There’s an interesting controversy brewing in the Carolinas.
Advocates in North and South Carolina are fighting to have a region made up of 58 counties recognized as a national heritage area, specifically focusing on the contributions made by the Carolinas during the American Revolution.
The national heritage designation is a way to celebrate, protect and preserve what makes a region unique and can be used as a tool for tourism.
Examples of places with a national heritage designation include the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area and Iowa’s Silo and Smokestacks National Heritage Area.
Sounds like a good idea to me. So what’s the problem?
A recent National Park Service study was completed, and the counties were told they did not meet the necessary criteria for the designation.
In the published results, one of the reasons cited was that there is a lack of distinctive cultural traditions in North and South Carolina from the 18th century that have carried over into today’s everyday life. These distinctive characteristics must be readily apparent to an outside observer.
What, I wonder, would constitute a readily apparent and distinctive cultural tradition from the eighteenth century? Knee breeches? Smallpox inoculation?