Wisconsin Historic Preservation and Archaeology Month
Planning Guide
What activities can your organization plan for Historic Preservationand Archaeology Month?
Wisconsin's Historic Preservation and Archaeology Month offers limitless possibilities for celebrating your community's historic landmarks. It also gives you a structure for activities that will increase your organization's visibility to your membership, constituents, or the community at large. You may already be planning activities that will take place during Historic Preservation Month, such as an annual awards presentation, a historic marker or plaque dedication, or possibly a walking tour of a historic neighborhood. These annual events can be incorporated into an overall Historic Preservation and Archaeology Month celebration in your community, or stand alone as your Wisconsin Historic Preservation and Archaeology Month activity. As such, the events will be placed in the comprehensive Historic Preservation Month calendar, and will be promoted throughout the state. Here are some ideas for you and your group to consider.
Awards
Sponsor an awards program to honor outstanding historic preservation efforts in your community. Invite the media and local officials to attend the awards ceremony.
Walking tour
Create a self-guided walking tour brochure for residents and visitors of your community's favorite historic district, mound group or archaeological site.
Historic building owner workshops
Sponsor a "how to" workshop on rehabilitating older properties. Team up with local and state preservation experts for training and hands-on techniques.
Fund-raising
Kick off a fund-raising project to benefit your community's favorite historic preservation project.
Historic markers & plaques dedication
Sponsor a dedication ceremony for a new historic marker or plaque.
Lectures/Symposium
Host a lecture or symposium on a historic or archaeological topic.
Progressive dinner party
Plan a progressive buffet dinner party in historic homes or in appropriate historic sites in your community. Arrange for each host and hostess to offer a different course. To cover costs, sell tickets through your civic clubs and in markets and local shops.
A night in a historic theatre
Sponsor vintage films in a local historic theatre as a fund-raiser or to highlight the beauty of a rare historic interior.
Have your village board, common council pass a historic preservation resolution
Contact a local government official about sponsoring a historic preservation resolution to be adopted by the village board or common council. For examples, check the National Trust for Historic Preservation Web site or call the Society at (608) 264-6493.
House genealogy
Knowing the history of a particular building can infuse its residents with a strong appreciation for their neighborhood. Organize a workshop to teach people how to research a building's history through available documents and research materials.
Open House
Open your laboratory, historic home, or historic site to the public for a day or weekend.
Preservation/Restoration
Clean up a local cemetery.
Write an op-ed piece
"Op-Ed" is a newspaper's abbreviation for "opposite the editorial page," and it is fast becoming a standard feature of newspapers. The page usually carries columns, letters to the editor, cartoons and locally written opinion articles. Check with the page's editor several weeks in advance about writing an article describing the relationship between preservation and the community's "sense of place."
For More Ideas
Check out the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Preservation Month Web site.
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