Cultural Heritage Initiatives
The ScoutSA program works to develop innovative treatments to identify and protect culturally significant properties and intangible heritage. San Antonio is not alone in dealing with these issues, so we work with policymakers, heritage professionals, academics, community organizations, neighborhood advocates, and activists to develop tools and strategies that help better manage cultural heritage and sustainable development while promoting our living heritage to benefit the community, bolster resilient communities, and ensure a thriving future.
Cultural heritage initiatives include the development of cultural context statements, cultural heritage districts, and efforts to form connections between intangible heritage and the built environment.
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Item description
In 2022, the Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) launched a project to preserve San Antonio’s African American heritage. This project includes developing an African American Cultural Context Statement and conducting a survey of historic resources. The project identifies significant places, events, and people, as well as intangible heritage, including foods, songs, dances, festivals, and spirituality. Community engagement is essential to this project, contributing to cultural mapping exercises and oral history interviews. The work has resulted in educational exhibits and designations to preserve and promote African American heritage including:
Black and African American Cultural Context Statement
The graphic novel, "A Home, A Church, and a Hospital: The Development of East San Antonio"
The exhibition, “Go Together”
National Register nominations
Surveys of underrepresented communities
Educational materials
Various forms of commemoration
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A cultural context statement is a document that provides the framework for evaluating properties for historic significance. It includes information based on cultural themes which describe broad patterns of community development and identifies specific resource types such as buildings, structures, sites, objects and/or districts that represent those development patterns.
The Office of Historic Preservation has developed a Strategic Plan for the creation of context statements representing San Antonio’s diverse ethnic groups and cultural themes.
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Cultural Heritage recognition is an endorsement of noteworthy sites, structures, objects, businesses and the living heritage—the expressions, traditions, knowledge, skills, identity and representations— that impart a distinct aspect to the city and serve as tangible and intangible reminders of the city's culture and heritage. The intent is to build awareness and knowledge of San Antonio’s living heritage. The recognition is designed for neighborhoods, corridors, individual buildings, sites, objects and elements of social heritage that hold historic or cultural value to the community beyond architectural value. Cultural Heritage recognition is an honorific title endorsed by the Historic and Design Review Commission (HDRC) upon recommendation from the Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) staff. There is no design review process for Cultural Heritage Districts or Cultural Heritage Buildings.
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The Office of Historic Preservation’s Legacy Business Program is a direct result of the Living Heritage Symposium. Part of the Action Plan developed at the 2017 Living Heritage Symposium, The San Antonio Legacy Business program pay tribute to legendary businesses located in San Antonio. The program acknowledges the contributions businesses have made to the city’s culture and economy and aims to champion the continued success of legacy businesses through promotional and educational support.
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The San Antonio Living Heritage Symposium is a collaborative forum bringing international and local heritage professionals, policy-makers, grassroots preservationists and academics together for an exchange of ideas leading to the development of best practices for safeguarding cultural heritage.
The Living Heritage Action Plan is created through consensus and input from attendees of the San Antonio Living Heritage Symposium. After hearing presentations from invited speakers, everyone who attends the symposium works together in a World Café format to develop recommendations. Read the Action Plans from the 2017-2019 symposiums.
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