Even Federal Disaster Policy Impacts Historic Preservation
This story is by a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Advisors Program. The program began in 1966 and has engaged over 500 preservationists from around the country who have volunteered their time and expertise to the organization. We asked Advisors to share what they are seeing in their communities in order to learn about the impact of historic preservation across the country.
Since the inauguration of Donald Trump as president in January 2025, it has been all hands on deck for historic preservationists. In less than six months, the Trump Administration has already defunded the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute for Library and Museum Services. Through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), this Administration laid off all new and temporary hires at the National Park Service (NPS), and enticed many career employees in Technical Preservation Services into retirement.
Cultural heritage employees at the General Services Administration (GSA) are down to 8 from 30 a few months ago.This Administration has impounded the Historic Preservation Fund allocations to State Historic Preservation Offices, despite the revenue stream being deficit-neutral. Job Corps, which fueled preservation trades education at NPS sites and elsewhere, is now defunded.
The Trump Administration’s actions also impact historic preservation far beyond the usual heritage and culture programs—as I have found out by trying to launch a community built heritage project in St. Louis following an EF3 Tornado.
photo by: Michael Allen
A tour of historic sites in The Ville neighborhood of St. Louis led by Aaron Williams, a co-founder of the cultural heritage organization 4theVille.
The Ville, A Historically Black St. Louis Neighborhood
I have collaborated with Antioch Baptist Church in The Ville neighborhood of St. Louis to craft a program in which neighborhood residents can assess what aspects of their built heritage they want to prioritize physically preserving. The historically-Black Antioch Baptist Church congregation dates to 1878, and its Gothic Revival sanctuary dates to 1921. The church was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, using a Multiple Property Documentation Form for major landmarks necessitated by The Ville’s already pronounced loss of built fabric.
The Ville was historically settled by Irish immigrants, but began to attract Black residents after St. Louis passed a racially-restrictive zoning law in 1916. The Ville became a bastion of the Black middle and upper classes, and home to the Black community’s prize institutions under segregation—Sumner High School, Homer G. Philips Hospital, Poro College and many churches and businesses. Redlining threatened this neighborhood, but it persisted as a stronghold into the 1970s.
photo by: Michael Allen
Exterior of the historic Antioch Baptist Church in The Ville.
In the 1970s, The Ville was subject to the city doctrine of “planned shrinkage” under a strategic document written by planning firm Team Four, Inc. as part of a scuttled interim comprehensive plan in 1975. The doctrine never became law, but its tenets —which included intentionally depriving most of the majority-Black north city wards of the same services as the rest of the city—influenced city policy. The Ville has lost population and buildings ever since.
My own engagement of The Ville began in 2007 when I worked at Landmarks Association of St. Louis, the region’s preservation advocacy organization. The late alderman for the neighborhood, Sam Moore, proposed demolishing nearly 40 building at once. My objection propelled a useful dialogue that led to the successful National Register-listing of a set of historic districts of neighborhood residential buildings. Yet The Ville remained a tough sell for preservation due to its hypervacancy.
Enter the Antioch Baptist Church. Its leaders, hoping to secure the future of the historic sanctuary and the living heritage of its institution, received a National Trust for Historic Preservation African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund grant in February 2025. The grant funds several programs to secure the future of the church. Given that The Ville has lost nearly half of its historic buildings that existed at its peak, my role is to lead exercises with neighborhood residents to identify what vernacular, ordinary buildings are absolutely worth preserving. That has never been easy, but the tornado raises the stakes.
photo by: Richard Reilly
Exterior view of the Harlem Tap Room in The Ville after the May 16 EF3 tornado. This building was a survivor of the city's last major tornado in 1927.
On May 16, 2025 an EF3 tornado blazed through The Ville and surrounding areas. Antioch Baptist Church had minimal damage, but many buildings within the surrounding neighborhood were leveled. The historic neighborhood bar The Harlem Taproom, which survived a 1927 tornado and was rebuilt, collapsed down to its ground floor. My project instantly became more difficult, but the Trump Administration will make it much harder.
photo by: Richard Reilly
Some of the damage to homes in The Ville following the tornado.
photo by: Richard Reilly
in some cases the damage to structures in The Ville was extensive.
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe requested a federal major disaster declaration on May 26, but the Trump administration only approved the declaration on June 9. This declaration brings into the scene the resources of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which would coordinate relief and provide a 75 percent reimbursement to St. Louis for the expenses it is incurring. Two days after the St. Louis disaster declaration, President Trump declared that he aims to “phase out” FEMA after hurricane season and shift the responsibility to the states.
While St. Louis received its federal tornado disaster declaration 24 days later, disbursements could take months—and certainly will extend into 2026. Could Trump seriously suspend FEMA funds that would reach north St. Louis and The Ville? Sadly, the answer could be yes.
In The Ville, we can’t have a real conversation about preservation without knowing if any federal help is coming. My work with The Ville residents won’t be focused on the heritage value of buildings as long as the neighborhood is plunged into post-disaster crisis. Yet the residents show a drive to remain in place despite the horrors they have lived. Why can’t their federal government be a partner in making that so?
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