White Atlantic heritage: Anglo-American preservation after 1945 from Georgian Jamaica to Colonial Williamsburg

This article examines the often-neglected transatlantic character of mid-twentieth century architectural preservation and heritage activity. It presents two case studies: the efforts of Angus Acworth (1898–1981) to preserve Georgian architecture in the West Indies between 1946 and 1962; and the collaboration between the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty (established in London in 1895), and the National Trust for Historic Preservation (established in Washington, D.C. in 1949) centred around Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1956. These parallel examples jointly articulate the white Atlantic consciousness which saw preservationists idealise colonial-era architectural traditions, lionising a supposed Anglo-Saxon culture, and obscuring the history and experience of enslavement in their presentation of historic buildings. We show how heritage organisations worked to reinscribe these values amid British imperial decline, the achievement of Jamaican independence, and the ascendancy of US power.