Texas State to host seminar on historic preservation

The Public History Program at Texas State University-San Marcos and the Texas Historical Commission will co-host a two-day symposium on historic preservation Jan. 14-15 on the Texas State campus. 

The symposium, “Preservation and the Balanced Community,” will draw more than 130 city planners, city managers, historic district committees, planning and zoning committees from throughout Texas to learn about the technical aspects of the historic preservation of communities.   Students and faculty in Texas State’s master’s degree program in public history will also attend. Registration for the symposium, which begins at 9 a.m. Jan. 14 in Taylor-Murphy Hall, is full.

San Marcos Mayor Susan Narvaiz will open the symposium by addressing the state of historical preservation in San Marcos. Lynn Denton, director of Texas State’s Public History Program, will welcome the attendees. Texas State History Department Chair Dr. Frank de la Teja will give the keynote address on the importance of local history, using San Antonio as the example, to reach the "new" Texans of the 21st century. The San Marcos Main Street Program will offer a guided walking tour of downtown San Marcos, followed by an evening reception hosted by the LBJ Museum of San Marcos.

Also, between 6 and 8 a.m. on Jan. 14, Austin’s News 8 channel will broadcast live interviews from Taylor-Murphy Hall with Denton and de la Teja as well as preservation officials from San Marcos and the Texas Historical Commission.

“It is a fine honor to co-host this important symposium with the Texas Historical Commission and to have so many historic preservation officials from Texas communities on our campus,” Denton said. She added that the symposium will provide a unique learning and networking opportunity for students in the public history program. The program prepares students for careers in archives, museums, historical interpretation, historic site management, cultural resource management, and historic preservation. It also provides practicing public historians with the opportunity to upgrade their skills and knowledge of the theoretical and methodological approaches that are shaping the discipline. More information is available at http://www.txstate.edu/history/phcert.htm.

The Texas Historical Commission was established in 1953 as the state agency for historic preservation. THC staff consults with citizens and organizations to preserve Texas’ architectural, archaeological, and cultural landmarks and to save the places that tell the stories of Texas. The agency is recognized nationally for its preservation programs. More information is available at www.thc.state.tx.us.