In her gracious letter inviting me to this meeting, Mrs. J. M. P.
Wright, whose superb effort in "creative conservation" has gained for
her the admiration and the gratitude of all the people of Maryland,
was so kind as to mention what she called "constructive deeds" of this
Administration which "are making it possible for Maryland to have
a historic capital. " She numbered among these the preservation of this
home of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and
one of our first Governors after independence. She also mentioned
the conservation of the Brooksby-Shaw House, the establishment of
the Capital City Commission and the Historic District Enabling Leg-
islation.

From my point of view, "creative conservation" in Annapolis means
a cooperative effort on the part of government and individual citizens,
a cooperative task abundantly evident in what took place in the preserva-
tion of this home of William Paca. Annapolis has not been and never
will be a "museum" city. On the contrary, as the active capital of a
progressive State, it must remain an active, viable city. This condition
has produced in the past—and I suspect will continue to produce in
the future—some lively controversy among the populace. Inevitably
there will be differences of opinion on how we are to accomplish our
objective—a total preservation of historic and esthetic values, plus the
orderly growth and development of a bustling capital city. The same
spirit that prevailed in the savings of the Paca house will be effective in
the attainment of that objective. Your State government, and the local

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