Remarks as Prepared for Delivery for
The Honorable Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior
National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers
February 27, 2007
The German novelist and Nobel laureate Thomas Mann once made an observation about history. “Very deep, very deep is the well of the past,” he said.
For many people – myself included – one of the enjoyable things to do in life is to go to this well and take a long drink of what is past.
This is not the study of history focused on remembering the names of famous people and the dates of battles and treaties. Rather, it is the inner experience of history. Of being transported back to a distant place and time. To meet the people who came before us. Not just the Napoleons and Frederick the Greats but those who lived and worked and married and raised children -- and, though their names are forgotten, often played a role in shaping the course of human events.
I had such an experience in December. I drove into the Maryland countryside just north of here -- to Sharpsburg for the annual Antietam Illumination Ceremony. Hundreds of volunteers light candles throughout the Antietam battlefield. Each candle represents one of the soldiers who fought and died in that great battle.
This battlefield has special significance to me. My great-grandfather, Private Charles Kempthorne, fought and was wounded at Antietam. When I became Secretary of the Interior, the historian at Antietam looked through the records and traced Private Kempthorne’s movements that bloody day in 1863.
Standing on that battlefield in December – surrounded by thousands of burning candles – I saw the place on the Miller Farm where my great-grandfather crouched at dawn with the Third Wisconsin Infantry waiting to rush into the inferno of battle. In my mind’s eye, I saw D. H. Hill’s Confederate Division charging his position and the carnage that ensued.
Across the battlefield, I saw the East Woods where later in the day the Third Wisconsin launched its own futile charge. I saw hundreds of young men – my great-grandfather included – charging up the slope towards the Dunker Church into a hail of cannon and musket fire. I wondered if I were standing near the spot where Private Kempthorne fell wounded.
There is a very deep, very deep well of history. I drank deeply of it that December evening.
This is the history that you are keeping alive. You are the keepers of the well.
Antietam, of course, is part of the National Park System. But history is all around us, not just in places we set aside as parks or think of as famous sites. In fact, I was surprised to learn that there are more archeological sites on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management than in the National Park System.
History does not always involve great events. History is the telling of a story. Every community in America has a story. Some of the best stories don’t make it into the history books.
As you may know, I once served as mayor of Boise. In Boise, we have an old theater at the intersection of Main and 7th Street. It was built in the 1920s by a man named Leo Falk, who owned an upscale department store downtown. Back then, downtown Boise had more than its share of rowdy bars, and Leo Falk was concerned that his upscale customers would be afraid or ashamed to come downtown to his store.
So he came up with an idea to build an elegant theater in the heart of Boise that would attract his customers. He hired a prominent architect, a man named Fritz Hummel, to design his theater.
About the same time, a British Egyptologist named Howard Carter discovered King Tut’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The discovery became an international sensation. The whole country was swept up into an Egyptian craze, including a lot of architects. Including Fritz Hummel.
That’s how Boise, Idaho ended up with a theater modeled after the tomb of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh.
Fritz Hummel did an outstanding job. The theater is decorated with winged scarabs, horses, warriors, hieroglyphics, and other Egyptian artwork as well as scenes from Egyptian history and mythology. It immediately became a prominent landmark in Boise. The famous actor Jimmy Stewart regularly played the organ at the theater while stationed at an Air Force base near Boise during World War II.
Unfortunately, the decades were not kind to the building, which came under the management of various theater operators. In fact, an interior decorator employed by a major movie company made plans to whitewash all the artwork in the theater. She was only stopped from this madness by the theater manager -- and his shotgun.
In the 1970s, the building was scheduled to be torn down as part of urban redevelopment. Fortunately, fate -- and the right people -- intervened. An organist played some noontime recitals attended by members of the Boise Junior League. The League’s high-society ladies promptly organized a campaign to save it from destruction.
At that time, a man with a heart for preservation named Earl Hardy came on the scene. He purchased the theater and undertook a major renovation, funded in part by an historic preservation grant.
When he died, his will created the Earl Hardy Foundation to continue to oversee the preservation and operation of the building, including another major renovation in the 1990s. As governor of Idaho, I was pleased to award the Earl Hardy Foundation a “Take Pride in Idaho” award for Outstanding Historic Preservation in 2003.
The story of Boise’s Egyptian Theater is a model of the work this administration is encouraging in communities across the country.
First Lady Laura Bush has been the driving force behind Preserve America, our initiative to help communities honor their heritage while promoting cultural tourism and economic development.
Given encouragement, we have found that many communities will rise to the challenge of telling the stories of the people who built America. In fact, we now have more than 450 Preserve America communities across the country. We’ve awarded 68 grants, totaling $5 million.
Projects supported by these grants showcase the diversity of America’s past.
We recently gave $100,000 to help develop musical, African American and agricultural heritage trails in the Arkansas Delta.
We awarded $95,000 to Beverly, West Virginia, for exhibits telling how the town coped with the Civil War and rapid industrialization of the late 19th Century.
We awarded $32,000 to Peeksville, New York, to provide interpretation at a little known but important Revolutionary War encampment overlooking the Hudson River.
The list goes on. These stories are the fabric of American history. Who we are as a people. How we got to where we are today.
This brings me to our latest initiative – the National Park Centennial Challenge.
I had the opportunity to visit Yellowstone last summer for the 90th Anniversary of the National Park System. While I was there, I announced that President Bush had instructed me to undertake the Centennial Challenge.
As part of the initiative, the President told me to establish specific performance goals for the next decade that, when achieved, will ensure our parks continue to be places where children and families can learn about our nation’s great history, enjoy quality time together and have fun outdoors. In particular, he directed me to identify signature projects and programs that reflect and highlight these goals.
The President made it clear that this would not be a typical Washington budget exercise but a partnership with all Americans who treasure our parks.
The goal is not to begin work in 2016 but to begin work now so that we can celebrate victory and a much enhanced National Park System in 2016.
I am pleased to report – as many of you have no doubt already heard – that the President has made the Centennial Challenge one of the priorities of his 2008 budget.
He increased overall operational funding for the national park service by a record $258 million. This includes $100 million a year over the next decade – or $1 billion – to improve both our park infrastructure and the experiences of people visiting the parks.
At the same time, the President proposed $100 million a year over the next decade – an additional $1 billion -- to provide matching funds for contributions made by Americans for projects to improve our parks and open the way for better visitor experiences.
Taken as a whole, the Centennial Challenge will provide at least $3 billion to enhance our national parks over the next decade.
As state historic preservation officers, you have long been our close partners in the work of preservation and historical interpretation. You will play a major role in the success of the challenge. We will work hand-in-hand with you to develop the partnerships needed to undertake projects at parks in your states and communities.
This is an exciting time to be involved in historic preservation. I want to convey to you, the keepers of Thomas Mann’s very deep well, that President Bush, Mrs. Bush and I are committed to the cause.
We will work with you to ensure that Americans young and old, born and yet unborn, will not only be able to learn the history of our country and our people, they will be able to experience it. They will be able to drink of it deeply – very deeply.