Category: Season 3

June 1, 2023

Season 3, Episode 13

Valuing the Vernacular in Beaufort, SC

When Emily Varley arrived in Beaufort, SC for a summer internship, she had no idea she’d make a discovery that would change the course of her studies at USC. Her research for the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park led her to a boarded-up Freedman’s cottage associated with both Daniel Simmons, a Black soldier for the Union in the Civil War, and Edith Stokes, a Black woman who lived there for nearly 60 years. Edith’s granddaughter Annie Mae Stokes was born in the house and shared stories with Emily about everyday life there. Will those stories be part of the park’s Reconstruction-based interpretation? Emily talks with co-host Trudi Sandmeier about her summer and her thesis, Reconstruction Right Now: Conserving Vernacular Heritage in Beaufort, South Carolina as an Act of Reconstructing Preservation Practice.

May 11, 2023

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Season 3, Episode 12

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Allensworth: The Past and Future of a Black Agrarian Utopia

Allensworth is a tiny town with a big history—and its residents are grappling with some very big issues. The only town in California founded and governed by African Americans, the Central Valley farming community was free of oppression and full of opportunity. It also faced more than its share of obstacles. Residents have been fighting to save it for decades, from working to restore the long-neglected cemetery to lobbying for the town center to become a state historic park.

They’re still fighting—this time to restore the land itself, flooded by the historic storms of spring 2023 and headed for much worse as the Sierra snowpack melts. USC landscape architecture professor Alison Hirsch created a class to work with residents on aspects of Allensworth’s community plan including the cemetery, regenerative farming, and ecotourism. Hear from Professor Hirsch, students Luis Mota and Nina Weithorn, residents Sherry Hunter and Denise Kadara, and park docent Emmett Harden about Allensworth’s rich history and remarkable community.

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April 20, 2023

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Season 3, Episode 11

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Mysteries of Modernism at Schindler’s Buck House

One of the many great things about Los Angeles is its unrivaled legacy of modern residential architecture. Students in @peytonhall’s Materials Conservation class got to do their case study at the John J. Buck House (1934-35) by R. M. Schindler, one of the legendary architects who defined Southern California modernism. We got to tag along on a site visit and talk with Peyton, students Sam Malnati and Julie Dinkin, and owner Jocelyn Gibbs.

The house is in great shape but has changed over time—even Jocelyn, an architectural historian, says it’s full of mysteries. Buck did an original concept, and Schindler (who often made changes during construction) redesigned it. Buck added Art Deco touches inside, so Schindler didn’t want the interiors published in his lifetime. Subsequent owners also altered the house and the grounds.

To unravel some of the mysteries, Peyton’s students documented the Buck House down to the Bakelite doorknobs, analyzed it inside and out to identify original elements and alterations, and suggested approaches to restoring the property (if anyone ever wanted to).

March 9, 2023

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Season 3, Episode 9

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Legacy Businesses in Immigrant Neighborhoods

Small businesses provide much more than goods and services. Over time, they become neighborhood anchors and a key source of culture and community—especially for new Americans.

Heritage conservationists are increasingly turning to legacy business programs as economic development strategies to combat rising rents, gentrification, and the erosion of community character, particularly in ethnic and immigrant neighborhoods. In this episode, producer Willa Seidenberg talks with recent USC graduate Xiaoling Fang about her thesis, Legacy Business Program Implementation in American Urban Immigrant Neighborhoods.

Xiaoling explored some of the longstanding small businesses in L.A.’s Chinatown and Little Tokyo neighborhoods, and how legacy business programs, like the ones recently adopted in Los Angeles, can be used as a tool to help culturally significant and beloved businesses survive.

Listen below, and click here for the transcript.

February 10, 2023

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Season 3, Episode 8

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Reinvesting in a Rosenwald School

What happens when a community takes its educational future into its own hands? Funded by local advocates and a generous grant from the Rosenwald Fund, the Allen-White School served the African American community in Whiteville, Tennessee from 1920 until 1974. With thousands of graduates, the school helped shape the lives of multiple generations.

Now, despite a 2012 arson attack, the alumni are working to restore the school buildings to once again serve the community. USC alumna and Tennessee native Brannon Smithwick dug into the stories of this influential school and the efforts to conserve it in her recent thesis Educating Generations: The Legacy and Future of the Allen-White School Campus, A Rosenwald School in Whiteville, Tennessee. Through copious archival research and oral history interviews, Brannon learned firsthand the impact that one place can make.

January 27, 2023

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Season 3, Episode 7

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Bearing Witness: World War II “Comfort Women” Stations

Warning: This episode features the difficult topic of sexual slavery during World War II.

Producer Willa Seidenberg talks with recent graduate Hanyu Chen about her thesis, “Our Bodies, Their Battlegrounds”: The Conservation of Comfort Stations in China. Before and during World War II, the Japanese Imperial Army forced women and girls into sexual slavery for the military in its occupied territories. Their captors called them “comfort women” and their prisons “comfort stations.” Two of the few remaining former comfort stations are in Hanyu’s hometown.

In this episode, Hanyu discusses how the “comfort women” system developed, why these crimes took so long to reach the public eye, and why conserving the few former stations is critical to reclaiming these women’s stories.

January 5, 2023

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Season 3, Episode 6

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[Encore] Preserving That Signature Sound

In case you missed it, we are re-releasing an episode from our first season, chosen by our Save As intern, Emily Kwok. It’s an Emily’s Pick!

Have you ever considered sound a character-defining feature? Musician and recent USC grad Kasey Viso Conley certainly has. She knows why Nat King Cole, Janis Joplin, Van Halen, and countless other recording artists insisted on using specific studios to get a certain sound. It’s the physical environment of the studio, from acoustic tiles to echo chambers. Yet the transformation of recording technology has studios closing left and right. Why save these places when you can simulate their sounds at home with a digital plugin? How do you preserve pegboard that’s no longer made? Hear how Kasey explored these issues and many more in her thesis, Acoustic Heritage of Recording Studios: Physical Characteristics and Signature Sound.

December 22, 2022

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Season 3, Episode 5

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[Encore] Fictional History: Recognizing TV and Film Locations

In case you missed it, we’re re-releasing an episode from last season, chosen by our Save As intern, Emily Kwok. It’s an Emily’s Pick!

Should the Brady Bunch House be in the National Register of Historic Places? Why not? asks alum Jonathan Kaplan. In his master’s thesis, the TV writer-turned-heritage conservationist makes a case for designating sites specifically for their use in movies and TV shows. Along with literary precedent dating back to Chaucer, Jonathan cites the deep meaning and shared cultural experiences these places create. If a place inspires meaning, does it matter where that meaning comes from? Does reality matter in these fact-fluid times? Join us for a fascinating conversation that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

December 1, 2022

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Season 3, Episode 4

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Is Deconstruction a Dirty Word?

How can taking a building apart possibly relate to heritage conservation? Join us in the Upside Down for a chat with architect and alum Guadalupe Flores about his thesis, Deconstruction: A Tool for Sustainable Conservation. When a building can’t be saved, reusing the materials makes perfect sense. The concept of deconstruction certainly isn’t new. But how do we make the case for it in a disposable society—and make sure it’s used only as a last resort?

November 10, 2022

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Season 3, Episode 3

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The Postwar L.A. of Gin Wong

Chinese American architect Gin D. Wong, FAIA (1922-2017) defined what it means to achieve the American dream. He immigrated from China as a boy and went on to have a 60-year career as a successful architect in Los Angeles. He played a key role in the design of post-World War II L.A., with projects including LAX, CBS Television City, and the iconic Union 76 gas station in Beverly Hills. In this episode, new alum Nirali Sheth discusses her thesis, A Silent Legacy: The Influence of Gin D. Wong’s Work on the Los Angeles Built Environment. She talks with co-host Cindy Olnick about Wong’s life and work, how credit can elude architects in big corporate firms, and how she researched her subject without access to his archive.