Representation of Nebraskan Women in the National Register of Historic Places

Kaitlan Wong Author

04/04/2021 Added

13 Plays

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This is a brief overview of my study on the representation of Nebraskan women in the National Register of Historic Places. This research was done alongside History Nebraska.

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[00:00:02.120]Hello, my name is Kaitlan Wong,
[00:00:03.840]and I am going to talk about my study
[00:00:05.980]on the Representation of Nebraskan Women
[00:00:08.760]in the National Register of Historic Places.
[00:00:14.300]So a little bit of background on my research.
[00:00:17.420]So the National Register of Historic Places is a list
[00:00:20.420]of historic places that tell the stories
[00:00:22.460]of the people and events
[00:00:23.640]that form America's collective identity.
[00:00:25.940]This prestigious list is also one
[00:00:27.840]of the most valuable tools individuals and communities have
[00:00:31.200]to encourage the preservation of important historic places.
[00:00:35.310]There are currently over 1,000 Nebraskan properties
[00:00:38.170]listed in the National Register.
[00:00:41.290]Benefits of being listed on the National Register
[00:00:43.750]include eligibility for federal and historic tax credits
[00:00:46.960]that apply to rehabilitation projects
[00:00:49.410]as well as recognition for being a significant piece
[00:00:51.800]of local, state, or national history,
[00:00:54.020]which promotes community pride in a local identity.
[00:00:58.080]For my research, I worked alongside History Nebraska,
[00:01:01.260]previously known as the Nebraska State Historical Society.
[00:01:04.520]Their mission is to collect, preserve,
[00:01:06.550]and open to all the histories we share.
[00:01:10.170]So onto the purpose of my study.
[00:01:12.700]The purpose of this study is to examine
[00:01:14.760]and better understand the representation
[00:01:16.870]of influential Nebraskan women
[00:01:18.750]in the National Register of Historic Places.
[00:01:21.790]Throughout history, women,
[00:01:23.120]especially women of color have been marginalized
[00:01:25.460]and have been left out of larger historical narratives.
[00:01:28.810]Women are also underrepresented
[00:01:30.600]in the field of architecture.
[00:01:32.270]Through researching properties in Nebraska
[00:01:34.210]that are listed in the National Register,
[00:01:36.230]I hoped to assess how well women are being represented.
[00:01:40.950]This research will hopefully provide information useful
[00:01:44.580]to History Nebraska in diversifying and expanding properties
[00:01:48.180]on the National Register.
[00:01:49.730]There is reason to believe that women are underrepresented
[00:01:52.620]by the properties that are currently listed.
[00:01:55.260]Traditional historical narratives have failed
[00:01:57.090]to represent women and the voices of women of color
[00:01:59.990]have been further silenced throughout history.
[00:02:02.130]According to the National Women's History Museum,
[00:02:04.590]the experiences of women are not well incorporated
[00:02:07.000]into state history standards.
[00:02:09.090]Paying recognition to the historical contributions of women
[00:02:12.140]is important in preserving their stories.
[00:02:14.400]We cannot hope to have a clear picture of history
[00:02:17.000]without the experiences and stories of women.
[00:02:19.580]There is potential that this study will lead
[00:02:21.380]to the discovery of more properties that could be nominated
[00:02:24.240]to be on the National Register.
[00:02:26.020]Overall, including more properties that are a significant
[00:02:28.730]because of women will promote the stories
[00:02:30.830]and legacy of women.
[00:02:33.060]I had four main research questions.
[00:02:36.210]My first question was how many historical properties
[00:02:39.450]listed on the National Register in Nebraska
[00:02:41.710]were designed by women.
[00:02:44.200]My next question was how many historical properties
[00:02:46.870]listed on the National Register in Nebraska
[00:02:48.890]were built by women?
[00:02:51.160]My third question was how many historical properties
[00:02:54.040]listed on the National Register in Nebraska
[00:02:56.620]are historically significant because of a woman or women.
[00:03:00.800]And finally, my last question was how can we use
[00:03:03.580]the data collected to further the goals of History Nebraska?
[00:03:08.120]So onto my methods.
[00:03:09.860]I used History Nebraska's database
[00:03:11.850]of Nebraskan properties listed in the National Register
[00:03:14.840]to conduct this study.
[00:03:17.020]In total, there were 1,185 places in Nebraska
[00:03:20.950]listed in the National Register.
[00:03:24.100]I aimed to identify three main criteria for each property.
[00:03:28.870]First, I identified whether the property
[00:03:30.750]was designed by a woman.
[00:03:33.700]Next, I identified whether the property
[00:03:35.680]was built by a woman.
[00:03:37.400]Properties listed as being designed
[00:03:39.110]or built by an organization were coded as not available.
[00:03:42.520]Properties listed as having unknown architects
[00:03:45.100]or builders were also coded as not available.
[00:03:48.490]Finally, identified whether the property was named
[00:03:51.010]after a woman or women.
[00:03:52.660]Properties named after a woman were coded as yes.
[00:03:55.490]Properties named after men or non-humans were coded as no.
[00:03:59.270]And properties named after both a man and woman were coded
[00:04:02.370]as being partially named after a woman.
[00:04:06.580]Onto my results.
[00:04:08.070]So I found that 42% of the properties were designed by men
[00:04:11.970]and 58% of the properties were coded as not available
[00:04:15.450]or we couldn't determine
[00:04:17.230]if they were in fact designed by women.
[00:04:20.340]28% of the properties were built by men
[00:04:23.100]and 72% were coded as not available.
[00:04:26.170]And this was largely because many properties
[00:04:28.390]listed the builders as being a construction company.
[00:04:32.960]Finally, 1.6% of the properties were named after women.
[00:04:37.150]And 1% were partially named after a woman.
[00:04:40.920]So onto my conclusion and future directions for this study.
[00:04:45.160]So my findings indicate that there is much work to be done
[00:04:48.850]in regard to gender representation
[00:04:50.610]in the National Register of Historic Places.
[00:04:53.700]There were many limitations to my study.
[00:04:56.330]One such limitation was that my criteria
[00:04:58.610]was limiting in itself.
[00:05:00.000]Just looking at the architect builder
[00:05:01.850]and name of a property is very surface level
[00:05:04.530]and is not necessarily indicative of whether a property
[00:05:07.160]is significant because of women.
[00:05:09.500]Looking for other types of criteria would have been useful,
[00:05:11.980]but I was limited by the time constraints
[00:05:13.790]as I had to individually analyze over 1,000 properties.
[00:05:18.180]Furthermore, the contributions of women
[00:05:19.940]have historically been stolen and erased.
[00:05:22.170]So using a surface-based level
[00:05:23.580]of analysis was not super effective.
[00:05:27.650]My methods were also problematic in that I used
[00:05:29.890]the black and white approach in regards to gender.
[00:05:32.370]Gender is not binary and non-binary
[00:05:34.760]and gender nonconforming people are also marginalized.
[00:05:38.490]So it would have been beneficial to take this into account.
[00:05:41.350]And it's also impossible to know for sure
[00:05:43.210]the gender identity of every architect and builder
[00:05:45.860]especially ones that lived hundreds of years ago.
[00:05:49.870]I have a few recommendations
[00:05:51.250]for future research and future action.
[00:05:53.510]First, I would recommend the History Nebraska
[00:05:56.390]actively seek out properties that tell the stories of women,
[00:05:59.570]especially women of color.
[00:06:02.810]I would also recommend future studies
[00:06:04.710]to go deeper than looking at architects, builders,
[00:06:06.970]and names of properties.
[00:06:08.350]This will allow for more reliable and useful findings.
[00:06:13.100]Finally, I would like to acknowledge my advisors,
[00:06:15.490]Jessica Tebo and David Calease
[00:06:17.600]as well as the staff at History Nebraska.
[00:06:20.120]They made this research possible.
[00:06:22.100]Thank you for watching my presentation.

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Representation of Nebraskan Women in the National Register of Historic Places

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