Lunchtime Speaker Series - National Trust for Historic Preservation

Advanced Theory/Case Studies Lunchtime Speaker Series
'Why Do Old Places Matter?'
Thompson Mayes
National Trust for Historic Preservation

Why do old places matter?  What difference do old places make in people’s lives?  In a series of essays, Tom Mayes explored some of the many reasons that old places matter to people, beginning with Continuity, Memory, Individual Identity, Civic Identity, and continuing with Beauty, History, Architecture, Sacredness, Creativity, and Sustainability.  The idea that old places are important to us is often a deeply held belief, but the reasons are not often articulated or expressed.  And the main reasons usually cited, history and architecture, may only achieve some of the more fundamental reasons as a secondary effect.  This exploration of why old places matter to people suggests directions for the future of preservation, of what we choose to preserve and how.

Tom Mayes is Deputy General Counsel for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and has specialized in both corporate and preservation law since he joined the National Trust in 1986.  He is the principal lawyer for legal matters relating to the National Trust’s 27 historic sites and for historic property real estate transactions. Mr. Mayes has expertise in architectural and technical preservation issues, collections management, preservation easements, the Americans with Disabilities Act and historic shipwrecks.  He is the author of many articles relating to, and has lectured widely on, the importance of old places, preservation easements, shipwreck protection, historic house museums, the Americans with Disabilities Act and preservation public policy. For many years, he taught historic preservation law at the University of Maryland Graduate Program in Historic Preservation. Mr. Mayes received his BA with honors in History in 1981 and his J.D. in 1985 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Mayes received an MA in writing from Johns Hopkins University.