Park Service, Oley Valley, Penn Mutual buildings, Peters House Hotel, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Broad Street Station, Philadelphia Merchant's Exchange, photography, Richard Woodward House, Robert Smith, Samuel Ankrim Shop, Second Bank of the United States, William and Frederick Langenheim paheritage.wpengine.com/article/preserving-philadelphia-conversation-charles-e-peterson/ 1/13 8/28/2021 Preserving Philadelphia A Conversation with Charles E. Peterson, F.A.I.A. - Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine Interview is a series of discussions with renowned Pennsylvanians - artists, athletes, authors, historians, musicians, politicians, scholars, television celebrities and others - that have appeared occasionally as features in Pennsylvania Heritage. Gmail Google Bookmark Facebook Twitter More 1 Those who know Philadelphia realize that it is an enormously important city with an illustrious, prestigious past. By many it is called the birthplace of a nation, by others the cradle of liberty. The United States was created in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. The principles of the American Revolution were perpetuated in the port city on September 17, 1787, when the Federal Convention forged the Constitution and referred it, through Congress, to the individual states for ratification. Both landmark events took place in the Assembly Room of Pennsylvania's State House, a familiar edifice known today as Independence Hall. Since 1951, the historic building has been maintained as the centerpiece of Independence National Historical Park, an urban park which now encompasses six square blocks of government buildings, restored homes, venerable churches, a portrait gallery, even an operating tavern. Historical precedent for Independence Park had been set twenty-five years earlier when oil company heir and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. (1874- 1960) financed the restoration and reconstruction of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, the most noted historical reconstruction project in America at the time. Charles E. Peterson, F.A.I.A., of Philadelphia, who played a key role in the development of Independence National Historical Park, began his career as a restoration planner at Colonial National Historical Park in Virginia. His informal contacts with the staff at nearby Williamsburg enabled him to note their research techniques, interdisciplinary col- laboration, and thorough documentation of that restoration project. Later, during the formative years of Independence Park, Peterson built on the models of Williamsburg and similar historic restorations of the 1930s. His gift is reflected in Independence Park's ability to re-create an eighteenth-century atmosphere by upholding the integrity of the historic structures within its boundaries while also respecting and reinforcing the urban character of the neighborhood. A preservationist and teacher by nature and a militant evangelist for saving old buildings by profession, Peterson joined the National Park Service in 1929 and quickly became its leading expert on historical architecture. Four years later, he organized the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) as a cooperative project of the National Park Service, the American Institute of Architects, and the Library of Congress. Originally created to provide work for hundreds of unemployed architects during the Great Depres- sion, HABS has, over the years, become the largest architectural archive of its kind in the paheritage.wpengine.com/article/preserving-philadelphia-conversation-charles-e-peterson/ 2/13 8/28/2021 Preserving Philadelphia: A Conversation with Charles E. Peterson, F.A.I.A. - Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine world. It has also served as a training agency for young architects, introducing them to historic structures as well as to restoration techniques on the cutting edge. The first comprehensive federal program to survey and document American architecture, HABS has, since its founding, recorded more than twenty-five thousand buildings and structures throughout the United States and in the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Panama Canal Zone. Pennsylvania claims the distinction of having the greatest number of sites - more than sixteen hundred - documented by HABS. Information compiled by HABS teams consists of measured drawings, photographs, and written data spanning four centuries of construction and covering all types and styles of buildings and structures, such as log houses, state capitols, covered bridges, skyscrapers, smokehouses, factories, and even bridges. The HABS collection is one of the most extensively used collections at the Library of Congress, where it is archived, and includes approximately fifty thousand sheets of drawings, one hundred and thirty thousand photographs, and seventy-two thousand pages of written data. Since HABS began its documentation of the built environment, fully one-third of all recorded sites have vanished, primarily through demolition for urban expansion or for better roads and highways and destruction by neglect. These buildings, however, have been "preserved" by HABS documentation. Through the years HABS has often worked closely with colleges and universities, including the University of Pennsylvania in the 1950s, and in the following decade with the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, and Moravian College in Bethlehem. In order to make HABS records available to the public, a series of catalogs has been issued to guide researchers through the collection, beginning in 1938 with the first national catalog. HABS material is frequently used to illustrate history, architecture, and historic preservation books, catalogs, pamphlets, and guidebooks. And it all began with Peterson who, in a November 13, 1933, memorandum to the Director of the Park Service, proposed the national architectural survey. During his career with the National Park Service, Peterson pioneered new construction programs at several National Parks, including Colonial ini Virginia, Acadia in Maine, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in Missouri, the Great Smokies in North Carolina and Tennessee, and Hot Springs in Arkansas. His last government posts were as resident architect of the Independence Park and Supervising Architect for Historic Structures in the eastern United States, a post he held from 1956 to 1962. Peterson has been a tireless advocate for local preservation and an advisor to private, public, and educational projects from Hawaii and Easter Island to Morocco and Turkey. Among Peterson's impressive list of credentials are Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (F.A.I.A.), past president of the Society of Architectural Historians, past president of the Association for Preservation Technology, Benjamin Franklin Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and Fellow of the Newcomen Society in Great Britain. In paheritage.wpengine.com/article/preserving-philadelphia-conversation-charles-e-peterson/ 3/13 Welcome back HABS, HAER The Bellows Falls Bridge over the Connecticut River in Vermont was built in A line drawing of the historic lighthouse and residence at St. Croix Island 1905. Scheduled for replacement HAER recorded the bridge in 1979. National Monument in Maine in Acadia NP. By Isabel Hill professional photographs, and historic Throughout the years, HABS and HAER Writer-Editor, HAER, WASO data. Summer teams of student have trained over 2,000 professionals in architects, historians, and engineers, the fields of architecture, history, Two well-established Federal under the supervision of HABS and architectural history, and engineering. preservation programs, the Historic HAER professionals, are formed to The staff of HABS and HAER American Buildings Survey (HABS) and document these historic structures. represents the disciplines of the Historic American Engineering Over the years HABS and HAER have architecture, history, photography and Record (HAER), have rejoined the Park amassed the largest collection of quality engineering. Most have Master's or Service with the announcement of the documentation of its kind in the United Doctoral degrees. Some HABS and merger of Heritage Conservation and States; the collection consists of more HAER employees have won national Recreation Service units into the than 20,000 structures, 40,000 sheets of recognition; for example HABS National Park Service. HABS is the drawings, 68,000 photographs, and photographer Jack Boucher, who was oldest of these two programs, having 30,000 data pages. This information is recently awarded the American Institute been formed within the National Park made available to the public through the of Architects medal for his outstanding Service in 1933 to record examples of Library of Congress, Division of Prints contributions to the field of architectural historic architecture throughout the and Photographs. A recent study photography. United States. The HABS program was indicates that the HABS and HAER According to the chief of the National founded by a tripartite agreement collections are extremely well Architectural and Engineering Record, among the National Park Service, the utilized-last year over 17,000 items Robert Kapsch, the future of HABS and American Institute of Architects, and were reproduced from the collection for HAER looks bright under the Park the Library of Congress. HAER is the private use. In addition to the Library of Service. Kapsch intends to emphasize newer of these two programs, having Congress, approximately 110 other the recording of National Historic been founded within the National Park libraries throughout the United States Landmarks, particularly those Service in 1969 by a tripartite agreement maintain the HABS and HAER endangered, and the recording of Park among the National Park Service, the collections in whole or substantial part. Service managed cultural resources to American Society of Civil Engineers, This figure is expected to increase in the HABS and HAER standards. and the Library of Congress. HAER is near future as the collections are Now that these programs are back the sister program to HABS and was microfiched and made available to the with the Park Service, managers are formed to record examples of historic public and to institutions. working on a suitable celebration for the engineering and industrial archeology HABS and HAER are unusual 50th anniversary of HABS to be held in throughout the Nation. Together, the Government programs in that 1983. They are exploring the feasibility HABS and HAER programs are substantial funds are made available by of developing a computerized data base organized under the National private and other public entities to for the records and are working with Architectural and Engineering Record. conduct the recording projects. Last the U.S. Postal Service to explore the HABS and HAER record structures year, for example, approximately one possibility of issuing a stamp to through the use of measured drawings, half of the operating budget of $1.7 commemorate the HABS anniversary. million for the two programs came from private donations, or from other entities of Federal, State, or local government. 4