This paper argues that historic preservation is playing an increasingly important role in shaping collective memories.Historic preservation encompasses the range of strategies by which historic structures are maintained, manipulated, and managed. These strategies include preservation, restoration, conservation and consolidation, reconstitution, adaptive re-use, reconstruction, and replication (Fitch 1982: 46-47 Historic sites anchor collective memories by providing tangible evidence of the past. People visit them to "get in touch with history" in a very real, literal sense. They want to see for themselves rather than accepting the second-hand evidence of history books, other people's narratives, or media representations.Visitors to such sites hope for an unmediated encounter with history. Here, however, I argue that historic preservation shapes the encounter through the social processes of 1) selection, 2) contextualization, and 3)

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