Paternalism and Preservation: Curating Charleston’s Peninsula with Heritage and Policy

"Paternalism and Preservation: Curating Charleston’s Peninsula with Heritage and Policy" explores the early twentieth-century origins of historic preservation and its influence on Charleston’s built environment. The research investigates the entanglement of preservation with racial segregation, New Deal developments, and economic conditions in Charleston. The study analyzes the influence of elite white female Charlestonians and City of Charleston officials in implementing preservation policies based on paternalistic ideals linked to race. It also examines the unique definition of paternalism in Charleston within the context of history and preservation policies. The research and sources investigate the transformation of preservation from a nostalgic and philanthropic endeavor depicting a specific antebellum version of Charleston into a tool for discrimination. It also explores the 1931 preservation zoning ordinance, passed during the Great Depression, which protected the Old and Historic District from New Deal land development policies, allowing preservation to control new construction and maintain a curated nostalgic portrayal of the city. By analyzing these circumstances, the research sheds light on Charleston’s intersection of architecture, culture, and politics on the peninsula. It explains how historic buildings serve as architectural symbols of heritage and carriers of historical, social, and political narratives, contributing to Charleston’s collective history. The result provides valuable insight into the multifaceted nature of historic preservation and its enduring impact on the urban landscape of Charleston’s peninsula.