March 20, 2025
A message from Bonnie McDonald, President & CEO Of Landmarks Illinois, regarding the Trump Administration’s dismantling of federal preservation programs
Landmarks Illinois joins the vocal opposition against the Trump Administration’s regressive, harmful and unconscionable acts that are dismantling the federal preservation program and eliminating access to resources people need to save places in their Illinois communities. Historic places can provide a sense of safety, identity and connection. The intentional gutting of federal agencies and dismantling of preservation-friendly policies and regulations are putting people and their special places at risk. We have already seen the widespread and negative impacts across our state in both the rural and urban areas we serve.
Statewide and local preservation leadership is critical at this time to continue saving and reinvesting in our collective history. If our elected officials will not uphold their duty to ensure that we are one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, then it is the people’s role to hold them accountable and to advance solutions ourselves.
The Trump Administration’s priorities are in stark contrast to Landmarks Illinois’ guiding principles. Diversity, equity and inclusion are integral to our organization and how we conduct our work. We believe everyone has a voice in their community’s future and Illinois’ full history deserves to be told. We want to assure our constituents, partners and supporters that despite the administration’s efforts, Landmarks Illinois will continue to resist the erasure of people and complex narratives from our state’s history. We stand in solidarity with others supporting the sovereign rights of Indigenous people and the rights of women, people of color, the LGBTQAI+ community and people with disabilities to exist and claim excellence in our past, present and future.
While the national policy landscape may be going backward, Landmarks Illinois is charging forward. We are making preservation a more relevant, solutions-oriented practice focusing on inclusivity, climate change mitigation, community and economic development and housing affordability and access. With this experience, we have begun developing a strategy to ensure preservation remains a solution to today’s challenges and demands. Below are some of what we have been working on and will continue to track:
- Understanding the federal actions impacting our priorities as a statewide preservation organization
- Communicating the impacts of these actions to our stakeholders and people engaged in preservation work and projects across Illinois
- Looking for creative and practical tools to supplement or replace those lost at the federal level
- Developing a public policy strategy to find effective legislation supporting preservation
- Joining partners across the state and nation in collective action
- Considering leading legal action or joining with partners on existing lawsuits to provide support and expertise
- Engaging with the media when relevant to keep preservation a part of the statewide and national conversation
In “The Relevancy Guidebook: How We Can Transform the Future of Preservation,” I wrote about the preservation field, “… [I]f we do not begin to change, decisions will be made for us, not by us.” That moment has come.
Landmarks Illinois would like to thank those who have informed and inspired us over the past two months, including national, state and local organizations that have already spoken out against the Trump Administration’s actions. I hope that more organizations, like Landmarks Illinois, add their voices to the growing dissent across the nation. We will continue to do our part by advancing vocal opposition, supporting collective action and providing information and solutions to help us be resourceful and resilient in the face of chaos.
Sincerely,
Bonnie McDonald
President and CEO, Landmarks Illinois