Date of Award
5-2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Legacy Department
Historic Preservation
Committee Member
Dr. Barry Stiefel, Committee Chair
Committee Member
Dr. R. Grant Gilmore III
Committee Member
Dr. Carter L. Hudgins
Committee Member
Harlan Greene
Abstract
The National Register of Historic Places recognizes properties that are significant for their: A) association with events that have made a significant contribution to broad patterns of history; B) association with people significant in the history of the United States; C) architecture or craftsmanship that embodies distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction and represents the work of a master, or that reflects a significant entity whose components lack individual distinction; and D) ability to yield information important to history or prehistory. In 2016, the National Park Service's LGBTQ Heritage Initiative revealed that only ten sites were listed on the National Register or designated as National Historic Landmarks for their association to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) historical events and people. None of these sites were located in the south. This thesis identifies and assesses the impediments to listing LGBTQ sites on the National Register of Historic Places to determine if the National Register nomination process was preventing LGBTQ related sites from being listed on the National Register. The identified challenges for listing LGBTQ sites on the National Register included: the National Park Service's instruction to only utilize verifiable factual information in the Narrative Statement of Significance; the fifty-year preference; the emphasis on architecture in the National Register nomination form; the Area of Significance Data Category section; and the assessment of historic integrity at sites. Despite the obstacles, the National Register nomination process was determined to not be preventing LGBTQ sites from being listed on the National Register, but only a few sites are recognized on the National Register.
Recommended Citation
Mattern, Kymberly Natasha, "Outing the National Register: Including Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Sites on the National Register of Historic Places" (2017). All Theses. 2655.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/2655