2005
NCSHPO Awards for Excellence in Historic Preservation
J. Rodney Little, Maryland SHPO
in the category of Lifetime Achievement
in recognition of a current SHPO, Deputy SHPO, or SHPOffice staff
person who has made a significant, long-term (20 years or more)
contribution to historic preservation.
J. Rodney Little’s distinguished
career in the field of historic preservation has spanned more
than three decades. During that period, he has acted as Deputy
State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) for the State of Florida,
SHPO for the State of Maryland, served a 5 year term as President
of National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers
(NCSHPO), functioned as a Congressionally-designated member of
the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and served as member
and advisor to many other national and state historic preservation
councils, boards, and organizations. On the state level, he has
succeeded in increasing the Maryland Historical Trust’s
authority to review state undertakings on historic properties,
broadening the Trust’s mission to include museum assistance,
cultural conservation, underwater archeology, and heritage tourism
activities, and expanding Trust facilities to include acquisition
of the Jefferson Patterson Historical Park and Museum and construction
of the award-winning Maryland Archeological Conservation Laboratory.
Rodney began his work in the Florida
State Historic Preservation Office. Notably, he served a key role
in organizing and leading a successful 3-year statewide effort
to save and restore Florida’s Historic Capitol and conceived,
drafted, and successfully lobbied for legislation that established
the Florida Historic Preservation Trust Fund.
In 1978, Rodney was appointed as the
Historic Preservation Officer for the State of Maryland. He reorganized
Maryland’s preservation programs, and in 1981, his authority
was broadened to include leadership of the Maryland Historical
Trust.
One of Rodney’s most significant
acts as Maryland SHPO came in 1985 when he succeeded in securing
legislation that empowered the Maryland Historical Trust to protect
historic properties under state law. Since this authority was
granted, the Trust has reviewed more than 20,000 projects as part
of this “State Section 106 Review” and now, twenty
years after the legislation was first passed, Rodney is leading
efforts to further refine and strengthen the law.
In 1988, Rodney set out to broaden the
Maryland Historical Trust’s mission to meet the needs of
Maryland history museums, underwater archeological resources,
and intangible cultural resources which led to the creation of
a Maryland Museum Assistance Program designed to support professional
consultants, collections management, new exhibits, interpretive
and strategic planning, and educational outreach for all of the
state’s 200 history-related museums.
Rodney created the Maryland Maritime
Archaeology Program (MMAP). One year prior to the 1989 passage
of the Federal Abandoned Shipwrecks Act, Maryland created a program
to inventory and manage the state's submerged cultural resources.
In addition to survey work, the program is responsible for the
administration of the Submerged Archaeological Historic Property
Act.
More recently, Rodney spearheaded efforts
to create a heritage tourism development program at the Maryland
Historical Trust. The Maryland Heritage Preservation and Tourism
Areas Program is designed to stimulate economic development through
the creation of heritage tourism enterprise zones.
In 1983, Rodney led the effort for the
state’s acceptance of the donation of the Patterson Archaeological
District. Developed as the Jefferson Patterson Historical Park
and Museum, the plan for this property included construction of
the Maryland Archeological Conservation Laboratory (MAC Lab),
a state of the art archeological research, conservation, and collections
laboratory and curation facility which was built in 1998.
Rodney’s longevity as Maryland
SHPO is extraordinary, as he has served under 5 Governors. During
this time he has grown the Maryland preservation program from
a staff of about 20 to a staff of 95 with responsibility for 11
agency-owned historic and museum properties including over 600
acres and 50 buildings and an annual budget of $7.6 million.
In addition to his accomplishments at
the state level, Rodney’s successes at the federal level
are also noteworthy. Mr. Little was involved in the development
of federal tax credit legislation and participated in the conception
and development of the National Historic Preservation Act Amendments
of 1980, authoring significant sections of legislation (e.g.,
Certified Local Governments Program), and actively lobbying for
sponsorship and passage of the amendments. Mr. Little also served
as President of the National Conference of State Historic Preservation
Officers (NCSHPO) during the period when the Secretary of the
Interior and the NCSHPO was required to engage in a dramatic fight
for the survival of historic preservation funding for the states
and for the continued existence of the Advisory Council for Historic
Preservation.
Rodney Little’s contribution
to historic preservation at the state and federal level has been
both significant and long-standing. He remains Maryland’s
most important preservation policy and play-maker – esteemed
by the state’s leadership and admired by his staff.
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