Summer 1992 Table of Contents
President Bush Appoints New Chair for Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
President Bush has appointed the Reverend Dr. John C. Harper of Washington, DC to serve as the chairman of the Council on Historic Preservation.
Harper succeeds John F.W. Rogers who tendered his resignation shortly after his appointment as undersecretary of State for management.
Dr. Harper is the Rector of the historic Saint John's Episcopal Church at Lafayette Square in Washington, DC. He has served in that capacity since 1963. During his tenure, Dr. Harper initiated the ongoing restoration of Saint John's and its parish house, Ashburton House, both of which are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Dr. Harper is also an ex officio member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He currently serves on the Decatur House Council and has previously been active on the Woodrow Wilson House Council.
The former chairman, citing the heavy and constant demands of his present job as undersecretary of State for management as motivation for his decision to resign, reiterated his commitment to historic preservation.
"The scale and speed of global changes daily are such that I cannot serve both of these positions simultaneously without one or the other receiving less than I wish to give," Rogers stated. "The chairman's position requires more time than I can provide."
Under Rogers' leadership, the Advisory Council achieved significant staff and budget increases and streamlined its policies and procedures to prepare for preservation challenges of the new decade.
Accomplishments include a comprehensive assessment of the Council's regulations; the launching of Round Two of the President's Historic Preservation Awards honoring excellence in privately funded preservation, and the National Historic Preservation Awards, recognizing federally assisted preservation endeavors; a major study of the unique preservation needs of scientific and technological facilities; a path-breaking conference on traditional cultural properties; and the adoption of a thematic problem-solving strategy for overall agency management.
The Council's special focus for this year is Federal property management and historic preservation in the local community.
Rogers' tenure also saw publication of three thematic annual reports to the President and Congress, surveying urban, rural and Federal property management historic preservation issues respectively, and the expansion of Council training courses into the private sector and Puerto Rico.
In his letter of resignation, Chairman Rogers commended the Council as a "hardworking, collegial body," deserving much of the credit for these extensive accomplishments.
Before his current State Department appointment, Chairman Rogers served as executive vice president at the Oliver Carr Company, a prominent real estate development firm.
He also served the Reagan administration from 1981-1987, most recently as assistant secretary at the Treasury Department.
As a member of the White House staff, Rogers served as assistant to the President for management and director of the Office of Administration which he represented on the Advisory council.
Rogers initiated and directed restorations of the Old Executive Office Building and the U.S. Treasury Building. In 1985 he was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal for the rehabilitation of the White House and the restoration of the OEOB and, in 1987, received the Alexander Hamilton Award for his contributions to the Treasury project.
