When my mother's acquaintances ask about my profession, she never says I'm a preservation advocate. I think she finds perverse glory in saying "she's an architectural historian." Inevitably, they'll reply, "oh really, but what does she do for a living?" She then repeats, grinning, "she's an architectural historian." I think she thinks the title sounds just professional enough to impress people who might have dismissed art history as a legitimate undergraduate major.

During the late 1980s, up until the mid-1990s, I spent a considerable amount of time in school trying to find a career that pulled together light science, studio art, being outside, travel, and justifiable trespassing. Ultimately I came to study architectural history and historic preservation. As an advocate, I don't spend much time using many of the skills I learned as a graduate student or as a titular architectural historian working in D.C. and Virginia. I do, however, talk to many students interested in the field, and people looking for a career change who really like old buildings.

Is this you or someone you know? If so, read on.

Preservationists come in different varieties, with different academic backgrounds, and greatly varied skill sets. The following is a list of the kinds of preservation work conducted in our area. Availability of preservation jobs and contracts varies greatly.

Restoration work: The field of architectural conservation is more hands-on than most work within the field of historic preservation, and requires training either in a professional program offering a BS or MS in preservation, or through an apprenticeship with an accredited firm. Depending on the kind of conservation work you're interested (if that's your bent), you may choose to travel abroad to learn more about repairing or reproducing stonework and more traditional architectural crafts. For the names of local specialists in the field of historic preservation, see Historic Seattle's Contractors List.

Architectural History: Field work in architectural history (my background) also involves some hand-on skills. Professional programs in architectural history are generally either a subset of an art history or a professional architecture program. I trained within an architecture school. Others in the field have received advanced degrees in historic preservation. Architectural historians working on preservation projects, or conducting field analyses for professional scholarship use a number of tools that aren't difficult, but take practice. These include: black and white photography, comprehensive knowledge of architectural styles and terminology, measured drawings, graduate level research skills, and a hard hat. Field work in architectural history can be dirty, somewhat dangerous work, especially when involving remote or structurally compromised resources.

Preservation Planning: Professionals in the field of preservation planning do a number of things to protect our built environment, but generally do so behind the scenes. Preservation planning work generally happens within governments, or is conducted by paid consultants depending on the nature of the project. Professionals in this line of work help create master plans for building projects that involve older buildings, intergrate preservation within more mainstream or general planning effort, or act as consultants to governments considering revisions to existing policies as relate to historic preservation.

Regulatory Preservation: Good for individuals with knowledge of or close interest in public policy, and for those who want to get to the root of good rules and regulations governing historic resources. Not good for people who need to be outside a lot. Preservationists working directly for government often administer landmarks or other regulatory preservation programs. They directly respond to questions from property owners and developers looking to landmark properties, or to other city departments whose role overlaps with historic resources, such as parks departments, general building administrations, departments of housing, and departments of economic development.

Unpaid regulatory preservationists include members of landmarks boards and historic commissions.

Preservation Program Administration: Non-regulatory governmental work that involves the preservation programs, such as King County's grant program, the regional office of the National Park Service that administers federal projects locally, are a few examples of preservation program administration. Generally, preservation program administrators are professionals in other areas of preservation - such as planning, architecture, archaeology, or architectural history - who are interested in reasonably steady work within government. Often, they interact with numerous local preservation groups, museums, organizations, and professionals. Individuals who enjoy helping others, who also have good management skills, are well suited for this area of preservation.

Preservation Architects: In the Seattle area, a number of architecture firms have experience rehabilitating historic buildings. No firm in our area is dedicated solely to architectural preservation work (at least none larger than one or two people). Sometimes the work of an architectural historian is absorbed within the work of an architect within one of these offices. Preservation architects tend to have some knowledge of preservation policies, especially the Secretary of Interior Standards for the Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings, federal tax credit programs, qualified local contractors, and local history. A list of local architecture firms with experience in preservation is provided on Historic Seattle's Preservation Architects List.

Academic Preservation and Education: Good for individuals who enjoy research, teaching, occasional walks (or crawls) through historic buildings, publishing/writing, and being a part of an academic/professional community. Professionals within this field may be architects, architectural historians, or planners who also teach or act as program directors for organizations dedicated to some aspect of preservation. Individuals looking to get more experience in this area may have to develop grant writing skills, or need to work within an organization that has a professional fund raiser/grant writer on staff. People best suited for this area who are not full time faculty members are flexible, juggle a number of projects or jobs simultaneously, and are passionate for their particular area of study or interest.

Preservation Advocates: Preservation advocates are often community activists (unpaid) or executive directors of organizations, institutions and agencies dedicated to some aspect of preservation including Historic Seattle, the Museum of History and Industry, and the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation are a few examples. Thankfully, Historic Seattle's governance saw the need for directed advocacy within our organization, and dedicated funding for my job here. I am one of only a few full time preservation advocates around the county. Preservation advocacy requires knowledge and analysis of public policy, strong writing and communication skills, constant monitoring of current events, press and public relations skills, knowledge of the general field of preservation and the preservation community, and a strong stomach. Not good for people who are easily offended.

Within the past several years, a steady stream of jobs in the field have become available locally and in the Western Washington region. Given recent governmental hiring freezes and downsizing, this trend may change slightly in the near future. Contractors with experience restoring older houses, and specialists in carpentry, brickwork and plaster repair seem to have weathered the downturn pretty well - helped in part by the Nisqually Earthquake.

For more information on careers in historic preservation locally, feel free to email, advocacy@historicseattle.org, or call at 206-622-6952 extension 226.

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