From plasterers to window glazers to bricklayers, master craftspeople of traditional building trades are a vital part of preserving and restoring old and historic buildings. However, these trades cannot continue if they are not passed on to the next generation. At the 2025 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the theme Youth and the Future of Culture provided the perfect opportunity to highlight trade organizations and programs dedicated to mentoring youth.

As part of the Next Generation Artisans in the Traditional Building Trades program, one of these participant groups is the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s HOPE Crew, which stands for “Hands-On Preservation Experience.” The program started eleven years ago to bring preservation trades to young people across the nation, and its projects are designed to teach youth how to do preservation work. At the Festival, participants demonstrated their skills and gave visitors hands-on instruction on traditional building trades.

“These skills are so needed,” program manager Molly Baker says. “It is apparent across the nation, as we go on projects and work, that there is a lack of people that know these skills. Those that hold the knowledge are aging out of the field. And if we don’t do a good job of repopulating the preservation trades, then we’re going to lose these skills forever.”

Like the HOPE Crew, The Campaign for Historic Trades believe in the importance of youth in preservation trades. A program of Preservation Maryland, a nonprofit focused on preserving historic sites, the Campaign’s mission is to advocate for workforce development, bringing new people into historic preservation work and helping them expand their skills. They also taught Festival visitors about their work. At their booth, kids played with building blocks, each with its own example of the technical lingo used in preservation trades.

“What we’re seeing, especially now, is that we have a great chance to really latch on and preserve some of these skills,” says Jordan Riggs, recruitment and outreach manager. “If we think back to maybe a generation ago, of the big push towards college in place of trade schools, we’re moving a little bit more towards more people going to college and going towards that trajectory. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it does lead to that gap in the trades.”

For many young people who aren’t interested in college, or who want to supplement their higher education, traditional building trades can be appealing.

“We love the idea that we can create a spark for somebody to see themselves in the preservation movement through trades,” Baker says. “It’s a great field. Generally, the folks that are engaged in it find a lot of happiness in the work that they do and fulfillment because they’re getting to play a small role in keeping the history alive at some of these really diverse historic sites.”

Even though trade work might appeal to them, many young people may not be aware of its career possibilities, and this can have a real impact on how skills are passed down, Riggs explains. She describes a “workforce funnel,” the stages that a person might go through as they get more interested in the traditional building trades. For every 256 people who are aware of the job, fewer will get involved more seriously, until only one becomes a professional tradesperson.

“Every time you move up this career stage, [involvement] decreases,” Riggs says. “Maybe people learn that they don’t like working outside, they don’t like working with their hands, and that’s pretty natural, and honestly, better to learn at that stage than when you’re invested or committed to an apprenticeship. At the same time, the only way that we’re going to get more people as journey workers is if we start this career awareness stage a lot earlier.”

Milan Jordan, director of the HOPE Crew, noted that many people don’t realize that building trades are a possible profession.

“There’s sometimes a disconnect in even finding your way into the entry point,” She says. “So even though there’s a lot of qualified programs around the country, we will see some of them shutter, even though there is still a great need and there are opportunities.”

The Campaign for Historic Trades faces a similar challenge. “Employers aren’t always at the locations that the people looking to get into it are,” Riggs says. “It’s very nice to be that central hub for people to come together and for us to connect everybody.”

Outreach to young people is important to Riggs. From providing stacking blocks and coloring sheets for small children at the Folklife Festival this summer to giving talks at high school career fairs, she tries to introduce as many people as possible to preservation work.

“My hope is [that], maybe the next time they’re walking down a street of historic buildings, whether it’s row homes or their downtown areas, they’re looking up and saying, ‘Oh, wow, this building has this kind of brick pattern.’ Maybe they don’t necessarily remember the brick pattern or things like that, but it kind of sparks that idea in their heads.”

Once that spark appears, young newcomers to the preservation trades might join a HOPE Crew program for hands-on experience. The program offers an “Introduction to the Preservation Trades,” training which lasts a few weeks and teaches students skills like masonry, mortar repointing, timber framing, and historic painting methods. HOPE Crew also provides volunteer and community experiences as well as opportunities for higher education students, including initiatives in partnership with their African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.

For youth who decide to pursue an apprenticeship, The Campaign for Historic Trades can be a valuable resource. While it engages in initial outreach activities, it also helps match potential apprentices with mentors who work in window preservation, carpentry, and deconstruction, which is the dismantling of historic structures into salvageable and reusable components.

“We are able to connect people that want to get into the trades, into the field of hands-on preservation, with employers that are willing to train the next generation of preservationists, get them up to date on that training and pass along those skills,” Riggs says. “We’re seeing a lot of those employers looking towards retirement or passing on their businesses. Before we lose these skills, it’s a critical time to come together and make sure that they can train the next generation.”

The young people who decide to pursue traditional building trades aren’t just there to learn, either—they bring a valuable new perspective.

“There’s a lot of hopefulness,” Jordan says. “A lot of people, many years in the field, may be a little weathered, tired, burnt out. That new energy, that new enthusiasm, the curiosity, the spark that we see happen there, there’s a lot of hope that comes into it as well. That often is inspiring to even people who’ve been doing this forever. They’re really great at re-energizing everybody.”

“Young people bring a mindset of inclusivity,” Baker adds. “So there’s a non-issue if somebody’s on the site that is nonbinary. We’re seeing more women in our crews. Sometimes the majority are women in our crews. People come on the site as a safe and inclusive environment. We can try and create that, but it’s the mindset of the youth. It’s just the reality, and it’s encouraging to see.”

With hope and inclusivity comes a drive to do meaningful work. “I’m finding with the newer generations that they’re very mission-driven, and they’re very much thinking about how they can make an impact,” Riggs says. “Whether it’s their community or their local area, whether it’s their built environment, they want to give back. They’re not just seeing that as, ‘I get to go out and just repoint bricks for eight hours a day.’ I think they’re going and saying, ‘Well, I was able to provide my specialty skill set on this building for this whole project, and now that building is going to be standing there for the next generation to see.’ I think telling those personal stories is what does the most when it comes to saving buildings or structures for preservation.”

In the preservation trades community, there is genuine excitement to include youth participants. Baker has this advice for potential youth tradespeople: “Go to organizations that support preservation trades. When students enter those groups or those events, the excitement that there’s young people there is so encouraging. I feel like most students that go to these events end up finding themselves a place in the career because it’s such a supportive environment.”  

Jordan agrees. “For anyone young thinking, ‘Oh, I’m not a trades person yet. I should wait until...’ No. Everybody is so happy to see young people there. You will find a mentor. You will find people willing to give you resources, welcome you into the field. It’s a great time to begin now.”

Ella Peters is an intern in the Folklife Storytellers Workshop and a rising senior at Georgetown University studying anthropology and government.