Cultural and historic preservation major Zachary Russell registers childhood home as historic
Zachary Russell, a cultural and historic preservation (CHP) major with minors in film and sociology and anthropology, recently used the skills he acquired at Salve Regina to have his childhood home in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, designated as historic.
Russell lives in a 1928 bungalow, with few changes made since the home was built. As he grew older, he started working on the house and learning more about preservation. “You always hear how Pawtucket is one of the most beautiful cities in Rhode Island, but its beauty has been declining,” he said.
While looking at colleges, Russell had a tour with Dr. Jeroen van den Hurk, assistant professor and coordinator of Salve Regina’s CHP program, and decided to enroll.
“Every single class I took was influential,” Russell said. “Newport is a perfect town to have a program like this. We are able to go downtown and see architecture and physical examples in the field.”
In the summer of 2022, Russell participated in a hands-on program on Rose Island in Narragansett Bay. He assisted with a variety of projects such as documenting bird behavior, researching the history of the Rose Island Lighthouse and Fort Hamilton, and learning more about what it means to preserve historic sites.
“I loved learning the history of Rose Island,” he said. “I’m from Rhode Island, I love local history, and it was cool – especially the lighthouse itself – seeing something that no one would want to save and being able to have the community come together and bring something back to how it used to be to preserve it for future generations.”
A photo of Russell’s home in 1928.
Designating a childhood home as historic
Russell always wanted to restore his childhood home, so he decided that for his senior thesis project, he would research historic tax credits to see if there was assistance for homeowners who own old houses. He also wanted to see if he could restore the home and designate it as an officially historic building in Pawtucket.
“I’ve always said something marked as historic must be of importance,” Russell said. “But then I asked myself, ‘Well, who figures out what is important or not?’ Everything is important to someone.”
Russell started the process by completing an online application with the Pawtucket Historic District Commission. “I explained how my family has always tried to keep my house as original as it can be,” he said. “It shows the expansion of Pawtucket, because the house was built by Italian immigrants who came to America.”
Once the application was approved, Russell sat down with the commission and proposed labeling his house as historic, then went through three public hearings with the Pawtucket City Council. The process ended in March 2023 with an approval.
“I was ecstatic,” Russell said. “I didn’t really think they would go for it.”
After graduation, Russell plans to stay in Newport and pursue preservation jobs with different hands-on or research focuses. With his house deemed historic, he also hopes to restore the home within the next five years – a fitting timeline, as the house will be 100 years in 2028.
“My house is in a neighborhood where people don’t think a lot about preservation,” he said. “If I can be the first person in my neighborhood to do this, I hope I can influence others to do the same.”
Article written by student writer Morgan Rizzo ’23
