Abstract
This paper examines the processes through which notions of heritage confer historic significance upon places—particularly young sites and structures. Using data drawn from observations of public meetings, media accounts, planning documents and interviews with key activists, I show how a forty-year-old equestrian showground in Santa Barbara, California was defended using claims of history and heritage common to historic preservation struggles. The case suggests that the conceptual fluidity of heritage allows actors to attach its powerful meanings to sites that are not particularly old. Conclusions also discuss the role of ritual in forging links between heritage and place, and the viability of heritage claims in varying locales and for groups of differing statuses.
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Notes
These events are similar in kind to the commemorations and pageants held in Monterey, California, beginning in the 1920s. There “Pilgrimage Week” events celebrated diverse elements of the city’s heritage, including the vaqueros of the Californio past and the city’s fishing industry (see Walton, 2002).
A second summer celebration, the annual Solstice Parade and associated musical and performance events, draws a more bohemian crowd. In a way, the two celebrations represent two sides of Santa Barbara, one conservative, Republican, and wedded to tradition; the other left-leaning, new-age, and prone to pushing boundaries.
Based on comments by George Sanchez in his presentation “Fighting for Latino spaces in the city of Los Angeles” at the conference Acts of reconstruction: Museums, theme parks, city centers, Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, University of California, Santa Barbara, February 1998.
The details of the redevelopment controversies are complex, and a comprehensive account of both sides’ machinations distracts from the emphasis of this paper. For a detailed account of the redevelopment conflict see Paulsen, 2000.
Arabian horses are often used in Western riding, which includes rodeo riding. The English style typically involves smaller horses, and includes jumping and dressage.
Among their strategies, the Friends agreed to contact “prospective endorsers” who might write to the DAA in support of restoring the equestrian facility. Parties to be contacted for such endorsements included the Rancheros Visitadores, groups associated with Fiesta, local elected officials (including those with personal ties to the equestrian community, such as Assemblyman Brooks Firestone), and Santa Ynez Valley resident Nancy Reagan (Friends to Restore Earl Warren Showgrounds 1998, p. 1).
Traub (2005) conveys some of the tensions associated with preserving Modernist architecture in an article for New York Times Magazine, wherein a variety of modernist preservation efforts are detailed.
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Acknowledgments
An earlier draft of this paper was presented for the panel “Competing Histories and the Sociology of Place” at the First Biannual Conference, Urban History Association, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania September 26–28, 2002. I thank Robin Bachin and Anthony Orum for their helpful comments on that paper, Japonica Brown-Saracino for her comments on a subsequent draft, and the anonymous reviewers at Qualitative Sociology for their insight and direction. Brandi Miller provided valuable editing assistance.
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Krista E. Paulsen is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of North Florida. Her research examines the production and reproduction of place and culture. She is particularly interested in contexts where the two combine, and has studied the development of local culture in small cities and regional fairs and festivals. Her current work explores how the marketing strategies of residential developers contribute to cultural understandings of home and neighborhood.
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Paulsen, K.E. Strategy and Sentiment: Mobilizing Heritage in Defense of Place. Qual Sociol 30, 1–19 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-006-9051-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-006-9051-8