Charles E. Peterson

Charles Emil Peterson (1906–2004) is widely considered to be a seminal figure in professionalizing the practice of historic preservation in the United States. He is referred to as the "founding father" of the professional advocation of historic preservation, the "godfather of preservation," and an "extraordinary preservationist" who made important contributions to the knowledge of early American building practices, helped create the profession of the preservation architect, and passionately advocated for the retention and restoration of the American built heritage. According to Jacques Dalibard, a professor at McGill University School of Architecture, "with James Marston Fitch, I cannot think of two people who had more influence on historic preservation in North America."

During his long career, Peterson received numerous awards for his service including the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award (1966) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) medal for "vision and determination" (1979) and the Presidential Citation (1990). The AIA inducted him into the College of Fellows in 1962.

Peterson was raised in Madison, Minnesota, and received his bachelor's degree in architecture in the early 1920s from the University of Minnesota. In 1929, he began a thirty-three year tenure with the National Park Service. In 1931, his efforts were instrumental in saving the Moore House, the site of the British surrender, in Yorktown, Virginia. While documenting this building, Peterson created the prototype for the historic structure report, the basic format of which is still in use.

Peterson is perhaps best remembered for establishing the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), a federal documentation program that is still active and which has spawned the Historic American Engineering Record and the Historic American Landscape Survey. On November 13, 1933, while he was the Chief of the Eastern Division for the National Park Service, Peterson wrote a memo to the director which became the charter for the program and successfully garnered funds from the Civil Works Administration the following month. HABS targeted unemployed architects, draftsmen, and photographers to make as complete a record as possible of "the rapidly disappearing examples of early architecture and historic structures throughout the country." This program was credited as "the first major step upon the part of the Federal Government toward the cataloging and preservation of historic structures." The first HABS survey work began in January 1934 and later that year was formalized as a joint agreement with the American Institute of Architects and the Library of Congress. The HABS program has continued nearly unabated to the present.

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