For our fifth Queries & Theories webcast (hosted live on August 20, 2020), Carl Elefante, FAIA, FAPT, Principal Emeritus with Quinn Evans moderates as Brent Leggs, Executive Director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund with the National Trust for Historic Preservation & Nakita Reed, AIA, CPHC, LEED AP BD+C, NOMA, Senior Architect with Quinn Evans, explore race and preservation through the following questions:
What is historic preservation’s responsibility to contribute to anti-racism and social equity in America?
How can cultural importance and architectural integrity be balanced to minimize the exclusion of more diverse sites?
How are African American Action Fund sites expanding the types of stories brought to mainstream preservation?
What are additional methods of engagement that could be practiced to expand access to the preservation field?
Watch our Queries & Theories: Session 5, Race & Preservation webcast recording below.
Learn More About the Speakers
Brent Leggs is the Executive Director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. A Harvard University Loeb Fellow and Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Maryland’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, he co-authored the National Trust’s booklet, Preserving African American Historic Places.
Brent led efforts to create the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument and other successes, including Madam C. J. Walker’s Villa Lewaro estate; Philadelphia’s Joe Frazier’s Gym; Hinchliffe Stadium; the Nina Simone House, and more. He has established partnerships with foundations such as Ford, Mellon, Fund II, and JPB, and institutions such as the NMAAHC and the NEH. Brent advises HBCUs at Morgan State University and Howard University to ensure their future preservation.
Nakita Reed AIA, CPHC, LEED AP BD+C, NOMA is a senior architect with Quinn Evans, known for making high-impact contributions to designs, optimizing sustainability, life cycle value, and long-term building performance. She is focused on preserving and revitalizing historic buildings, and restoring them to new purpose and economic vitality while also incorporating cutting-edge sustainable strategies.
Nakita’s commitment to preservation and sustainable design is reflected in her many professional and community volunteer activities. She serves on numerous non-profit boards and is a gubernatorial appointee and chair of the Maryland Green Building Council.
Carl Elefante FAIA, FAPT is Quinn Evans Principal Emeritus. The former president of the AIA, he is a longtime champion of sustainable design and stewardship and a pioneer in design concepts for historic and environmental preservation.
