The National Historic Preservation Act at 50: “A Living Part of Our Community Life and Development”

In the introduction, National Trust Vice President and Senior Counsel Thompson Mayes lays out the historic context of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) by detailing President Johnson’s Great Society vision and outlining other ambitious legislation of the time. Mayes goes on to summarize 50 years of effective action achieved as a result of the NHPA but also to underscore the elements of the NHPA’s vision that have yet to be fulfilled, expressing hope for forward thinking and vision in the preservation movement over the next half-century.