History Begins At Home Remember - 1917 Words

History Begins at Home Remember. Upon hearing this word, a weathered widow thumbs a tarnished locket resting in the hollow of her throat. A wistful child nestles a tattered teddy bear into his chest. A shellshocked veteran flicks open the blade of a corroded Swiss Army Knife. Every life is a story composed of memories— of recollections enhanced by physical objects that evoke fervent feelings of these moments. Because of this, any thing can mean something to anyone, regardless of its surface value or outward appearance. This stirs up quite a bit of controversy in the world of conservation. Most will concur that historic preservation is about more than simply maintaining bricks and mortar. The practice acknowledges that built history serves†¦show more content†¦But vernacular buildings are not exactly places that coincide with the popular definition of what is worth saving. Yet, upon closer inspection, it is these haggard monuments to the toils of previous proletariats that hold the most poig nant stories of the past. Take Pine Street Historic District in Montclair, New Jersey for example. It is filled with â€Å"vernacular single-family homes and masonry apartment buildings but appears to be nothing more than a run-down ghetto in need of extensive renovation. The more pressing concern is that its preservation impedes the development of Montclair Connection, a proposed 1,200-foot train track that would shorten the commute of thousands of employees who work in Manhattan. But these houses they would so readily see demolished convey the story of the caretakers, gardeners and maintenance people who tended to Montclair’s more ostentatious estates (Galant). Just because the homes in the district are not grand does not mean that they do not hold cultural significance. Every place has its secret history, its hidden accounts of desire and diversity. Imagine the gardener’s daughter meeting up with the son of the landed gentry on her back porch to engage in a c landestine affair under the summer stars. The past is told the way people choose to remember it. And who is to say that the previous bourgeoisie should fade into oblivion simply because they