Prior to the 1960s, "historic preservation was," according to a 2015 column in The Washington Post, "neither a public policy issue nor part of America's architectural, planning and real estate development culture.
[2] To prevent further destruction or conversion of the property to a resort, Ann Pamela Cunningham founded the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association to fight for this house.
[6] "Over the past fifty years the NPS has acquired more than 26,000,000 acres (110,000 km2) of land, including not only the great chain of parks preserved for their natural beauty and value, but an extraordinary variety of historic buildings, monuments, and sites.
[8] During the Great Depression era, the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) was established by the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration.
In addition, the law "enforced public participation in preserving and protecting the sites, buildings, objects of national significance in American history.
Today, they offer funds for planning and education and provide a plethora of information, techniques, and methods to assist people in carrying out preservation efforts locally.
"[15] As a response to the nationwide destruction brought about by federally initiated programs, a report coordinated by Lady Bird Johnson analyzed the country and the effects of urban renewal.
"[16] The book triggered public awareness of the issue and offered a proposition to handle the situation through the National Historic Preservation Act.
Meeting four times a year, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation consists of 23 members from both public and private sectors, with the chairman appointed by the president.
[18] The council's role is to advise the President and Congress on historic preservation issues, to develop policies and guidelines handling any conflicts of federal agencies, and to participate in the Section 106 review process.
It allows interested parties an opportunity to comment on the potential impact projects may have on significant archaeological or historic sites.
Ideally, a Memorandum of Agreement is reached between all consulting parties outlining agreed to mitigation or avoidance of historic properties, but this is not always the case.
Large public works projects often require that teams of archaeologists perform limited excavations in order to properly inventory buried archaeological remains and assess their eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places.
This industry has also allowed a larger swath of individuals to participate in archaeology and history as, unlike in the academic arena, a PhD is not required to earn a professional livelihood.
The Secretary of the Interior's Professional Qualification Standards for archeologists require a graduate degree plus at least one year of full-time experience, at least four months of fieldwork, and demonstrated ability to carry research to completion.
Additionally, the basic field work often required in support of performing inventories of cultural resources is conducted by individuals with or earning bachelor's degrees.
As a result, many undergraduates and recent graduates in the fields which support the implementation of the National Historic Preservation Act have found gainful employment.