The Preservation Game

The destruction of cultural heritage sites cannot always be avoided, but for every instance of nature devastating a historical landmark there are easily as many cases where mankind knowingly and willfully destroys its own history in the name of progress, profit, or real estate. Losses like that can be averted, and often are thanks to the efforts of historically-minded individuals that galvanize populations and decision makers into rethinking plans for redevelopment of landmarks. In those cases, there’s usually a good story to go along with it.

That’s the case with Sue Black and Bletchley Park. Black, a single mother of three, began taking math courses while living in a women’s refuge. Those classes led to an undergraduate degree from South Bank University and, eventually, a PhD from the same institution. After becoming a Senior Research Associate at University College London, Black organized a web and social media campaign, making exceptional use of Twitter and Facebook, to preserve Bletchley Park, the headquarters for British decryption programs during World War II. Her book, Saving Bletchley Park, details the preservation initiative and was the fastest crowdfunded book of all time.

Join us as Sue Black discusses her book, her life and career, and the campaign that saved Bletchley Park.