Learning the difference between antique and historically relevant
For many years, I have received telephone calls that begin, “Dr. Joiner I have a ‘XYZ thing’ that’s been in my family for years, and I think it’s an antique.”
For XYZ, you can substitute a variety of things from knickknacks to documents to textiles to document and even buildings. The question is an easy one to answer. If it’s old – at least 50-years-old – it’s an antique.
They quickly move to the next question, whether it’s historic. That’s harder to answer because I need to know the context of the thing and its relationship to the world around it, to people, places, things or events. I can’t always answer that easily because historians usually specialize in areas of expertise. To categorize something as “historic,” I often have to do research to place it in its context.
Inevitably, we get to the question that I sometimes think is the underlying one, “Is it worth anything?” Sometimes, the callers are like those people who go to the “Antiques Roadshow” dreaming that they may have a fortune in their hands. Often this is an easy question to answer, particularly if their object is something that is traded often. It’s easy to look up comparable values.
Once a gentleman brought me something to view, it was irregularly shaped, had rough beauty to it, and he had found it in his yard. He was quite impressed with it. I didn’t have to use my history eye, but I did travel back to my geology class in college and explained to him it was a rock, a nice rock but still a rock. Of course, when he asked if it was worth anything, I explained it was certainly attractive and would make a nice doorstop. Being old doesn’t make something historically significant.
I am grateful to “Antiques Roadshow” and to programs on Louisiana Public Broadcasting and The History Channel for bringing antiques and history into so many homes.
Many in America have no sense of history. They live in “The New World,” yet they save up their money to go see the beauty, culture and antiques in Europe. They marvel at the art, the objects, the culture, the buildings. Then they come home, buy mass-produced paintings from a catalog and tear down beautiful examples of American architecture to build a Mac-Mansion that will likely be torn down in 50 years or less to building another.
When the movie business came to Shreveport, the producers were thrilled to find so many old buildings with a variety of architectural styles.
These are buildings many of us have passed by for years and ignored. People sometimes ask me if a building is historic. Often, due to its age, it will be historic because it has a relationship to a neighborhood or culture in our community.
But it is historically significant. In other words, is there something about it that makes it special?
Booker T. Washington High School was built in the middle of the 20th century. It is historic due to its architecture and its role in the Civil Rights Movement. The building has just recently been added to the National Register.
The Line Avenue School is a great example of a historic building that has been tastefully preserved and repurposed. This is what I love to see, a building that has been preserved because it is significant to the community but that also has been given new life and purpose.
This is what happens when people who care about our community collaborate. It’s a great example of historic preservation and can entice young people to ask questions and learn more about the historic of our city.
Shreveport was years behind other cities in developing a historic preservation commission to help identify and work to preserve historically significant structures. Those who serve on this commission have taken on an obligation to history and the culture of our community. We owe them a word of thanks and our support.
As you drive around, take a look at the beauty of history and see the possibilities before us, the opportunities to protect the culture and heritage of this region. Combine some history tourism with some architectural tourism, some cultural tourism and our local cuisine, and you will see how history can contribute to our economy and create a sense of pride.
Learn more:
To learn more about the historic places in our region and the benefits attached to those who restore and preserve them, go to the website for the State of Louisiana’s Division of Historic Preservation. Check it out at: www.crt.state.la.us/cultural-development/historicpreservation/national-register/database/index.
Dr. Gary Joiner is the Leonard and Mary Anne Selber Professor of History at LSUS, where he is also director of the Red River Regional Studies Center. Questions for “The History Doctor” may be addressed to editor@ theforumnews.com.
