Navigating Heritage: Charting a Course to Narrative Equity

Guest speaker Tristram Evans, MAHP ’23, will speak about his proposal for a recalibrated heritage framework: one that centers individual narratives and elevates the importance of a landscape approach to heritage; that considers the built environment as a component element thereof, rather than the be-all and end-all of our work; and which demands that we constantly question existing interpretations of places within the context of their contemporary needs. He will talk about his proposed guidelines to assist the heritage practitioner in the cultivation of narrative equity.

Tristram is an architectural historian and preservation consultant based in Huntsville, Alabama. Throughout his career he has leveraged a passion for equity to ensure that the full American story is being told in heritage places. He maintains that only through a more robust and accurate representation of its heritage kaleidoscope can a place's identity fully be recognized, understood and managed.