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Originally published in the Historic Nantucket Vol. 45, No. 2, Fall 1996, p. 145-146

Preservation Institute: Nantucket
A Model Preservation Program
By Patty Jo Rice

The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) was created during the Great Depression as a means of creating work for unemployed architects and draftsmen. Its purpose was to identify and document buildings representative of America's past. The program was recognized as worthwhile and continued in operation after the end of the depression under the National Park Service and the American Institute of Architects.

When HABS revamped its program in the late 1950s, the decision was made to have a summer-based program that employed college professors. F. Blair Reeves, a professor at the University of Florida, applied to HABS and, by chance, was sent to Nantucket. Reeves applied the following summer and, again by chance, was returned to Nantucket. He eventually made arrangements with HABS whereby students from the University of Florida would accompany him and comprise the documentary team. Over time, Reeves became acquainted with Walter Beinecke and became an enthusiastic supporter of Beinecke's efforts to preserve the downtown area of Nantucket. In turn, Beinecke became a strong supporter of Reeves's efforts on behalf of HABS to document representative structures on island. Eventually, the two decided to establish a program of their own and ensure the continued documentation of island resources.

The buildings selected by HABS for documentation were designed to illustrate the overall flavor of the island. When Beinecke and Reeves established the Preservation Institute: Nantucket (PI:N) in 1972, one of their goals was to fill in the record to include "modest cottages on small lanes and back roads." Under Reeves's direction, PI:N's program and the University of Florida became recognized for their emphasis on documentation. Reeves's underlying philosophy was that although lectures and participants may change, the documentary record would not. PI:N was advertised nationally and attracted a wide variety of participants. Each year Reeves worked to ensure that participant groups included a wide range of both universities and backgrounds. He sought to integrate the participant group into the Nantucket community and carefully selected projects that would serve a community purpose as well as an academic one. Rather than concentrate on "landmark" buildings, documentation efforts centered on structures that were "typically Nantucket."

The program directors who followed Blair Reeves have maintained his philosophy and goals while adding their own. Ron Haase's projects emphasized how individual buildings can provide a sense of community. Susan Tate also looked at Nantucket's sense of community while adding a number of Greek Revival buildings to the record. Projects under Tate's direction often centered on the advent and realization of this "high style" on Nantucket. Studies ranged from carpenter details to grand buildings. Tate was the recipient of funding for research projects and won national awards for her studies on the Coffin School and Hadwen House. She also introduced the development of Historic Structures Reports to the PI:N program. Recently, under Herschel Shepard's direction, emphasis has been placed on the narrative record as a necessary accompaniment to the graphic record. Building Analysis Reports and Historic Structures Reports have gained recognition and have become an important part of the PI:N record. This parallels the development and recognition of the Lowell Cultural Resource Center, noted as the National Park Service's preeminent agency for the production of this type of record.

Recent PI:N projects have included neighborhood studies of Academy Lane and in Siasconset; individual residences such as the Paddock-Yerkes House at 13 India and William Andrews House at 22 Hussey; studies of adaptive use at the India House, Wood Box Inn, and James Barker Gallery; town churches including St. Paul's Episcopal and the Methodist Church; the Coffin School, Sherburne Hall, the Atheneum, the Wharf Rats Club, the Old Mill, and Hadwen House.

The growth of the Preservation Institute: Nantucket and the Nantucket Historical Association is closely interrelated. The association, along with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, aided in the founding and development of PI:N. Over the years, the institute's continued relationship with the NHA has led to the completion of a number of academic exercises centered on NHA properties. They have included graphic documentation of sites and structures, building-analysis reports, and historic-structures reports. With the completion of this past summer's project at Greater Light, PI:N students have successfully documented many of the NHA properties. In addition, the NHA remains a repository for PI:N records. Each year, the originals of work produced are forwarded to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., with copies kept in both the Edouard Stackpole Library and Research Center and the University of Florida library. In addition, outside of the Library of Congress, the Edouard Stackpole Library and Research Center is the only repository of both the HABS and PI:N record on Nantucket, making the NHA's library a primary resource for the serious scholar as well as the interested layman.

The number of participants attending the Preservation Institute: Nantucket is limited to fifteen per year. Despite this, many key players in the national preservation community are PI:N graduates, including several who have served or are now serving as state historic preservation officers throughout the nation. In addition, the submission of PI:N projects to the Library of Congress has resulted in its archives housing more information on Nantucket than on any other community in the United States.