Who’s Who in Preservation Across the Country
Learn more about the preservation organizations that work regionally and nationally.
The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) promotes the preservation, enhancement, and sustainable use of the nation’s diverse historic resources, and advises the President and Congress on national historic preservation policy.
The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that makes an important and lasting contribution to the American landscape by preserving sites of African-American activism, achievement, and resilience.
The Alliance of National Heritage Areas (ANHA) is a membership organization that represents 49 National Heritage Areas (NHAs) across the United States. ANHA promotes partnerships between NHAs, emerging heritage areas, and other organizations that support heritage development. ANHA also helps the National Park Service extend the heritage area approach as part of the National Park System.
The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) helps history organizations serve their local communities by connecting them to cutting-edge innovations happening in the history field and examples of basic historical work, done exceptionally, in new ways.
Asian & Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation (APIAHiP) is dedicated to protecting historic places and cultural resources significant to Asian and Pacific Islander Americans through historic preservation and heritage conservation by:
- creating an information-sharing network that can provide support for established and emerging historic preservation programs;
- establishing educational programs for raising public awareness and impacting historic preservation policy on local, state, and national levels; and,
- increasing public and private resources that enable “historic preservation” and “heritage conservation” practices to meaningfully include educational and community development activities that preserve, conserve, and protect tangible and intangible historic and cultural resources.
Black in Historic Preservation is a community, platform, and resource by and for Black Preservationists + Heritage Conservationists.
The mission of the Campaign for Historic Trades is to expand and strengthen careers in the historic trades. The Campaign focuses on the skills needed to maintain, preserve, restore, rehabilitate, reconstruct, and deconstruct historic structures.
The Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology (CNEHA) is dedicated to archaeological scholarship in the American Northeast. CNEHA encourages and advances the collection, preservation, and dissemination of knowledge derived from the practice of archaeology on historic sites. CNEHA is concerned with the entire historic time period from the beginnings of European exploration in the New World to the recent past.
Eastern State Archaeological Federation (ESAF) provides a forum for the exchange of archeological information among archeologists and state archeological societies. ESAF fosters international cooperation and information exchange within the archeological community, as well as supporting public outreach, education, and participation.
HistoriCorps provides volunteers of all skill levels with hands-on experience preserving historic structures on public lands across America. Volunteers work with HistoriCorps field staff to learn preservation skills and put those skills to work saving historic places that have fallen into disrepair. HistoriCorps works to ensure America’s cultural and historical resources exist for generations to come.
Latinos in Heritage Conservation (LHC) is a diverse network of intergenerational advocates conserving Latinx sites and living cultures in the fabric of American society, affirming the value of Latinx history in the hemispheric struggle for social justice.
The National Alliance for Preservation Commissions (NAPC) helps build strong local preservation programs and leaders through education, training, and advocacy.
The National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (NATHPO) is a non-profit membership organization of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs) that supports and encourages Tribal historic preservation programs. They provide guidance to preservation officials, elected representatives, and the public about national historic preservation legislation, policies, and regulations. They promote Tribal sovereignty, develop partnerships, and advocate for Tribes in governmental activities on preservation and funding issues.
The National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites advocates for historic sites that center the preservation and interpretation of the important role of women and gender non-conforming individuals as core to the American story.
The NCSHPO is the professional association of the State government officials who carry out the national historic preservation program as delegates of the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (NHPA) (16 USC 470).
The National Park Service (NPS) preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The National Park Service’s Technical Preservation Services unit develops historic preservation Standards and guidance on preserving and rehabilitating historic buildings, administers the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program for rehabilitating historic buildings, and sets the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) is a privately funded non-profit that works to save America’s historic sites; tell the full American story; build stronger communities; and invest in preservation’s future.
The National Preservation Partners Network (NPPN) advances the growth and effectiveness of the organized preservation movement through communication, education, training, and a common advocacy agenda. NPPN is a membership-based, independent association of non-profit organizations from across the United States and Territories working in the broad field of historic preservation and heritage conservation.
The National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE) is a non-profit educational organization. NCPE offers resources to people in the Historic Preservation field, such as:
- Information on academic programs around the country;
- A clearinghouse for career and internship opportunities to current students; and,
- Providing grants and a syllabus bank to faculty members.
Preservation Action (PA), a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization, is the national grassroots lobby for historic preservation. PA seeks to make historic preservation a national priority by advocating to all branches of the federal government for sound preservation policy and programs through a grassroots constituency empowered with information and training and through direct contact with elected representatives.
The Preservation Trades Network (PTN) is a membership organization founded to provide education, networking, and outreach for the traditional building trades.
The Rainbow Heritage Network (RHN) is a national organization for the recognition and preservation of sites, history, and heritage associated with sexual and gender minorities in the United States. This includes, but is not limited to, those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ).
The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) is dedicated to research about and interpretation and protection of the archaeological heritage of the Americas. SAA represents professional and avocational archaeologists, archaeology students in colleges and universities, and archaeologists working at Tribal agencies, museums, government agencies, and the private sector.
The Society of Black Archaeologists advocates to ensure proper treatment of African and African Diaspora material culture, promote more people of African descent to enter the field of archaeology, ensure community collaborations, raise, and address concerns related to African peoples worldwide, and highlight the past and present achievements and contributions people of African descent have made to the field of archaeology.
The Association for Preservation Technology International’s (APT) mission is to advance appropriate traditional and new technologies to care for, protect, and promote the longevity of the built environment and to cultivate the exchange of knowledge throughout the international community.
The U.S. National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS-USA) promotes the conservation of world heritage and stronger connections to the global heritage community through advocacy, education, and the international exchange of people and ideas. ICOMOS-USA is part of the worldwide ICOMOS network of people, institutions, government agencies, and private corporations who support the conservation of the world’s heritage.
The Vernacular Architecture Forum (VAF) is the premier organization in North America studying and promoting ordinary (vernacular) buildings and landscapes. VAF is an interdisciplinary organization composed of scholars from many fields, including history, architectural history, geography, anthropology, sociology, landscape history, historic preservation, and material culture studies.
World Heritage USA supports and advances the work of ICOMOS-USA to promote the conservation of the world’s cultural and natural heritage and stronger connections to the global heritage communities through advocacy, education, and the international exchange of people, expertise, and ideas.