In 1968, the Whitehill Report on Public and Professional Education for Historic Preservation raised concerns about the lack of skilled tradespeople in historic preservation work. More than half a century later, Nicholas Redding may have a solution, thanks to his Campaign for Historic Crafts.
In November, the Maryland Department of Labor approved a first group learning program in historic trades for the state registry. The campaign-sponsored program sets standards that include on-the-job learning, related training and core competencies. Redding, who is president and CEO of Preservation Maryland, launched the campaign in 2019 to address a problem that has chronically threatened historic preservation efforts.
“No one raised their hand to take this on,” he recalls. ” says the Whitehill report [the United States] You need to record historic trades for learning, and people have been squirming for the last 50 years, but nobody would take the initiative.”
While the apprenticeship program directly benefits Preservation Maryland and its partners, Redding hopes to expand it nationally. “The [U.S.] The Department of Labor encouraged us to achieve this [apprenticeships] approved in Maryland first because the Maryland process is so thorough that it will make things easier on the federal side,” he says.
Redding wants to change the way the building industry looks at rehabilitation. In a 2022 report, the campaign noted that 40 percent of all buildings in the United States were constructed at least 50 years ago, making them potentially eligible for historic designation. The report estimates that historic restoration work creates 165,000 jobs each year, and 60% of those jobs require preservation skills. “We’re not a niche … There’s a huge need associated with this type of work,” Redding says, estimating that 10,000 workers trained in historical trades would need to be added each year to meet the needs of the workforce. work
Nicholas Redding
Photo courtesy of Preservation Maryland
Redding has worked in historic preservation since graduating from Shepherd University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and a minor in Historic Preservation. Since joining Preservation Maryland in 2014, he has helped the organization grow revenue by more than 520% and expand staff by 200%. He also successfully led state advocacy efforts to increase state investment in the Maryland Revitalization Tax Credit.
The campaign for historic businesses developed out of Redding’s relationship with the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center, based in Frederick, Maryland. The center provides historic preservation training for NPS in-house maintenance personnel, who are deployed in teams to work. at NPS facilities across the country. During the pandemic lockdowns, Redding worked with Moss Rudley, the superintendent of the training center, to lay the groundwork for what would become Maryland’s apprentice program. Redding and Rudley also put together curricula that can be adopted by trade schools to offer courses in historical trades.
Redding says he is committed to addressing chronic labor issues in historic trades nationally. “I’m not one to celebrate victories,” he says. “For me, it’s about ‘OK, what happens next?’ And that’s what drives me. We have a big task at hand,” he says.
The campaign has already gained national support. “Under Nick’s leadership, the campaign is leading the charge to ensure more people develop the skills needed to breathe new life into the nation’s oldest structures,” said Sara Bronin, chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, a independent federal agency.
