this issue... Two New Parks Illustrate Nation’s 

Difficult Histories

Brian D. Joyner / National Park Service

I

n 2006 and 2007, two new national parks were added to the National Park System that 

illustrate the nation’s difficult histories: Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in 

Colorado and the African Burial Ground National Monument in New York. Both sites 

highlight painful moments in the nation’s history as it relates to diverse communities in the 

U.S. and how those communities played a role in the preservation of the sites. As National 

Park Service Director Mary Bomar mentioned in her remarks at the dedication of Sand Creek 

Massacre National Historic Site, “The history of this great nation is not complete without an 

understanding and respect for the tragedies that affect our national consciousness.”

Dedicated as the 391st park unit on April 28, 2007, Sand Creek Massacre National Historic 

Site in Colorado memorializes the site of the 1864 attack of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians by 

700 United States soldiers. The attack at a village along the Sand Creek of primarily women

and children resulted in over 150 Indian deaths. The event was viewed as unnecessary and

excessive by many military officials and civilians, and was condemned by Congressional investigators as a massacre. The development of the Sand Creek Massacre site was a collaborative 

effort between NPS, the state of Colorado, and four local tribes, who worked to define the 

boundaries of the site. Oral traditions and archeological and documentary evidence did not 

always coincide, but and eventual compromise on a boundary was reached. The dedication 

ceremony was attended by descendants of massacre victims, federal, state, and local officials, as 

well as members of the related tribes and NPS officials.

Similarly, another site related to difficult aspects of the nation’s history became the 390th 

Park unit. The African Burial Ground National Monument became a national park in February 

2006. Located in lower Manhattan, this site is the largest and oldest African cemetery in 

North America. An estimated 15,000 free and enslaved Africans were buried at the site during 

the 17th and 18th centuries. The burial ground had been covered beneath nearly 25 feet of 

infill before its accidental discovery with the excavation of a General Services Administration 

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Heritage Matters J an u a ry/Fe b r u a ry 2008 News of the Nation’s Diverse Cultural Heritage

Continued » Page 2

Paha Sapa: Ancestral 

Homeland of the Lakota

Federal Historic 

Preservation Tax Credits 

Help Rehabilitate Jackie 

Robinson Ballpark

Documenting the Pine 

Nut Harvest at Nellis Air 

Force Base

National Register 

Nominations

Celebrating Diversity: 

Arlington and Jamestown 

at 400

Rising Out of the Ashes: The 

Mosaic Templars Cultural 

Center Continues Despite 

Devastating Fire

Colorado’s Lincoln Hills 

Resort and Historic 

Winks Lodge 
NPS INITIATIVES

building site in 1991. The discovery sparked a groundswell of grassroots efforts to memorialize 

the site. Archeological investigations resulted in new information about the lifeways of free 

and enslaved Africans in colonial New York. Anthropological research performed at Howard 

University revealed the impact of strenuous work regimes, malnourishment, and genetic 

background of those interred. 

The African Burial Ground National Monument held its official dedication on 

October 5-6, 2007, attended by Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, Mayor Michael 

Bloomberg, actor Sidney Poitier, NPS officials, and members of the New York preservation 

community. 

The inclusion of these sites in the National Park System is a part of the effort to increase 

the awareness of the role of various cultural groups in the shaping of our nation’s collective 

history. Sand Creek Massacre NHS superintendent Alden Miller summed it with: “We repeat 

difficult histories so that difficult histories will not be repeated.” ❖

i For more information on the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, visit 

http://www/nps.gov/sand; for more information on the African Burial Ground National 

Monument, visit http://www.nps.gov/afbg.

Two New Parks

Continued from Page 1

This comment signals an opportunity for National Park 

Service interpretive rangers to engage visitors in the 

exploration of American history from multiple points 

of view. As people of wide-ranging diversity arrive at Mount 

Rushmore to discover our nation's history, the rangers

help them investigate the human experience from different

perspectives with an appreciation for the contributions of 

the many cultures of our country. Indeed, why is there a tipi 

in the foreground of the giant sculpted portraits of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt? 

The answer is in the towering granite cliffs of Rushmore 

Rock, in the forest of Ponderosa pine, in the streams of 

Grizzly Gulch, along the rugged path in Starling Basin, and 

in the vivid blue sky that serves as the canopy to this “island 

in the plains.” This is the Paha Sapa-the hills of black-an 

area the Lakota have considered sacred for centuries, “the 

heart of all that is.” To the Lakota, the Black Hills are a part 

of Mother Earth and Father Sky from which all life comes 

and to whom all life returns. The oral histories tell of this 

kinship with nature. Nicholas Black Elk, the Oglala Lakota 

holy man said, “It is the story of all life that is holy and

good to tell of us two-leggeds sharing with the four-leggeds 

and the wings of the air and all green things, for these are 

children of one another and their father is one spirit.” 

The interpretive rangers and chief met with tribal elders 

to discuss the elders’ vision for education and interpretation 

at Mount Rushmore. In addition, the staff hosted tribal

recreation leaders during their planning charettes to find 

ways to encourage Lakota and other tribes to improve

connections to their ancestral homeland. Through other

interpretive programs, Mount Rushmore encourages the 

various ethnic groups that use the park to perform art

and music, practice language skills, and present their

histories. There is even an academic research center

where teachers, historians, and scholars explore stories

of heritage and ancestral memories through historic sites

and historic documents. 

Mount Rushmore is small compared to parks such as 

Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park, but 

within its boundaries is an ecosystem that sculptor Gutzon 

Borglum described as a “veritable garden of the Gods.” 

Long before Borglum embossed the four presidents along 

the skyline, American history was already present among 

the people of the first nations. The indigenous people 

turned to the animals, plants and landscape for food,

medicine, and spirituality, enabling them to sustain their 

cultures. 

At Mount Rushmore, the stories of our nation's diverse 

heritage are not just honored in granite, but in cultural 

memory and practices. ❖

“The history of this great nation 

is not complete without an

understanding and respect for 

the tragedies that affect our

national consciousness.”

Mary Bomar / National Park Service Director

The Lakota tipi near Mount Rushmore National Monument provides an 

opportunity for NPS rangers to discuss the Native American heritage 

associated with the area. Courtesy of Rhonda Schier. 

Actor Sidney Poitier, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg 

stand among wreaths at the dedication event for the African Burial Ground in New York City, October 5, 2007. 

Courtesy of Victorio Loubriel.

Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell addresses the audience 

during the dedication ceremony for Sand Creek Massacre 

National Historic Site. Courtesy of Sand Creek Massacre

National Historic Site.

Paha Sapa: Ancestral Homeland of the Lakota

Rhonda Buell Schier / Mount Rushmore National Memorial

“Why is there a tipi here?” asked a visitor upon arrival to Mount Rushmore National 

Memorial. “These are two completely different stories...”

DID YOU KNOW? November is American Indian Heritage Month.

(See more preservation-related commemorations and special events on page 11)

Mission of the 

National Park 

Service

The National Park Service 

preserves unimpaired the 

natural and cultural resources 

and the values of the 

national park system for the 

enjoyment, education, and 

inspiration of this and future 

generations. The Park Service 

also cooperates with partners 

to extend the benefits of 

natural and cultural resource 

conservation and outdoor 

recreation throughout this 

country and the world.

This material is based upon 

work conducted under a 

cooperative agreement 

between the U.S. Department 

of the Interior, National Park 

Service and the National 

Conference of State Historic 

Preservation Officers. 

Views and conclusions in this 

material are those of the 

authors and should not be 

interpreted as representing 

the opinions or policies of

the U.S. Government. Mention 

of trade names or commercial 

products does not constitute 

their endorsement by the U.S. 

Government.

Mary A. Bomar / Director

Janet Snyder Matthews

Associate Director, Cultural 

Resources

Antoinette J. Lee 

Assistant Associate Director, 

Historic Documentation 

Programs

J. Paul Loether

Chief, National Register of 

Historic Places & National 

Historic Landmark Survey 

Programs

Brian D. Joyner

Heritage Matters Editor

2 January/February 2008 Heritage matters 3
STATE INITIATIVES

The Jackie Robinson Ballpark, a.k.a. City Island

Ballpark, is just one of the approximately 35,000 

projects which have been successfully rehabilitated 

under the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives 

Program since its inception in the 1970s. Administered by 

the National Park Service, in partnership with State Historic 

Preservation Offices and the Internal Revenue Service, this 

program offers a 20% Federal tax credit toward the cost 

of rehabilitating historic, income-producing buildings. 

Rehabilitation projects certified for tax credits must follow 

the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, which allow a structure to return to a historic use or 

be adapted for a new contemporary use while preserving 

those portions or features that are significant to its historic, 

architectural, and cultural values. 

Reflecting the broad range of America’s cultural and 

ethnic diversity, the program includes buildings and 

structures of every period, size, style, and type. Rehabilitated 

properties include offices, schools, hospitals, theaters, 

houses, apartment buildings, hotels, churches, commercial 

buildings, farms, warehouses, and even ballparks. 

Between May 2001 and April 2005, rehabilitation was 

undertaken to modernize the ballpark for continued use 

while maintaining the relatively small scale and unique open 

quality of the facility. Prior to rehabilitation, the baseball 

field had remained in the same general configuration since 

it was laid out in 1915. However, the only remaining historic 

structure was the circa 1946 grandstand. The original 

segregated seating area for African Americans along the 

first base line had been removed from the site by 1980 and 

replaced with a non-historic, wood-frame maintenance 

building. Clubhouses for the home and visiting teams, and 

concrete bleachers, which lined the perimeter of the field, 

dated from the 1970s and 1980s. 

During the rehabilitation, the existing grandstands 

were retained and repaired. Likewise, the clubhouses 

were repaired and concession areas and bathrooms were 

upgraded with new mechanical and electrical systems. 

Compatible ramps and railings were added or upgraded 

for accessibility throughout the park. The press box and 

dugouts were reconstructed to their original appearance. 

The maintenance building was demolished and replaced 

with a reconstruction of the 1940s segregated seating. 

Although the level of reconstruction undertaken by 

Jackie Robinson Ballpark is never required in a rehabilitation tax credit project, if such work is undertaken, it must

be based on historic documentation and must not create 

a false sense of historical development. The reconstructed 

segregated seating area adds an interpretive feature that 

helps to educate the public about Robinson’s remarkable 

achievement. With the financial assistance of the tax incentives program, the rehabilitation of the Jackie Robinson

Ballpark ensures the continued enjoyment of one of

America’s favorite pastimes while preserving a site that 

marks a milestone in American history. ❖

i For more information about the Federal 

Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program, visit 

http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/tax/index.htm

Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credits Help 

Rehabilitate Jackie Robinson Ballpark

Angela Shearer / National Park Service

Aunique joint project, created in conjunction 

with Nellis Air Force Base (AFB) outside of Las 

Vegas, tribal consultants from the region, and the 

Nevada State Historic Preservation Office (Nevada SHPO), 

produced the first Department of Defense (DOD)-State 

Historic Preservation Office collaborative multimedia 

work in the nation, the documentary “Gathering Devah: 

An Ancient Pine Nut Harvest Tradition.” With the financial 

and logistical support of Nellis AFB, Great Basin Native 

Americans were reunited with the Kawich Range in central 

Nevada for the first time in more than 60 years. This area has 

restricted access since acquisition of the land in the 1940s by 

Department of Defense for military training purposes.

In 1996, Nellis AFB developed a program to systematically consult with Native American representatives from

17 tribes on environmental and cultural issues. The tribal 

consultants had been requesting something like this documentary from Nellis AFB for several years. When funding 

was secured in 2005, the Nevada SHPO became involved in 

the project. In October 2005, Nellis AFB organized a trip

for their Native American consultants to Kawich Range, 

located within the Nevada Test and Training Range, for a

traditional pine nut harvest. The area has been under

restricted access due to security and safety since 1941, and

as a result, is virtually unchanged. This meant that for 40 

years tribal groups had to conduct the traditional pine-nut 

harvest in surrounding ranges. 

The Kawich Range harvest event was recorded and 

developed as a documentary, written in consultation with 

the Nevada SHPO staff. The video includes interviews

with harvesters, discussions about cultural topics, the

performance of traditional songs by Great Basin Native 

groups, and an outing to ancestral places with tribal youth. 

These places were identified through oral histories and

historical accounts written by early ethnographers. 

A camera crew records the first pine-nut harvest in 60 years on the Kawich Range for the Great Basin Indians. Courtesy of Terri McBride. 

Documenting the Pine Nut Harvest at Nellis Air Force Base

Terri McBride / Nevada State Historic Preservation Office

Pine nuts, from the Pinus monophylla tree, have been 

a winter staple for Great Basin people for centuries. The 

autumn pine-nut harvest is considered a joyous, socially 

bonding occasion. As renowned ethnographer Margaret 

Wheat wrote in Survival Arts of the Paiutes, “For the Indians 

of Nevada, pine nut time was the most important time 

of the year. Religion was combined with play, work

with happiness.” 

The pine-nut harvest cycle for the Great Basin Indians 

begins with a spring pine cone blessing in the pine groves, 

to ensure a productive growing season, followed by a late 

summer “scouting” visit to locate the best cones (which hold 

the nuts), and then the fall harvest, when another blessing 

takes place. Families look forward to the harvest outing as 

special time with each other, when dances, songs, and oral 

traditions related to the pine-nut harvest are passed down to 

younger people.

Native American consultants from the 17 neighboring 

tribes for Nellis AFB recognize the importance of continuing the traditional pine-nut harvest in the Great Basin and 

their role as stewards to the historic resources at the Nevada 

Test and Training Range. “Gathering Devah” was an

opportunity for the Nellis AFB cultural resources staff, the 

Air Force, and tribes to document and preserve this ancient 

harvest tradition for future generations. The ethnographic 

documentary premiered in June 2007 in Las Vegas. The 

30-minute documentary was produced by DAV Productions 

and will be available to Nevada school groups, tribes, libraries, museums, and other research outlets. ❖

i For more information about the documentary and the 

preservation efforts at the Nevada Test and Training Range, 

contact Terri McBride, Nevada State Historic Preservation 

Office, 775/684-3445.

The City Island Ballpark

Among the oldest surviving major league spring training 

sites in Florida, the City Island Ballpark is located on a small 

island in the Halifax River across from the business district 

of Daytona Beach. On March 17, 1946, Jackie Robinson 

became the first African American to play in a regularly 

scheduled professional baseball game that featured a 

major league team since Moses Fleetwood Walker played 

for the Toledo Blue Stockings in the 1880s. The ballpark 

was renamed Jackie Robinson Ballpark in the 1990s to 

honor the man who broke baseball’s color barrier. The 

park was listed in the National Register of Historic Places 

on October 22, 1998, and is still used to host minor-league 

baseball clubs in the Florida State League.

4 January/February 2008 Heritage matters 5
STATE INITIATIVE

Durham’s Chapel School was one of 354 schools built

throughout rural Tennessee by the Rosenwald School Building

Program. Courtesy of Anne-Leslie Owens and Leslie Sharp.

Located in Auburn, New York, this two-story Greek Revival House

belonged to abolitionist and editor William Hosmer. Courtesy of N. Todd.

The “Children in Jail” sculpture located in Kelly Ingram Park, a part of 

the Civil Rights Movement MPS, commemorates the contributions of 

the African American youth to the civil rights movement. Courtesy of 

Marjorie White.

Pocahontas Island Historic District

The Pocahontas Island Historic District in Petersburg,

Virginia, dates from the mid-18th century. Located on

the north side of the Appomattox River, Pocahontas

was a free African American commercial and residential 

community during the antebellum period. Descendants 

of the original free black community still reside in the 

district. Pocahontas Island Historic District contains an 

abundance of archeological sites dating from the island’s 

prehistoric period through the 20th century, and contains 

extant buildings from the antebellum period. 

Pocahontas was platted in 1749 and established as a

town in 1752. Shortly there after, a bridge linking the

island to the mainland was constructed. While most 

African Americans were enslaved during the antebellum 

period, there were free blacks in the South. In 1790, 310 

free blacks lived in Petersburg; by 1860 there were 3,224. 

After Nat Turner’s slave rebellion in 1831, an already

difficult environment became even more so, with free 

blacks forced to register with local authorities. Many 

of them flocked to Pocahontas for a measure of safety, 

prosperity, and independence. After the Civil War, more 

newly freed African Americans migrated to Pocahontas 

in large numbers, drawn by the existing black community 

and employment opportunities. 

Durham’s Chapel School

Durham’s Chapel School was listed in the National Register 

of Historic Places for its associations with African American 

ethnic heritage, education, social history, and architecture. 

The school is located in rural Sumner County, Tennessee

and was built in 1923, as part of the Rosenwald School 

Building Program. Financed partly by its namesake, Julius 

Rosenwald, a Sears-Roebuck magnate, the program was

developed by education reformers dedicated to the 

construction of schools for African American communities 

in rural areas across the South and Southwest. When the 

program ended in 1932, there were nearly 5,000 schools 

built nationwide, with 354 of them located in Tennessee. 

Durham’s Chapel School derives its name from its association with the Durham Chapel Baptist Church, which

administered the original church and school. 

Durham Chapel School was a community center as well as 

a school building. The building conforms to the standardized construction plans of the Rosenwald School Building 

Program as a two-teacher facility, with an auditorium for 

community lectures, pageants, and school plays. Focusing 

on vocational training, the Durham Chapel’s School offered 

industrial training for boys and home economics for girls. 

The school closed its doors in 1962, but the building is still 

in use by the church.

The Rev. J. Edward Nash, Sr., 

House was the residence of 

Buffalo’s most prominent 

African American leader 

during the first half of the 

20th century. Nash served as 

pastor for the Michigan Street 

Baptist Church from 1892 

until his retirement in 1953. 

Rev. Nash was a community 

leader and civil rights activist 

who helped establish local offices of the Urban League and 

the National Association for 

the Advancement of Colored 

People (NAACP). He started 

the Buffalo Urban League

to assist African American

families arriving from the 

South, in their transition to 

city life in the North. 

From 1925–1957, he resided 

in this “two-decker” Queen 

Anne house located in a 

traditionally African American 

neighborhood.

The Birmingham Civil Rights Historic District is part of the 

Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, Alabama, Multiple 

Property Submission. The district was the site of civil-rights 

activities for nearly 50 years, starting with a civil-rights demonstration in 1933, in what is now known as Kelly Ingram 

Park, until 1979, when demonstrations in Woodrow Wilson 

Park against police brutality led to the election of the city’s 

first African American mayor, Richard Arrington, Jr.

The Birmingham Civil Rights Historic District is notable

for its parks, businesses, and churches that were the locations of numerous important meetings, demonstrations, 

and confrontations. Demonstrations in Birmingham and 

the subsequent police brutality it precipitated were turning 

points in the movement that galvanized public opinion and 

led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Several 

significant resources located in the district include primary 

march routes, historic churches such as the St. Paul United 

Methodist Church and the Sixth Avenue-Zion Hill Baptist 

Church, and local businesses such as the Smith & Gaston William and Mary Hosmer House Funeral Home and the A.G. Gaston Motel. 

Located in Auburn, New York, the William and Mary Hosmer 

House is a two-story, vernacular Greek Revival-style House, 

and was home to Reverend Hosmer during his career as an 

abolitionist, editor of the Northern Christian Advocate, and 

participant in the local Underground Railroad network in 

Auburn. Hosmer was minister of the Waterloo Methodist 

Episcopal Church from 1842-1843, and later became editor 

of the Northern Christian Advocate. Because his radical

abolitionist views conflicted with the policies of the Methodist General Conference, he left that newspaper to start 

his own publication, the Northern Independent, which he 

published from 1856-65. 

Hosmer wrote several texts against slavery. His reform

principles extended beyond abolitionism to include the

temperance movement and women’s education. The house 

was listed as part of the Freedom Trail, Abolitionism,

and African American Life in Central New York Multiple 

Property Submission. 

Rev. J. Edward 

Nash, Sr. House

Birmingham Civil Rights 

Historic District

i For more information about the National Register 

visit http://www.nps.gov/nr

1

4

5

2

3

National Register Nominations 

Caridad de la Vega / National Conference for State Historic Officers / Rustin Quaide / National Park Service

This “two-decker” Queen 

Anne House was the residence 

of Buffalo’s most prominent 

African American leader, Rev. 

J. Edward Nash, Sr., during the 

first half of the 20th century. 

Courtesy of C. Ross.

6 January/February 2008 Heritage matters 7
LOCAL INITIATIVES

Many would be surprised to find out that Arlington 

County, Virginia, has a historical connection to 

John Smith and the founding of the Jamestown 

colony, the first permanent English settlement in North 

America. During an exploratory voyage of the Chesapeake 

Bay in 1608, Captain Smith navigated up the Potomac River, 

landed near the location of a Native American village known 

as Nameroughquena in present-day Arlington, and mapped 

its shoreline. In recognition of this, and as a part of the statewide commemoration efforts for the 400th anniversary of 

Jamestown, Arlington established the Arlington Committee 

on Jamestown. 

After much deliberation on how best to locally commemorate the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, one of 

several projects that came to fruition was The Many Faces

of Arlington Oral History Project. The mission of the project 

is to record for future generations oral history interviews of 

community members as a means to celebrate and highlight 

the changing ethnic composition of Arlington in particular, 

and Virginia in general, over the last several decades. Furthermore, the project recognizes the ethnic diversity of the 

immigrants that have recently settled in Virginia, in juxtaposition to the English immigrants who initially established 

Jamestown 400 years ago. The main mission of the community project was to explore the question: “How has the 

current “face” of Virginia and Arlington changed since the 

settlement of Jamestown by the English 400 years ago?” 

The Latino and Vietnamese communities, representing two of Arlington’s several immigrant communities, are 

featured in the oral histories. The Vietnamese and Latino 

businesses peppered throughout Arlington County denote 

the demographic changes in the last several decades. For 

example, Clarendon, a town in Arlington County, saw such 

an influx of Vietnamese immigrants that in the late 1970s 

and early 1980s, it was unofficially known as “Little Saigon.” 

The interview subjects are quite varied including immigrants 

from Armenia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kashmir, Korea, Lebanon, 

Malaysia, and New Zealand. According to 2000 census data, 

28% of the county’s population is foreign born. 

Interviewers sought to draw relationships between

the modern-day immigrants and the settlers of Jamestown, 

by asking, “Do you feel any special connection to the

history of the first settlers?” One of the interviewees, Dani 

Abi-Najm, originally from Lebanon, responded: “Being 

there [Jamestown] I got this feeling of adventure and the 

spirit of promise, going for something new and going to a 

place where it’s relatively unknown.” In keeping with the 

subject of changing cultural landscapes, the interviewees 

were also queried on their thoughts about the “face” of 

Arlington in the next half century. 

In collaboration with the Arlington County Library, 

the Arlington Committee on Jamestown recruited 23 

community members to include public officials and 

Yorktown High School students, to share their history 

and memories as residents of Arlington for the benefit and 

enrichment of future generations. The Arlington Heritage 

Alliance, a local non-profit historic preservation advocacy 

group, also participated as a consultant to the project and 

provided volunteers to conduct oral history interviews, 

most of whom are professionals in the field of history and 

historic preservation. 

The interviews have become part of the permanent

collection of the Virginia Room at the Arlington County 

Public Library, the central repository for the county’s 

historical resources. ❖

i Interview excerpts and audio files of some of the 

interviews are already available online, with more being 

added as they become available. Visit their website at 

<http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/Libraries/sites/

LibrariesSitesJamestown.aspx> for more information and 

upcoming events.

Rising Out of the Ashes: The Mosaic 

Templars Cultural Center Continues 

Despite Devastating Fire

Heather Register Zbinden / Mosaic Templars Cultural Center

Afire destroyed the historic Mosaic Templars of America National Grand Temple in 

Little Rock, Arkansas, on March 17, 2005. This building was to house the Mosaic 

Templars Cultural Center (MTCC), a museum of the Department of Arkansas 

Heritage. The center is dedicated to telling the story of the African American experience 

in Arkansas. MTCC’s name is taken from the Mosaic Templars of America, an African 

American fraternal organization founded in Little Rock in 1883. While the fire destroyed 

the original building, it did not deter the development of the museum. The staff is working on exhibits, creating educational materials including loan boxes and lesson plans, 

and preserving Arkansas’s African American past through an ever-growing collection of 

artifacts while a new museum building is being constructed.

The exhibits, educational programs, and collections of the MTCC focus on all 

aspects of life for African Americans in Arkansas, with emphasis on business, politics, 

and the arts. The exhibits highlight fraternal organizations as well as small businesses and 

entrepreneurs in Little Rock and throughout the state. No museum of African American 

history and culture would be complete without a discussion of the struggle for civil rights. 

MTCC focuses on the struggle for integration in Arkansas before and after the Little 

Rock Central High School Crisis of 1957. The exhibits shed light on other lesser-known 

aspects of the Civil Rights Movement in Arkansas, as well.

The educational component of the museum plan is critical to the mission of MTCC. 

Education Director, Kylia McDaniel, developed lesson plans and outreach programs 

for students, teachers, and the general public based on her experience as a classroom 

teacher. These lesson plans and other materials fill a gap in the teaching of Arkansas

history in grades K-12. All educational materials developed by the Education staff meet 

the Arkansas Department of Education Curriculum Frameworks and Standards.

While the musuem’s collection is rapidly growing, it is still relatively small and in 

need of donations. The museum is interested in acquiring photographs, manuscripts, 

ephemera, and three-dimensional objects. 

The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center is scheduled to open to the public in mid-2008. ❖

i For more information about the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, visit the website 

www.mosaictemplarscenter.com or call MTCC at 501/683-3593.

The diversity of people in Arlington, Virginia was highlighted in oral

histories and other documentation projects for the 400th anniversary of 

the settling of Jamestown. Courtesy of Arlington County Public Library. 

A troubled past...

The National Grand Temple 

has seen hard times before. 

Built in 1913, it was the first 

of three buildings erected 

by the Mosaic Templars. Two 

more structures were added 

on the same block—the 

Annex, built in 1918, and the 

State Temple, built in 1921, 

both provided additional 

office space for the growing 

organization. Unfortunately, 

like many businesses during 

the Great Depression, the 

Mosaic Templars were forced 

out of business. The original 

plan was to restore the 

Mosaic Templars of America 

National Grand Temple at 

the corner of West Ninth 

and Broadway Streets in 

downtown Little Rock. 

Subsequent to the fire, the 

Department of Arkansas 

Heritage developed a plan 

for a new structure almost 

twice the size of the original 

building, with expanded 

state-of-the-art exhibit space 

and educational facilities for 

school groups.

In Arlington, a new community project 

asks residents, “How has the current ‘face’ 

of Virginia and Arlington changed since 

the settlement of Jamestown by the English 

400 years ago?” 

Celebrating Diversity: Arlington and Jamestown at 400

Caridad de la Vega / National Conference for State Historic Preservation Officers

8 January/February 2008 Heritage matters 9
Colorado’s Lincoln Hills Resort and Historic Winks Lodge 

Cheryl Armstrong / James P. Beckwourth Mountain Club

Winks Lodge was a premiere destination and attraction for African 

Americans from the 1920s until 1965. Courtesy of James P. Beckwourth 

Mountain Club.

Winks Lodge: a cultural hotspot

Many famous African American entertainers and 

musicians from the 1930s through the 1950s visited 

the Lincoln Hills resort. According to several accounts, 

Winks Lodge guests included singer Lena Horne, and 

band leaders Duke Ellington and Count Basie. A haven 

for local and national intellectuals, Winks Lodge also 

became a summer “salon”; luminaries such as Harlem 

Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston and others 

gave private readings at the lodge. 

Resorts and places of recreation are of increasing 

interest to preservation organizations. Places

associated with African Americans are appearing

on local, state, and national historic registers. Winks Lodge 

at Lincoln Hills Resort in Colorado, a well-known nightclub 

and bar that featured jazz greats from the mid-20th century,

is one such place. The James P. Beckwourth Mountain Club 

is working to preserve this piece of Colorado’s African 

American heritage.

The James P. Beckwourth Club, founded in 1993 and 

based in Denver, Colorado, is a nationally recognized

nonprofit with award-winning programs. Named after

the African American mountain man, frontiersman, and

explorer, the club’s mission is “to preserve the legacy of 

James P. Beckwourth (1798-1866) by providing outdoor 

experiential programs to diverse youth and families, and to 

educate the public about people-of-color in the West.” 

Opened in 1922, The Lincoln Hills Resort was the first 

African American development of its kind, fully accessible by 

train and automobile—a significant accomplishment during 

the era of segregation. Located along South Boulder Creek, 

Lincoln Hills was popular enough to have had two dedicated 

stops on the rail line that linked Denver with Salt Lake City. 

The original resort extended over 100 acres. By the 1930s, a 

burgeoning African American middle class in need of places 

to recreate was enjoying the long, cool, summer seasons, 

numbering as many as 5,000 people on the weekends. One 

of reasons for the volume of visitors was Winks Lodge.

Throughout its 82-year history, Winks Lodge had 

been an obscure Colorado jewel. Named after builder and 

Denver Five Points entrepreneur, Obrey Wendell “Winks” 

Hamlet, the lodge was listed in the National Register of 

Historic Places in 1980. Nestled in the pines of the ArapahoRoosevelt National Forest, the three-story lodge is made of 

granite and river rock, with hand-hewn beams and posts. 

Winks began construction on the lodge in 1925, and he and 

his wife offered seasonal room and board continuously

from 1928 until his death in 1965. In addition to owning and 

operating the lodge, Winks Hamlet was the local game warden, sheriff, and general steward of the land. 

In April 2006, the Beckwourth Mountain Club

purchased Winks Lodge with a grant from the Colorado 

Historical Society. The club received another grant from

the State Historical Fund in October, 2006, for a Winks 

Lodge Historic Structure Assessment. The results of the 

report, performed by SlaterPaull Architects are currently 

under review by the Beckwourth Mountain Club. Once 

fully restored, Winks Lodge will be available to the public

as a local history learning center and for activities, conferences, and special events. ❖

i For more information about the club and Winks 

Lodge, visit http://www.beckwourthmountainclub.org 

or call 303-831-0564. For information about the 

Colorado Historical Society’s State Historical Fund (SHF) 

http://www.coloradohistory-oahp.org or contact Laurie 

Dunklee, SHF Public Relations Specialist, at 303/866-2049.

Conferences and Events

Conferences

April 2008 

SAH 61st Annual Meeting

April 23–27, 2008 / Cincinnati, Ohio

The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) is hosting its annual 

conference April 23–27, 2008, at the Hilton Nederlander Hotel

in Cincinnati, Ohio. The conference will revolve around contemporary discussions of ancient, medieval, and early modern architectural concepts, analysis of modern planning and development 

issues around the world, as well as new research on interdisciplinary architectural and engineering culture.

Visit www.sah.org/index.php for information.

AAM 2008 Annual Meeting and Museum Expo 

Leadership: An Open Mike for New Ideas

April 27–May 1, 2008 / Denver, Colorado

On April 27–May 1, 2008, the American Association of Museums 

(AAM) will host its annual conference in Denver, Colorado at

the Denver Convention Center. This year's theme is the issue of 

leadership—in our institutions, in our communities, and in the 

individuals working in every discipline within the museum.

How do we lead better, smarter, more creatively? How do we 

inspire and transform? How do we do it differently? AAM wants 

to examine new models for leadership and new thinking on 

how to lead at every level in a museum. It is looking for inspired 

approaches, breakthrough concepts, a lively debate on what it 

means to lead.

Visit www.aam-us.org/am08/prop-theme.cfm for information.

August 2008

AAAM Annual Conference 2008: 

Reflect, Reinvest, Revitalize!

August 27–30 2008 / Chicago, Illinois

The Association of African American Museums (AAAM) will hold 

its 2008 annual conference August 27–30 2008, in Chicago, Illinois. 

This year's theme "Reflect, Reinvest, Revitalize," will focus on 

watershed exhibitions featuring proficient curatorial practices, 

successful development campaigns that reinvest in the growth of 

an organization, and programs that revitalize professionalism in 

all manner of museum operations.

For more information and access to the proposal form, visit 

www.blackmuseums.org/prodev/2008_call_for_proposals.htm. 

September 2008

2008 AASLH Annual Meeting

September 9–12, 2008 / Rochester, New York

On September 9–12, in Rochester, NY, the American Association 

of State and Local History (AASLH) will host its annual conference, 

with this year's theme "Discovering the Power of Transformation." 

The history profession is a steward of a great transformative

power–the power of ideas, people, and places. This power is

evidenced throughout American, state, and local history. History 

organizations see this power of transformation as they interact 

with the public, whether it is using an historical character to inspire 

a young person to make a difference in their world or providing 

historical context for an important contemporary issue. 

Visit www.aalsh.org/anmeeting for information.

October 2008

National Trust's National Preservation Conference

October 21–25, 2008 / Tulsa, Oklahoma

The National Trust for Historic Preservation will host its National 

Preservation Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma, October 21–25, 2008. 

This year's theme is Preservation in Progress. The Trust will have a 

broad range of proposals that include cultural, subject matter, and 

geographic diversity.

For information on early registration, visit the Trust's Conference 

website at www.nthpconference.org/information/.

Events

Preservation-related 

Commemorations 

African American Heritage Month / February

Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month / May

Historic Preservation Month / May

Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month / September 15–October 15

American Indian Heritage Month / November

10 January/February 2008
Arlington and 

Jamestown at 400

The Mosaic Templars 

Cultural Center Rebuilt

Lincoln Hills Resort and 

Historic Winks Lodge 

About 

Heritage Matters

Heritage Matters, sponsored by the 

Cultural Resources Programs of the 

National Park Service, is published twice 

a year, and is free of charge. Readers 

are invited to submit short articles and 

notices for inclusion. (Limit submissions 

to fewer than 600 words and include 

author’s name and affiliation. 

Photographs or slides are welcome.) 

Please submit newsletter items in 

writing or electronically to: 

Brian D. Joyner, Editor, Heritage Matters 

DOI/National Park Service, 1849 C Street 

NW (2280), Washington, DC 20240 

phone: 202/354-2276 

e-mail: brian_joyner@nps.gov.

www.nps.gov

National Park Service

1849 C Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20240

Heritage Matters

News of the Nation’s Diverse Cultural Heritage

J an u a ry/Fe b r u a ry 2008

Paha Sapa: Ancestral 

Homeland of the Lakota

Jackie Robinson Ballpark 

Rehabilitated

The Pine Nut Harvest 

at Nellis Air Force Base

National Register 

Nominations

FIRST CLASS MAIL

Postage & Fees Paid

U.S. Department 

of the Interior