Heritage Documentation Programs

File:First national bank US with HABS border.jpg in Philadelphia]]

In 1933, the Historic American Buildings Survey was established following a proposal by Charles E. Peterson,{{Cite web |title=Historic American Buildings Survey: New Deal Web Guide (Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress) |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/newdeal/habs.html |access-date=2022-03-31 |website=www.loc.gov}} a young landscape architect in the National Park Service. Peterson proposed that the survey would be "Almost a complete resume of the builder's art."

{{cite web |title=The Historic American Buildings Survey. |url=https://home.nps.gov/subjects/heritagedocumentation/habs.htm |website=National Park Service website - About HABS|access-date=5 Jan 2025}}

Though it was founded as a temporary, "ten-weeks" constructive make-work program for architects, draftsmen, and photographers left jobless by the Great Depression, the Historic American Buildings Survey has endured to this day.

The program was later supported through the Historic Sites Act of 1935.{{cite web |title=The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) Born during the Great Depression, HABS is an essential research tool.|date=Jun 16, 2021 |url=https://www.oldhouseonline.com/house-tours/historic-american-buildings-sur/ |website=Old House Journal |access-date=9 July 2021}}{{cite book |last1=King |first1=Thomas F. |title=Cultural Resource: Law and Practice |date=2004 |publisher=Altamira Press |location=New York |page=20 |edition=2nd}}{{cite book |title=American Place: The Historic American Buildings Survey at Seventy-Five Years |date=2008 |publisher=National Park Service |isbn=9781484109205 |url=http://www.nps.gov/hdp/habs/AmericanPlace.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161210080543/https://www.nps.gov/hdp/habs/AmericanPlace.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 10, 2016 |access-date=9 July 2021}}{{cite book |last=Lindley |first=John |title=The Georgia catalog, Historic American Buildings Survey : a guide to the architecture of the state |year=1982 |publisher=University of Georgia Press |isbn=0-8203-0613-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/georgiacataloghi0000linl}}

Guided by field instructions from Washington, D.C., the first HABS recorders were tasked with documenting a representative sampling of the nation's architectural heritage.{{cite journal |last1=Lavoie |first1=Catherine C. |title=Architectural Plans and Visions: The Early HABS Program and Its Documentation of Vernacular Architecture |journal=Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture |date=2006 |volume=13 |issue=2 Special 25th Anniversary Issue (2006/2007) |pages=15–35 |jstor=20355381 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20355381 |access-date=9 July 2021}}

They began to document the built environment in the United States, carrying out multi-format surveys that has today amassed "more than 581,000 measured drawings, large-format photographs, written histories, and original field notes for more than 43,000 historic structures and sites dating from Pre-Columbian times to the twentieth century."

By creating an archive of historic architecture, HABS provided a database of primary source material and documentation for the then-fledgling historic preservation movement.{{cite news |last1=Kolson Hurley |first1=Amanda |title=HABS at 75 |url=https://www.architectmagazine.com/design/habs-at-75_o |access-date=9 July 2021 |work=Architect |date=December 9, 2008}} Peterson stated that the survey initially would, "...include public buildings, churches, residences, bridges, forts, barns, mills, shops, rural outbuildings, and any other kind of structure of which there are good specimens extant." The acting Chief of HABS, Catherine Lavoie stated in 2011 that HABS was, "Documenting the worthy and not just the wealthy.”

Earlier private projects that pre-dated HABS included Eleanor Raymond's Early Domestic Architecture of Pennsylvania (1931), Charles Morse Stotz's Western Pennsylvania Architectural Survey, and the White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs. Many of their contributors later joined the HABS program.

Notable HABS photographers included Jack Boucher, who worked for the project for over four decades,{{cite news |title=Jack E. Boucher, longtime National Park Service, dies at 80 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jack-e-boucher-longtime-national-park-service-photographer-dies-at-80/2012/09/13/f84323b4-fd01-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_story.html |access-date=9 May 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 13, 2012}}{{cite web |last1=Malvaney |first1=E.L. |title=HABS Photographer Jack Boucher (1931-2012) |date=September 12, 2012 |url=https://misspreservation.com/2012/09/12/habs-photographer-jack-boucher-1931-2012/ |website=Preservation in Mississippi |access-date=9 May 2021}}{{cite journal |last1=MANSHEIM |first1=GERALD |title=A Record in Detail: Architectural Photographs of Jack E. Boucher |journal=The Annals of Iowa |date=January 1991 |volume=50 |issue=7 |pages=829–831 |doi=10.17077/0003-4827.9527|doi-access=free }}

Robert W. Tebbs,{{cite web |title=The Historic American Buildings Survey in New Orleans Active Epoch(s): Initial Organized Efforts (1920–1937) |url=https://architecture.tulane.edu/preservation-project/entity/348 |website=Tulane University |access-date=9 July 2021}} Richard Koch,{{cite web |last1=McCollam |first1=Julie H. |title=Richard Koch |url=https://64parishes.org/entry/richard-koch |website=64parishes.org |publisher=Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities |access-date=30 June 2022}}{{cite web |title=Architectural Photographer Richard J. Levy, AIA, APA Exhibits "Historic American Buildings Survey – Library of Congress" |url=http://aialosangeles.businesscatalyst.com/home-page-latest-news/architectural-photographer-richard-j-levy-aia-apa-exhibits-historic-american-buildings-survey-librar |website=The Los Angeles Chapter of The American Institute of Architects |access-date=9 July 2021|date=May 7, 2012}} and Jet Lowe.{{cite web |title=Interview with Jet Lowe|date=16 February 2015 |url=https://bridgehunterschronicles.wordpress.com/2015/02/16/interview-with-jet-lowe/ |website=The Bridgehunter's Chronicles |access-date=9 July 2021}}

File:RFControlPanel2.jpg in Boulder, Colorado]]

The Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) program was founded on January 10, 1969, by NPS and the American Society of Civil Engineers. HAER documents historic sites, structures, mechanical, and engineering artifacts. The Maritime Administration works with HAER to "document historic vessels prior to their disposal."{{Cite web |title=Historic American Engineering Record Surveys {{!}} MARAD |url=https://www.maritime.dot.gov/history/vessels-maritime-administration/historic-american-engineering-record-surveys |access-date=2022-03-31 |website=maritime.dot.gov}}

Since the advent of HAER, the combined program is typically called "HABS/HAER". Eric DeLony headed HAER from 1987 to 2003.{{cite journal |last1=Witcher |first1=T. R. |title=History Lesson. Fifty Years of Preservation: Historic American Engineering Record |journal=Civil Engineering |date=2019 |volume=January |pages=40–43 |url=https://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/CE_Magazine/Home_Page/Content_Pieces/HL0119-compressed.pdf |access-date=9 July 2021}}

File:VIEW OF CEMETERY SECTION NAWS (NEW ADDITION WEST SIDE) AMONG THE EUCALYPTUS TREES. VIEW TO SOUTH. - San Francisco National Cemetery, 1 Lincoln Boulevard, San Francisco, San Francisco HALS CA-1-7.jpg in San Francisco]]

In October 2000, NPS and the American Society of Landscape Architects established a sister program, the Historic American Landscapes Survey, to systematically document historic American landscapes.{{cite web |title=Professional Practice Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) |url=https://www.asla.org/hals.aspx |website=The American Society of Landscape Architects |access-date=9 July 2021}}

A predecessor, the Historic American Landscape and Garden Project, recorded historic Massachusetts gardens between 1935 and 1940. That project was funded by the Works Progress Administration, but was administered by HABS, which supervised the collection of records.{{cite web |last1=Stevens |first1=Christopher |title=Paul Dolinsky – Four Decades of Preservation Through Documentation |date=June 11, 2019 |url=https://thefield.asla.org/2019/06/11/paul-dolinsky-four-decades-of-preservation-through-documentation/ |website=The Field |access-date=9 July 2021}}

In 2001, along with the Library of Congress, the NPS, and the American Society of Landscape Architects signed a Memorandum of Understanding which established a working relationship between the three organizations. Following the signing of this agreement, these organizations together signed the Tripartite Agreement in 2010, making "HALS a permanent federal program."{{Cite web|title=Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) {{!}} asla.org|url=https://www.asla.org/hals.aspx|access-date=2021-05-24|website=asla.org}}

The NPS deals with the planning and operations of HALS, standardizes the formats and develops the guidelines for recording landscapes.

The permanent collection of HABS/HAER/HALS are housed at the Library of Congress, the national library of the United States. Many images, drawings, and documents are available through the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog, including proposed, demolished, and existing structures; locales, projects, and designs. The HABS and HAER collections are among the largest and most heavily used in the division.{{cite web | title = Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey | publisher = Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress | url = https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/ | access-date = 2012-03-07}}

{{Portal|Modern history|United States}}

• Jack Boucher, former HABS/HAER photographer
• Eric DeLony, former chief of HAER
• Jet Lowe, former HAER photographer
• National Register of Historic Places

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category multi|Historic American Buildings Survey|Historic American Engineering Record|Historic American Landscapes Survey}}

• [https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/515.html Records of the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS)/Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) Division] Guide to Federal Records
• [https://www.nps.gov/subjects/heritagedocumentation/index.htm National Park Service (NPS): official Heritage Documentation Programs website]
• [https://www.loc.gov/collections/historic-american-buildings-landscapes-and-engineering-records Library of Congress HABS/HAER/HALS Collection]
• [https://schafphoto.typepad.com/habs_haer_hals-faq/ Photographer Stepen Schafer BLOG: Frequently Asked Questions about HABS, HAER and HALS website]
• [https://baug.net/ New England based Photographer Andrew Baugnet specializes in HABS/HAER photographic documentation]
• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) Collection at the University of Maryland Libraries

{{Authority control}}

Category:1933 establishments in the United States

Category:Architecture organizations based in the United States

Category:Historic American Engineering Record

Category:History of engineering

Category:Landscape design history of the United States

Category:National Park Service

Category:Online archives of the United States

Category:Photo archives in the United States

Category:Works Progress Administration