Preservation is Climate Action

Responding to the existential challenges posed by a changing climate will necessitate a range of preservation approaches, tailored to the specific issues and needs of places experiencing these impacts. There is no one-size-fits all solution, but by highlighting the issues facing these three historic places, we hope to shine a light on the urgent need to think creatively about responding proactively to these critical challenges.

Olivewood Cemetery was incorporated in 1875 and is one of the oldest-known platted African American cemeteries within Houston city limits, containing more than 4,000 burials on its 7.5-acre site. It is a Texas Historic Cemetery and UNESCO Site of Memory for the Slave Route Project. 

The cemetery is the final resting place for many of the early leaders and founding members of Houston’s African American community. The cemetery includes burials of around 500 people who were alive on June 19, 1865, the very first Juneteenth. This is the generation of Black leaders who lived through emancipation and Reconstruction and helped to build Houston’s free Black community including schools, parks, and cemeteries like Olivewood.  

Olivewood also contains burials of persons who were born in Africa and were brought enslaved to this country and includes rare examples of graves that illustrate unique African American burial practices developed in pre-emancipation Black communities, including upright pipes as grave features, the use of ocean shells as grave ornaments, and upside-down or inverted text. This is a rare example of a Congo belief system where backwards or upside-down lettering was used as a metaphor for the entry into the next world. 

Over time, changing demographics and increased development led to the cemetery’s decline and abandonment. Decades of neglect, vandalism, uncontrolled invasive vegetation, and the occasional use of the cemetery as an illegal dumping ground took their toll. This misuse and destruction of historic African American cemeteries such as Olivewood often has a profound and destabilizing effect on the communities that brought them into existence. 

Olivewood Cemetery, partially located within a floodplain, also faces the persistent threat of increased flooding due to climate change. Historic gravesites are being damaged and lost due to unprecedented precipitation events. The site was under more than 10 feet of water after Hurricane Harvey in 2017, and four mature trees were toppled during Hurricane Nicholas in 2021. 

The impacts from rainfall and poor drainage are compounded by stormwater runoff from surrounding and upstream development which causes greater volumes of water to move at higher speeds through the bayou adjacent to the cemetery. The severe erosion caused by this runoff has left human remains exposed or washed away and caused burial monuments and objects to be disassociated from their original position. These effects are especially seen in the northern part of the property which used to contain the original channel of the White Oak Bayau before it was channelized and concrete-reinforced in the 1960s. 

The Descendants of Olivewood, a volunteer nonprofit created in 2003 by members who have ancestors buried in Olivewood Cemetery, have been working diligently to clear the cemetery of foliage and provide regular maintenance and care. Prior to their involvement, the cemetery had become overgrown and difficult to access. 

The Descendants of Olivewood continue to need volunteers to help with projects in grounds maintenance, historical research, oral history documentation, wildlife identification, surveying, and fundraising. Through past volunteer efforts, the cemetery is in better condition than it has been in decades, but the ongoing impact of water and flooding continues to severely impact the cemetery. 

Engineering. Based on a drainage and restoration planning study conducted by Terracon in 2022, stormwater runoff onto the property is expected to decrease by 46% due to nearby redevelopment directing all stormwater into city infrastructure instead of adjacent properties. 

However, due to the property’s location within a floodplain, there is still major concern about bank overflow, soil saturation and continued erosion. Any inundation, even temporary, is not conducive to gravesite preservation. The report recommends a low-impact, prioritized restoration plan focusing on encouraging native vegetation, improving localized drainage, and stabilizing soil. An archeological investigation to identify and inventory gravesites is also recommended prior to taking any action. 

Policy. Like Olivewood Cemetery, African American burial grounds across the nation have suffered from a state of disrepair or are inaccessible, and many remain undocumented. The African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act (H.R. 6805/S. 3667), introduced in 2022, represents a bipartisan approach to preserving these sacred places and providing vital assistance. The legislation, among other things, would authorize the National Park Service to establish a $3 million grant program, in coordination and collaboration with governmental, private, and non-profit partners, to aid efforts across the country to research, identify, document, preserve, and interpret historic African American burial grounds. 

Hands-On Assistance and Partnerships. National Trust programs AACHAF (African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund) and HOPE (Hands on Preservation Experience) Crew held a volunteer project in Olivewood to help clean and repair headstones. HOPE Crew plans to continue assisting Olivewood through a project partnership with Prairie View College in the coming years. 

America is a nation of immigrants and Little Havana is Miami’s Ellis Island—a place where generations of people have launched their American journey.

An internationally recognized symbol of the role of immigrants in the American story, Little Havana remains a thriving, healthy and culturally rich urban neighborhood.

Developed as a residential suburb in the early 20th century, Little Havana was once a center for Miami’s Jewish Community. In the 1960s it quickly became home of the Cuban exile community and by 1970 it was 85 percent Cuban. More recently it has attracted immigrants from Central and South America as well as the Caribbean.

Despite Little Havana’s significant place in our national story, the neighborhood faces a range of threats, including development pressure, demolition of historic buildings, displacement of existing residents, and other changes that could impact its affordability, cultural richness, and character.

Little Havana’s relatively high ground, affordable land prices, and proximity to downtown have begun attracting large-scale, expensive new development. Demolition, displacement, and gentrification are growing concerns.

A symbol of the immigrant experience and the American melting pot, Little Havana’s scale and character is threatened by a lack of protection for its many historic buildings. 

A recent planning effort involving more than 3,000 community members resulted in a comprehensive neighborhood Master Plan called “Little Havana: Me Importa.”

This Master Plan envisions a positive future for Little Havana that retains the neighborhood’s character, diversity, and affordability.

In addition to consultants and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, local organizations involved in the planning effort include the Dade Heritage Trust and Live Healthy Little Havana.

The Little Havana: Me Importa Master Plan includes strategies to retain Little Havana’s identity, improve multi-modal mobility, add greenspace and parks, and empower local organizations. Conservation of Little Havana’s older buildings, rather than demolishing and replacing them, is a key element of the Master Plan.

Re-using and retrofitting older buildings in Little Havana will help to retain the economic and social diversity of the neighborhood and avoid the carbon emissions that occur when new structures are replaced.

New local incentives are needed, including grants for rehabilitation and energy retrofitting, as well as a state historic tax credit.

Better zoning is needed to encourage new construction that adds to the existing fabric of the neighborhood, rather than erasing it. A National Trust study found that infill development on vacant land and underused parking lots in Little Havana could accommodate 10,000 new residents and 550 new businesses without demolishing a single existing building.

Funding is needed to support community-led efforts to acquire and develop older buildings to create permanently affordable housing and space for local businesses.

The National Mall Tidal Basin is an iconic public landscape. Part of the National Mall, the Tidal Basin includes some of our most renowned national monuments: ● The Jefferson Memorial, which reflects America’s earliest American ideals ● The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, which demonstrates our country’s resilience ● The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, which highlights the struggle for civil rights we continue to face today

The flowering cherry trees that encircle the Basin represent America’s friendship with Japan. The trees are featured at Washington’s Cherry Blossom Festival, which attracts more than 1.5 million annual visitors.

The Tidal Basin also holds lesser-known treasures like the John Paul Jones Memorial, the Floral Library, the Japanese Pagoda, and the Japanese Lantern.

The need for the Tidal Basin arose out of a disastrous flood in 1881, which devastated the southern part of Washington, DC. In 1887, engineers installed gates at the entrance and exit of a newly formed pond (now the Tidal Basin).

At high tide, the gates open and fill the pond with water. At low tide, the water exits into the Washington Channel, and the rush of water is designed to sweep the leftover sediment away. The Tidal Basin also uses a pumping system to keep the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial full of water.

The Tidal Basin is approximately 10 feet deep.

Rising sea levels and as much as $500 million in deferred maintenance threaten this 107-acre historic landscape.

Each day at high tide, water floods the sidewalks surrounding the Tidal Basin, making them impassable for visitors and compromising the roots of the cherry trees. During inclement weather, conditions are even worse; the edge of the sidewalk is indistinguishable from the deeper waters in the basin.

This flooding is expected to grow more severe in coming years as sea level rise causes increasingly high tides.

Safety challenges, substandard visitor facilities, and inadequate interpretation also threaten the Tidal Basin. These challenges are compounded by chronic annual underfunding of the National Park Service (NPS) maintenance budget.

The Tidal Basin is part of the National Mall, which receives 35 million visitors per year.

In addition to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, partners in the effort to address threats to the Tidal Basin include the Trust for the National Mall, The National Park Service, and Skidmore Owings and Merrill architects.

Development of a comprehensive masterplan that addresses the many overlapping challenges at the Tidal Basin.

Consideration of alternative, creative approaches as developed through the Ideas Lab. The flooding at the Tidal Basin is “an opportunity to posit new ways of thinking about ecology, social space, narratives, and experiences, pushing forward our understanding of what memorials and public landscapes can be.”

Advocacy to secure additional federal funding to complete work on the seawall as well as other repairs.

National Trust for Historic Preservation Workshop Presenters  Kate Lenzer, Senior GIS Project Manager   Jim Lindberg, Senior Policy Director   Ed Whitaker, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications 

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