Foreword By First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton,
Save America's Treasures Honorary Chair
WASHINGTON D.C. -- America thinks of itself as a young nation, but our recorded history now spans half a millennium, and the nation abounds with historical treasures. These treasures are priceless links to our past, and their preservation is the goal of Save America's Treasures, a public-private partnership between the White House Millennium Council, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the National Park Service. To illuminate the remarkable diversity of the American experience, and to celebrate this unprecedented effort to preserve our nation historic sites, documents, and artifacts, the National Geographic Society is publishing a commemorative book on the Save America's Treasures program.
SAVING AMERICA'S TREASURES (National Geographic Books, ISBN: 0-7922-7942-5, Nov. 5, 2000, $35) introduces readers to scores of landmark structures and artifacts that have been designated official Save America's Treasures projects because of their significance to America's cultural history. The book includes a foreword by Save America's Treasures' Honorary Chair First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, an introduction by award-winning journalist Ray Suarez, and thought-provoking essays by noted writers Thomas Mallon, Francine Prose, Phyllis Theroux, Henry Petroski and Ian Frazier. The afterword is by Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and a Save America's co-chair, a position he shares with Susan Eisenhower, noted author and granddaughter of the late president. In addition, the book includes 150 sumptuous color and black-and-white photographs shot by National Geographic photographer Ira Block and from archival sources.
"As a nation, we have allowed too much of our heritage - the places and objects that comprise the collective memory of America - to deteriorate," Hillary Clinton writes. "These reminders of our past should be protected to inspire future generations. Their preservation is our sacred trust."
Among the 47 treasures showcased in SAVING AMERICA'S TREASURES are the Star-Spangled Banner, currently undergoing conservation at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History; the Lewis and Clark Herbarium in Philadelphia; Harriet Tubman's home in Auburn, N.Y.; Taliesin, the home of Frank Lloyd Wright in Spring Green, Wis.; the Valley Forge, Pa., Revolutionary War winter encampment; the Old City Jail in Charleston, S.C.; Angel Island Immigration Station in the San Francisco Bay, Calif.; the prairie churches of North Dakota; Michigan lighthouses; the Lincoln and Soldiers' Home National Monument in Washington, D.C.; the Pullman factory and town in Chicago; and San Esteban del Rey mission at the Pueblo of Acoma, N.M., the oldest continuously inhabited community in America.
An illustrated index lists the hundreds of other official treasures that span every state in the union. The book also lists the leaders and supporters of Save America's Treasures, who have helped generate more than $52 million in public and private funds to augment $95 million in federal Save America's Treasures matching grants. Together they represent the most significant preservation effort in our history and will help ensure a brighter future for our past.
The National Geographic Society is the world's largest nonprofit scientific and educational organization. The 112-year-old Society reflects the world through magazines, books, maps, television and interactive media.
National Geographic magazine, the official journal of the Society, has a circulation of about 10 million and is read in every country in the world. The National Geographic Channel, a daily cable network, will launch in the United States in January 2001. Abroad, the Channel is received by 85 million subscribers, in 15 languages in 68 countries. The Society has funded more than 6,500 scientific research projects and supports an education program combating geographic illiteracy.
Save America's Treasures, a public-private initiative of the White House Millennium Council, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the National Park Service, dedicated to the celebration and preservation of our nation's threatened cultural treasures. In the past 2 years, the program has designated almost 700 official projects and generated more than $52 million in public and private resources, that augment $95 million in federal Save America's Treasures matching grants, to help address the country's unmet preservation needs. For more information, visit the Web site at www.saveamericastreasures.org
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting the irreplaceable. With more than a quarter million members nationwide, it provides leadership, education and advocacy to save America's diverse historic places and revitalize communities. For more information, visit the National Trust's Web site at www.nationaltrust.org
The White House Millennium Council was established in 1997 by President and Mrs. Clinton to encourage communities around the country to mark this historic occasion in meaningful and lasting ways that "Honor the Past and Imagine the Future." For more information, visit the Millennium Council's Web site at www.whitehouse.gov/Initiatives/Millennium.
The National Park Service administers 379 areas covering more than 83 million acres in 49 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands. Since its creation in 1916, employees of the National Park Service have worked to preserve and protect sites of natural and cultural significance. The diversity of the parks is reflected in the variety of titles given to them. These include such designations as national park, national preserve, national monument, national memorial, national historic site, national seashore and national battlefield. For more information about the National Park Service please visit Parknet on the Web at www.nps.gov.
