December 20, 2022

Preserving a Piece of the American Story: A Lookback at Resources from 2022

In Grace Young’s plenary session at PastForward Online 2022, she stated, "My work as a cookbook author has always been about preserving recipes, but as the pandemic unfolded, I shifted my focus to saving Chinatowns. I realized that I was, of course, trying to save one of the great centers for Chinese cuisine and culture, but in fact, I am preserving a piece of the American story.”

That final phrase, “preserving a piece of the American story,” sums up the work in the field in 2022. Across the country, organizations and individuals are adjusting to some new realities as we navigate the next phase of the pandemic. These conversations range from tackling issues of equity in practice and in storytelling, to moving from vision to action on some key strategies in the National Impact Agenda. From climate change to acknowledging the impacts of gentrification, this year has been filled with an intention of making real, sustainable change. Take a look below at a set of resources, events, and stories brought to you by the National Trust and Preservation Leadership Forum in 2022.

photo by: Carol M. Highsmith/Library of Congress

The Chinatown Gateway, an outdoor paifang (a Chinese architectural arch or gateway) and sculpture that serves as an entrance to Old Town Chinatown in Portland, Oregon, in 2018. This year the National Trust worked with one of our interns to develop an ESRI StoryMap about the history of Chinatowns in the United States.| Credit: Carol M. Highsmith/Library of Congress.

Preservation Leadership Forum thanks our members for their support and trust as we navigate into the new year and next phase of our community.

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While her day job is the associate director of content at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Priya spends other waking moments musing, writing, and learning about how the public engages and embraces history.

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