2021 Annual Meeting & Conference                        Thursday - Saturday, October 21-23

Session 1:  Sewers, Peaches, and Malls: Unique Cultural Resources

Chair: Michael Emmons, Assistant Director, Center for Historic Architecture and Design and PDI Vice President

New Jersey’s Brick Sewer Infrastructure as a Historic Resource (Anu Khandal, Christina Servetnick, Cregg Madrigal, and Elizabeth Davis, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection)
History of the Peach in Delaware (Tyler Osborne, Delaware State Parks)
Shopping at an American Icon: Independence Mall and the Rise of Early American Commercial Buildings (Catherine Morrissey, Center for Historic Architecture and Design)

Session 2:  Recognizing Black Historical Sites in Delaware

Chair: Dr. Cheryl Renée Gooch, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, SUNY Schenectady and PDI Board Member

More to Uncover: Using the NPS Network to Freedom to Help Reveal Delaware's Missing Stories (Robin L. Krawitz, National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program, National Park Service)
History of New Calvary Baptist Church (Rev. Dr. Vincent Oliver and Edythe Pridgen, New Calvary Baptist Church)

Session 3:  Delaware’s Historic Sites: Current Efforts in Preservation

Chair: Wade Catts, President and Principal, South River Heritage Consulting and PDI Board Member

Newark Union Church & Cemetery - Polishing a Historic Gem of Brandywine Hundred (Anne Daly and Cindy Davis, Newark Union Corporation) 
The John A. Brown Mansion: A Community-Based Approach to Preservation  (Vince Watchorn, Brown Mansion Task Force) 

Session 4:  Beyond Section 106

Chair: Alexandra Tarantino, Architectural Historian, Delaware Department of Transportation and PDI Board Member

Local Legends: The Importance of Preserving the Heritage and Historic District of Camden, Delaware (Rebekah Mills, Charles Widger School of Law, Villanova University)
Farmland Preservation as a Model for Historic Preservation (Mike McGrath, Preservation Delaware, Inc.)
Planning for Preservation: Updates to Historic Preservation Policy in New Castle County, Delaware (Dee Durham, New Castle County Council)

Session 5:  Historic Preservation & Disaster Planning

Chair: Leila Hamroun, Senior Preservation Architect, Tetra Tech and PDI Board Member

Sea Level Rise Accommodation in Coastal New Jersey (Dr. Stewart Farrell, Ph.D., Director and Founder, Stockton University Coastal Research Center)
Making Historic Downtowns Resilient & Disaster Ready (Manuel Ochoa, Ochoa Urban Collective/Main Street America)
Climate Change and Historic Areas – Planning for the Future (David J. Athey, P.E., AECOM, Engineer for the City of New Castle)

Session 6: Dupont Schools Oral History Project Update (Mike McGrath and Dr. Abdullah Muhammad, Ph.D., Preservation Delaware, Inc.)

Chair: Dan Parsons, Historic Planning & Architecture, Sussex County, and PDI board member