Recovered newspaper manuscript submitted 2009-04-30. newspaper issue date is not recorded here. This Place Matters campaign events described here occurred in 2009.
May is National Preservation Month. The Natchitoches Preservation Network will once again celebrate by participating in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s “This Place Matters” social media campaign that will be taking place across the country.
In case you don’t remember, This Place Matters was designed by the Trust “to help people share the place that matters to them, wherever these places happen to be.” This is demonstrated by participants photographing or filming themselves holding a sign that says “This Place Matters” in front of sites that have personal and historical significance. NPN produced more than a dozen of these videos last year featuring places that matter in the Natchitoches area, including the Jewish Cemetery, Tante Huppe and Lee H. Nelson Hall.
A National Campaign for Local Places
Last year’s This Place Matters campaign was so successful that the National Trust is choosing to theme Preservation Month around it. If there’s a place that matters to you locally, and you’re willing to express the sentiment on camera, visit the forum area of www.natchitochespreservation.ning.com and choose an available date for filming your segment. I’ll take the video, edit it and post it to YouTube on the Preservation Network channel.
In case you haven’t heard of Preservation Month before, it was designed to raise awareness about the power historic preservation has to protect and enhance our homes, neighborhoods and communities. It originated in Preservation Week, which began in 1971 to spotlight grassroots preservation efforts in America. The event grew into an annual celebration observed by small towns and big cities with events ranging from architectural and historic tours and award ceremonies, to fundraisers, educational programs and heritage travel opportunities.
Due to its overwhelming popularity, in 2005 the National Trust for Historic Preservation extended the celebration to the entire month of May and declared it Preservation Month to provide an even longer opportunity to celebrate the diverse and unique heritage of our country’s cities and towns, and enables all of us to become involved in the growing preservation movement.
I hope you’ll take part and help Natchitoches become the crown jewel of this national campaign. From sign-up to filming, your time commitment will be no more than a half hour. And the promotional benefits for Natchitoches heritage will last for years.
What Remains
The National Trust for Historic Preservation continues to use This Place Matters, a campaign it began in 2008, to help communities call attention to meaningful or threatened historic places. For Preservation Month in May 2026, the Trust emphasized the sites and communities that help tell a fuller American story. The Natchitoches activity described in this 2009 column belongs to that longer effort to make preservation something residents can publicly claim and explain. This Place Matters campaign · Preservation Month 2026.
Updated October 2026
Supporting Documents & SourcesView related reporting & supporting materials
| Related article | Five Natchitoches Places That Matter |
|---|---|
| Related article | Preserving the Landscape of American Cemetery |
Article Catalog CardView the manuscript record, provenance & surviving materials
| Artifact | Original newspaper manuscript. |
|---|---|
| Source | Dated Natchitoches Times submission email. |
| Period | 2009-04-30. |
| Role | Hometown heritage columnist and community preservation communicator. |
| Status | Archival republication; newspaper issue copy not yet matched to manuscript. |
Critical Questions + Add to the Record
Application here: The campaign encouraged residents to name places important to them rather than allowing official designation alone to determine what deserves care.
Know something that adds context, documentation, correction, or firsthand knowledge to this record? Keep this page open and copy its URL into the contribution form.
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