Before and After the Act: Historic Preservation in Pennsylvania

Posted by on Apr 19, 2016 in | Comments Off on Before and After the Act: Historic Preservation in Pennsylvania In 1816 the City of Philadelphia purchased Independence Hall to save it from demolition. This was the first historic preservation effort in the United States. One hundred and fifty years later, the historic preservation movement found its footing as a national priority when President Lyndon Johnson signed the National Historic Preservation Act into law on October 16, 1966. The act codified the...
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Executive Director’s Letter

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Letter This issue of Pennsylvania Heritage includes an article about the development of historic preservation in Pennsylvania to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of our State Historic Preservation Board. With the appointment of James Biddle (1929-2005) in 1980 as its first chair­man, the board established a high standard and has attracted members of both state and national reputation. The...
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Letter from President Lyndon Johnson

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Letter from President Lyndon Johnson Act 167, signed by Governor David L. Lawrence on June 13, 1961, authorized counties, cities, boroughs, in­corporated towns, and townships in Pennsylvania to create historic districts and provided for the appointment of local Boards of Historical Architectural Review. Following the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, on March 1, 1967, President Lyndon Baines Johnson...
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An Impressive Legacy: A Half-Century of Historic Preservation in Pennsylvania, 1955-2005

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on An Impressive Legacy: A Half-Century of Historic Preservation in Pennsylvania, 1955-2005 A quarter-century ago, James Biddle (1929-2005), president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, from 1968 to 1980, was named chairman of Pennsylvania’s first State Historic Preservation Board. Jimmy, as the scion of one of the Commonwealth’s most notable families was known – especially to fellow preservationists, many of them working at the grassroots level –...
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