Tulane professor helps secure New Orleans’ place on ‘Irreplaceable America’ list

The city of New Orleans has been named one of 10 sites on the World Monuments Fund's inaugural "Irreplaceable America" list, a national initiative recognizing places where preservation is essential to understanding the richness and complexity of American history.

New Orleans is the only entire city included on the list, which was created in conjunction with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Others that made the list include Dallas City Hall in Texas, the African Meeting House in Boston and Watts Towers in Los Angeles.

The New Orleans nomination was co-led by Heather Veneziano, program director for historic preservation and professor of practice in historic preservation in Tulane University's School of Architecture and Built Environment, in collaboration with the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans, the Louisiana Landmarks Society, the Ella Project and the Water Collaborative.

"New Orleans' cultural identity is rooted in place," Veneziano said. "By investing in communities, historic buildings, infrastructure and traditional skills, the city can help residents remain, shape their own futures and sustain the traditions that make New Orleans irreplaceable."

Founded in 1718, New Orleans has long served as a crossroads of African, Caribbean, European and Indigenous influences. Its historic neighborhoods - including the French Quarter, Tremé, Marigny, Central City and the Seventh Ward - contain some of the nation's most distinctive examples of vernacular architecture, including its iconic shotgun houses, while supporting cultural traditions that have influenced American music, cuisine, art and public life for generations.

"PRC initiated this nomination with our partners because New Orleans itself is irreplaceable - its historic neighborhoods, architecture, culture and people form a living city unlike anywhere else in the country," said Kristin Gisleson Palmer, executive director of the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans. "At the same time, climate change, flooding, aging infrastructure, displacement, population decline and rising costs are putting that heritage under urgent pressure. This recognition gives all of us a national platform to call attention to the critical issues that must be addressed if New Orleans is to remain New Orleans, and why we must act now."

The nomination submitted to World Monuments Fund emphasizes the need for climate adaptation, preservation research and community-based strategies to help protect the city's historic neighborhoods and cultural heritage.

New Orleans can offer a powerful model for how coastal cities protect not only their physical fabric, but the living identity of cultural landscapes, Veneziano said.

"What makes New Orleans irreplaceable is that so much of what the world loves about this city was born not in monumental spaces, but in modest homes and neighborhoods where people gathered, celebrated, created and cared for one another," said Annie Irvin, interim director of Louisiana Landmarks Society. "If we want New Orleans to remain authentic, we must preserve not only its buildings, but also the communities whose daily lives and traditions continue to give those places meaning."

Over the coming year, representatives from the 10 Irreplaceable America sites will participate in discussions and exchanges focused on preservation advocacy, research, technical expertise and community engagement.

World Monuments Fund describes Irreplaceable America as a special initiative recognizing places across the country where preservation is vital to understanding American history and identity.

"The United States was built by people from every corner of the globe, shaped by Indigenous nations, early settlers, immigrant communities, and generations of cultural exchange," said Bénédicte de Montlaur, president and CEO of World Monuments Fund. "That complexity gave rise to some of America's most enduring contributions, from colonial heritage to jazz and hip-hop and the Wright brothers' invention of powered flight.

"After decades of work at more than 700 sites in 112 countries, WMF has seen what communities gain when they can protect the places that matter and what is lost when they cannot," de Montlaur said. "As the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, Irreplaceable America is a call to protect the places that reflect the richness of that history, and the role heritage plays in education, community memory and civic life."