PRESERVING HISTORY

[HostDave]

Exploring America with the American Queen Steamboat Company goes much deeper than the spectacular scenery, the smiling faces of locals, the extraordinary cuisine aboard the American Queen and the chance to taste a region’s culture in cafes, restaurants and diners ashore. Underlying the calm mist-filled mornings on the Mississippi and the sunny small town streets of the afternoon is the history of each town, each city, each state and each region through which we sail.

We announced a couple months ago that beginning in April 2014, we will begin offering voyages in the Pacific Northwest with our new addition, the American Empress. Those of you who remember your history classes will note that the indelible stamp of Lewis & Clark is found all along the Columbia and Snake Rivers and their pioneering spirit is woven into the fabric of everyday life.

Both the American Queen and American Empress, although built recently, honor the past in their design and period décor. As a company, the American Queen Steamboat Company has invested a lot of time and effort so that America’s history becomes an intrinsic part of a vacation with us, both on and off the riverboat. Our Riverlorians are our onboard historians, always able to answer a question or spin a tale about the past or present. While we have done much to make certain that we not only present the past with accuracy and honor, we also want to actively preserve it as well.

For those reasons, we have launched a partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. With our upcoming expansion into new sailing regions with the debut of the American Empress, we felt the timing was ideal.

As a key feature to the partnership, the American Queen Steamboat Company will make a corporate donation of five dollars to the National Trust for every river cruise booking as well as give guests the opportunity to match the donation.

Beginning June 30, 2013, American Queen travelers will have the opportunity to learn more about the National Trust’s National Treasure sites, located along the Mississippi River as well as the Pacific Northwest, where the American Empress will launch in April 2014. Special attention to preservation concepts and techniques, as well as the work of architects, historians and other professionals in the field of historic preservation will be highlighted onboard and onshore.

“We are proud to partner with the American Queen Steamboat Company and help bring America’s National Treasures to life,” Stephanie Meeks, president of the National Trust, told us. “These places along our great waterways present the diversity of our nation’s history and remind all of us of the importance of preserving the irreplaceable places that tell America’s stories.”

Through the partnership with the National Trust, American Queen Steamboat Company will become a contributing sponsor for four of the National Trust’s National Treasures: Mississippi Delta Heritage Area, Manhattan Project Historic Sites in Washington State, Willamette Falls Navigation Canal and Locks in Oregon and a future site to be named at a later date.

Thousands of guests onboard the American Queen have rediscovered the treasures the U.S. heartland has to offer over the past year and we are honored to play a role in the preservation of these sites with the National Trust and add new treasures for our guest experience as the American Empress sets sail in April 2014 on the majestic Columbia and Snake Rivers.

The National Trust’s National Treasures are irreplaceable, critically threatened places across the country where the National Trust for Historic Preservation makes a deep organizational investment. Guided by more than 60 years of experience, the organization takes direct action to protect these places and promote their history and significance, engaging local preservationists to help advance the cause of preservation nationally.

In the late 1940s, leaders of a fledgling American preservation movement recognized the need for a national organization to provide support and encouragement for grassroots preservation efforts. In response, a small group set to work on the establishment of a National Trust for Historic Preservation. Their efforts bore fruit when President Truman signed legislation creating the National Trust on October 26, 1949.

The founders envisioned an organization whose primary purpose would be the acquisition and administration of historic sites. True to this vision, in 1951 the Trust assumed responsibility for its first property: Woodlawn Plantation in northern Virginia. Twenty-seven other historic sites, ranging from the 18th-century Drayton Hall in South Carolina to the Glass House in Connecticut, have become National Trust Historic Sites in the years since.

Both the National Trust and the preservation movement entered a new phase with the 1966 passage of the National Historic Preservation Act. Among other important provisions, the Act provided federal funding support for the Trust’s work. After 30 years, this federal appropriation was terminated by mutual agreement. Today the Trust relies on private-sector contributions for support.

Outreach programs have continued to assume importance as the organization has grown. The Preservation Services Fund was created in 1969 to provide financial assistance to local preservation projects. The first field office opened in San Francisco in 1971. There are now 13 in 12 states and the District of Columbia.

Demonstration projects soon followed: the National Main Street Center, which emphasizes preservation as a tool for revitalizing traditional business districts, in 1980; Community Partners, which employs a similar approach in historic residential neighborhoods, in 1994. Other special programs were created to focus on rural preservation (1979), heritage tourism (1989) and statewide organization development (1994).

Complementing outreach, the Trust continued to emphasize education. Publication of a magazine (today called Preservation) began in 1952. The first Preservation Honor Awards, recognizing individuals, organizations and projects that represent the best in preservation, were presented in 1971. The Trust has championed the annual nationwide celebration of Preservation Week since 1973. The yearly list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, first issued in 1988, has become a highly effective means of spotlighting treasures in trouble and rallying efforts to save them.

In 2011, the National Trust announced a dynamic new program called National Treasures, through which the organization will identify significant threatened places across the United States, and take direct action to save them. National Treasures are part of a new and focused effort to bring more Americans into the preservation movement, and demonstrate the relevance of preserving the nation’s historic places.

Today, the National Trust has a staff of 300 employees based at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., in field offices nationwide, and at historic sites in 15 states. With 750,000 members and supporters, today’s National Trust has become the organization its founders envisioned: the vigorous leader of an expansive movement that is changing the face of America.
The American Queen Steamboat Company is proud to support the National Trust. As the leader in American river cruising, we understand that the appeal of a journey with us transcends many levels, and we encourage you to become actively involved in the efforts of the National Trust by visiting their website.