Historic Preservation Defense Fund
Protecting Our Country’s Civic and Cultural Inheritance
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Historic Preservation Defense Fund
The Historic Preservation Defense Fund will support efforts that protect the places, laws, and principles that safeguard our shared history.
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History at Stake
Congress chartered the National Trust to ensure the public has a voice in decisions about the places that define us. Stand with us.
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We Can’t Do It Without You
Support the Historic Preservation Defense Fund to ensure that our history remains something we can know, share, and shape together.
This is an urgent, pivotal moment.
Across the country, in big cities and small communities, on main streets and in National Parks, the federal protections that safeguard these places are in jeopardy. Proposed changes to the National Historic Preservation Act would leave historic places vulnerable and would weaken, or ultimately silence, the voice of the American public in decisions about their use, or even their existence.
Right now, in our nation's capital, the White House's East Wing has been demolished to make way for a new 90,000 square foot ballroom, without the legally required approval of Congress.
Nearby, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is the focal point of a fierce legal and political fight that has resulted in its abrupt closure, and potential demolition. And just across the Potomac, a proposed Triumphal Arch would intrude on the solemn historic sightline between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial, and on the dignity owed to the veterans who rest there.
These are not isolated actions. The foundational stories of our nation and the fabric of our society are under a generational threat. What is a nation without its history?
About the Historic Preservation Defense Fund
Recognizing the magnitude of the crisis facing historic preservation, and that meeting it will require bold, coordinated action across the field, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is establishing the Historic Preservation Defense Fund: an effort to raise an initial $10 million to protect our nation's historic places, and the laws and principles that safeguard them, from irreparable harm, and to ensure future generations can continue to honor our shared civic and cultural inheritance.
Through the Historic Preservation Defense Fund, the National Trust will work alongside new and existing partners to provide foundational investment and support for a united preservation movement and a shared defense against current and emerging threats.
From the White House to the Grand Canyon, from the Statue of Liberty to the Golden Gate Bridge, the Historic Preservation Defense Fund will provide resources for legal defense, public advocacy, and community action where and when historic places and the laws that protect them are under threat.
photo by: Paasikivi / Wikimedia Commons
Statue of Liberty
Why support the Historic Preservation Defense Fund
Historic places carry identities, cultures, and memories that belong to us all, not just the people who live in or near them. Each one holds the power to build community, create opportunities for advancement, and help us see our own humanity and the hidden potential in the stories of our past.
Understanding the fullness of our triumphs and failures, struggles and progress, helps us recognize the values we share: the ideals of opportunity, justice, liberty, community, and the belief that America can always build on its strengths and become better than it was before. Historic places give those values a tangible anchor. They help us understand one another and imagine a shared future.
“This is not a role we claimed. It's the one we were created for.”
Brent Leggs, President & CEO
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is the nation's historic preservation leader. Congressionally chartered in 1949 to ensure the public has a voice in decisions about the places that define our shared history, we have always employed legal and public advocacy to save historic places and to defend preservation laws.
We are the only national organization equipped to tackle multiple aspects of preservation work and advocacy at once. But we have never done this work alone. The National Trust brings together a network of preservation organizations and partners, our own legal expertise, and the American public to safeguard our nation's historic places through litigation, public policy, advocacy, government relations, grantmaking, public affairs, cross-sector partnerships, and community outreach.
Support the Historic Preservation Defense Fund
In this critical moment, your gift to the National Trust can help us defend historic preservation—and protect community voices in preservation now and for future generations. Support the National Trust today.
Leadership gifts
Early leadership commitments will set the pace for this effort and help bring partners to the table. To discuss a leadership or multi-year gift, please contact Ann McElwain, Chief Development Officer, amcelwain@savingplaces.org.
Other ways to stand with us:
- Take the pledge. Add your name to a growing movement for a stronger, more inclusive future, one where all Americans can see themselves reflected in our national story.
- Share your story. Tell us about a place that has shaped your life, and tag @savingplaces on Instagram.
Download the Historic Preservation Defense Fund Fact Sheet
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