Nikki DeJesus Smith

Lewis Museum of Maryland 

African American History and Culture

Nearly 500 persons attended the

groundbreaking of the Reginald F.

Lewis Museum of Maryland African

American History and Culture in

Baltimore, Maryland, on Tuesday,

December 3, 2002. The proceedings

ended with a speech from Kweisi

Mfume of the NAACP, and with a

sense of great anticipation for the

museum’s opening.

The museum is the newest addition to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. It

will be the largest African American

museum on the East Coast. Sharing

more than 350 years of life experiences of Maryland African

Americans in its permanent exhibition, the

museum will also explore

broader national and

international issues in its

special exhibition

gallery and many

public programs.

The five-story

building will be

home to permanent

and special exhibitions, state-of-the art

resource center, distance learning center

provided by Verizon

Communications,

oral history recording

and listening studio,

200-seat theater, terrace facing the Inner

Harbor, museum

shop, café, and conservation lab.

The museum’s architecture has great

symbolism of the African American

experience. Clad in black granite

from Africa, the entire building

is penetrated by its Red Wall of

Freedom, which will be

inscribed with the names of contributors and their loved ones.

The atrium allows light to

shine throughout the

museum.

Construction of the $33 million

project will take from 18 to 24

months to complete, with the museum opening its doors to the public

in 2004. The architecture and

engineering design team,

Freelon/RTKL, has already

been awarded the 2002

Isosceles Award for the 

NEWS OF THE NATION’S DIVERSE CULTURAL HERITAGE

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Conferences 

upcoming, p. 19

Exhibit on tour, p. 6

Forgotten 

Patriots, p. 7

New museums, 

p. 1 and p. 9

National Register 

nominations, p. 10

Publication 

of note, p. 18

Teaching materials 

available, p. 3

HERITAGE MATTERS

HERITAGE

MATTERS

JUNE 2003

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture 

to be Newest Attraction at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor

The Reginald F. Lewis Museum is under construction at the corner of Pratt and President Streets, near the Inner Harbor

in Baltimore, Maryland. Image courtesy of Freelon/RTKL, a joint venture.

Through My Father’s

Eyes, a new SITES

travelling exhibit,

provides a remarkable look at Filipino

American culture.

See page 6.

(SEE LEWIS, PAGE 5)
Penn Students Study,

Conserve Bandelier

Tribal Sites

Frank Matero

University of Pennsylvania

In the American Southwest, native

cultures are a vital part of the

region's contemporary mosaic of

ethnic diversity. This is especially

evident through their long-standing

relationship to the land and landscape that is reflected in the continuity of place for all pueblo communities and the countless number of

traditional cultural places (TCPs)

and archeological sites that figure

prominently in contemporary beliefs

and practices.

Recently many such sites have

gained federal recognition and legal

protection through Native American

participation in federal government

programs such as the National Historic Preservation Act, the National

Environmental Policy Act, the American Religious Freedom Act, and the

formation of Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPOs). Yet,

stabilization, protection, and interpretation of these sites according to

both professional conservation principles and indigenous values and

beliefs have proven difficult.

The application of conservation

to these sites must be an integrated

approach that explores and critiques

multiple meanings and uses of cultural resources while maintaining

living contact with past and existing

indigenous traditions. This

approach can assist government

agencies in encouraging a sustainable relationship between native

communities and their ancestral,

archeological, and historic structures and landscapes. The process

must be “contextualized” to create

an adaptive strategy that addresses

the physical conservation of

HERITAGE

MATTERS

JUNE 2003

page 2

NPS ACTIVITIES
page 3

structures, places, and sites of cultural significance while acknowledging and responding to federal management policies and affiliated

groups' past identities and present

day needs, expectations, and beliefs.

Beginning in 1997, the Graduate

Program in Historic Preservation of

the University of Pennsylvania, the

National Park Service Intermountain Region-Santa Fe Support Office

(NPS), and Bandelier National

Monument, with several Native

American pueblo partners, inaugurated an integrated program on the

complex preservation issues associated with Native American traditional cultural places and archeological

sites. The first project focused on

developing a trail and site preservation plan for Tsankawi mesa unit in

Bandelier National Monument, an

ancestral puebloan site of great natural beauty and archeological and

cultural significance.

In 2001, NPS and University of

Pennsylvania continued their partnership in site conservation and

training at Frijoles Canyon through

the Vanishing Treasures Program,

with additional funding from the

Getty Grant Program and the Tauck

Foundation. The new program

addresses two diverse and unique

cultural resources at the park: the

over 1,000 cavates along the cliff

faces and the circular masonry

pueblo of Tyuonyi. A separate but

related architectural survey studied

the design and condition of the park

architecture and landscape features

built by the Civilian Conservation

Corps in the 1930s and 1940s, considered by many to be among the

finest in the National Park System.

The 2003 conservation program

will continue the developed methods for the documentation and GISbased survey of the cavates and their

landscape. Focus will be placed on

the recording, stabilization, and

management of these structures.

This will allow an analysis of conditions related to both natural and

cultural factors such as topography,

geology, hydrology, and existing

cavate design and condition in

developing an understanding of critical threats and an intervention

strategy based on technically sound

as well as culturally sensitive conservation measures. From this effort, a

preservation plan for the prehistoric

cavate structures and cavate landscape will be developed.

Integrated in all these projects

from the beginning has been a professional training program for

selected young adults from the affiliated pueblo communities. In this

way, the various expertise and individual contributions from the

National Park Service, the University

of Pennsylvania and the associated

pueblo affiliates can be brought

together and synthesized into concepts, approaches, and practical

solutions for the long-term management of this and other related sites.

Teaching with Historic

Places Launches 

100th On-line Plan

with School

Desegregation Lesson

Theresa Campbell-Page

National Conference of State Historic

Preservation Officers

In commemoration of African

American History Month, the

Teaching with Historic Places

(TwHP) program marked a major

milestone by releasing its 100th 

on-line lesson plan, “New Kent

School and the George W. Watkins

School: From Freedom of Choice to

Integration.” TwHP, a program of

the National Register of Historic

Places, offers a variety of products

and activities that help teachers

bring historic places into the classroom.

The lesson features two schools

in New Kent County, Virginia—the

New Kent School and the George W.

Watkins School. These schools were

associated with the most significant

public school desegregation case the

U.S. Supreme Court decided after

Brown v. Board of Education in

1954. While Brown v. Board of

Education ruled that separate

schools for blacks and whites were

inherently unequal, the 1968 U.S.

Supreme Court decision, Green v.

County School Board of New Kent

County, Virginia placed an affirmaNow known as the New Kent Middle

School, the New Kent School played

an important role in the desegregation of public schools in Virginia. Photo

courtesy of National Historic Landmark files.

Students investigate the Tsankawi

mesa unit during as a part of the

NPS/University of Pennsylvania

Graduate conservation program at

Bandelier National Monument in

New Mexico. Photo courtesy of

Architectural Conservation Laboratory/

University of Pennylvania.
HERITAGE

MATTERS

JUNE 2003

tive duty on school boards to integrate schools.

Through maps, readings, visuals,

and activities, students can discover

the history of the Green decision

and its significance in the fight to

end desegregation and expand the

rights of black citizens in the United

States. In the readings, students not

only learn about the historical context of the Green decision, but also

analyze excerpts from the decision

to understand why token desegregation plans failed. They also explore

the personal stories of individuals

such as Dr. Calvin Green, who sued

the New Kent School Board, and

Cynthia Gaines, one of the first students to integrate the all-white New

Kent School. The Visual Evidence

section allows students to evaluate

school yearbook photos and see

how the demographics of the

schools changed from the time of

the decision until integration was

realized. Activities in the lesson

encourage students to conduct oral

interviews, trace the history of their

school from the Brown decision

through the implementation of the

Green decision, and write journal

entries from the perspective of those

who experienced segregation. The

lesson also links to a variety of supplementary resources so the historical themes can be further

researched.

The creation of the New Kent lesson stemmed from several key

events. The two schools were highlighted in a congressionally mandated study of desegregation in public

education completed by the

National Park Service in August

2000. One result of that study was

the recommendation to nominate

the schools as National Historic

Landmarks. Gale Norton, Secretary

of the Interior, made that designation on August 7, 2001. (See

Heritage Matters, June 2002 for an

article regarding its National

Historic Landmark designation.)

National Park Service involvement in the recognition of these

schools did not stop with landmark

designation. Following designation,

an array of partners came together

to increase public awareness for the

Green case and the two nationally

significant historic sites. Teaming

with the New Kent County Board of

Education and the Department of

History at the College of William

and Mary, the National Park Service

applied for a grant from the Virginia

Foundation for the Humanities and

Public Policy’s African-American

Heritage Program to fund the creation of a Teaching with Historic

Places lesson plan. Jody Allen, Brian

Daugherity, and Sarah Trembanis,

Ph.D. candidates at the College of

William and Mary, researched and

wrote the lesson. They were assisted

by Frances Davis, Na’Dana Smith,

and Megan Walsh, Class of 2002 at

New Kent High School.

The lesson, “New Kent County

School and the George W. Watkins

School: From Freedom of Choice to

Integration,” is posted on the

Teaching with Historic Places website at www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp.

Where’s Smokey?

Sioux Code Talkers

and the War in the

Pacific

Tammy Duchesne

War in the Pacific National Historic Park

In late October of 2002, two park

visitors at War in the Pacific

National Historical Park, located on

the U.S. territory of Guam, made a

fascinating discovery dating to

World War II, and possibly connecting the war effort to the Sioux Tribe.

They found an elaborately engraved

canteen that referred to the South

Dakota Indian tribe and to the name

of “Smokey Dias.” 

Located about 3,300 miles southwest of Hawaii in the Mariana

Islands, Guam was the scene of

intense fighting between Japanese

and American forces during World

War II. It was here in July of 1944

that the American recapture of

Guam began with simultaneous

landings along multiple beaches,

followed by intense battles on the

island.

Now, almost 60 years later, the

visitors discovered the canteen,

which was probably exposed by

heavy rainfall earlier in the year.

They reported the artifact to

National Park Service rangers, who

then contacted park museum staff.

What makes the canteen unique is

the intricate and ornate design

engraved onto it. While the workmanship is impressive, the content

of the engraving makes it historically

significant. On one side the canteen

is engraved with “Kali-Sioux/

Reservation/Kali-Black Hills/South

Dakota.” The opposite side of the

canteen is engraved with a few symbols which resemble brands and

appear above the inscription

“Smokey Dias.” 

Since the canteen’s discovery, the

museum staff has been actively

searching for any and all information related to the canteen. In an

effort to learn who Smokey Dias

was, the most basic research

revealed that the name Dias does

not appear on a list that recognizes

and honors those who were killed,

injured, or victims of wartime suffering in Guam. In addition to using

the War in the Pacific’s historical

records, internet resources were also

employed to gather information.

Initial queries proved that the

Sioux, like the Navajo, served in the

Pacific, some of them using their

unique and complex language to

help code and disguise messages of

military importance during World

War II. These Native American soldiers were crucial and vital factors

in the American defeat of Japanese

forces in the Pacific theater. Sioux

page 4
page 5

Code Talkers were recognized for

their contributions and service by

the South Dakota legislature.

Unfortunately, the name Smokey

Dias is not listed among known

Sioux Code Talkers.

War in the Pacific National

Historical Park is searching for

information about GIs from the

Sioux Reservation that served in

Guam during World War II, and are

extremely interested in acquiring

information about Smokey Dias. The

canteen is already providing new

information about the lives of those

men who fought in the Pacific 

theatre during World War II. The

canteen also might serve as a catalyst in developing a new museum

exhibit that recognizes the contribution of Native Americans in the war.

If anyone has any information

about Sioux serving in Guam during

World War II, or any information

about Smokey Dias, call War in the

Pacific National Historical Park at

671/355- 5096, ext. 7; or fax: 671/355-

5098 or 671/472-1475. Address correspondence to Eric Brunnemann,

Park Superintendent, War in the

Pacific National Historical Park,

Maintenance Building 115 Marine

Drive, Piti, Guam 96915, e-mail:

Tammy Duchesne at Tammy_

Duchesne@partner.nps.gov, and

Eric_Brunnemann@nps.gov. For

more information about Guam and

War in the Pacific National Historical Park, visit www.nps.gov/wapa.

museum’s design and visitor-friendly

atmosphere. The exhibition design

firm, Gallagher and Associates, has

created nationally-renowned exhibitions such as The American

Presidency and African Voices at

the Smithsonian Institution, and the

new interactive International Spy

Museum in Washington, D.C.

The museum’s permanent exhibition will allow visitors to choose

from an array of provocative experiences collected into three distinct

categories: Labor that Built a

Nation, Family & Community, and

Art & Enlightenment. Within each

gallery a single idea unites and illuminates the stories of Maryland

African Americans through interactive exhibits incorporating rare photographs and documents, fine and

folk art, clothing, furnishings, tools,

and other materials tied to renowned

and lesser-known Marylanders.

Museum visitors will have the opportunity to meet unsung heroes and

experience their first-person

accounts of historical and contemporary eras and events.

Unveiled at the groundbreaking

celebration were 14 original works

of art created for the museum’s construction site. The exhibition,

Through a Child’s Eyes, was created

by Maryland Institute College of Art

students and children from the Boys

and Girls Club of Central Maryland,

in collaboration with Crayola Works

Studios in Arundel Mills Mall. The

museum’s logo, campaign, and membership materials were also made

public during this celebration. The

new logo communicates the journey

of the African American, culminating

in triumph and inspiration.

The museum also launched its

new website at the groundbreaking,

sponsored by Washington Gas. To

serve as an information resource,

the website will also be an interactive and user-friendly environment

for visitors seeking information

about the museum’s services, programs, events, and membership. It

will also be an important tool for

educators, students, and historians

researching the African diaspora.

For more information, visit the website,

www.AfricanAmericanCulture.org, or phone:

410/333-1130. 

(LEWIS, FROM PAGE 1)

Maryland notables, including Kweisi

Mfume, left, and Gov. Robert L.

Erlich, Jr., center, participate in the

ground breaking for the Lewis

Museum of African American History

and Culture in Baltimore, Maryland.

Photo courtesy of Roy Lewis.
HERITAGE

MATTERS

JUNE 2003

page 6

Filipino American

Culture Through My

Father’s Eyes

Brian D. Joyner

National Park Service 

History and cultural heritage are not

always communicated well through

written descriptions. However,

photographic documentation provides a visual point of reference and

a connection on an emotional level.

The combination of the two offers a

comprehensive examination of the

topic. Through My Father’s Eyes:

The Photographs of Ricardo Ocreto

Alvarado offers visitors an informed

look at life in the Pinoy (Filipino

American) community in California

in the 1940s and 1950s.

An amateur photographer,

Ricardo Alvarado chronicled the

Filipino community in and around

the San Francisco Bay area through

nearly 3,000 black and white photographs over the course of 20 years.

Through My Father’s Eyes is divided

into four sections that address the

Pinoy experience: “Manong

Generation,” “Second Generation,”

“Postwar Era,” and “Diversity.” 

The curators, Janet Alvarado, the

subject’s daughter, and Franklin Odo

of the Smithsonian Institution, weave

the historical narrative of Filipino

immigration and assimilation at a

pivotal point in the 20th century into

Alvarado’s observations. Ordering of

the images in a thematic, but loosely

chronological fashion enables

Alvarado’s lens to move visitors from

the passing of the “manong,” or

older brothers in Luzon dialect, who

came to work as agricultural laborers

in Hawaii and on the western coast

of mainland America or as domestics, through the relative prosperity

of the postwar period.

The curators illustrate the Pinoy

community’s growing sense of security within society during the middle

of the century with their choice of

images and use of historical narrative. As Alvarado’s images capture

the transition from a society of bachelors to a community of families, the

narrative fills in the blanks with a

brief discussion on marriage and citizenship. (Marriage to whites was

illegal—although some did take

place—and the number of female

Filipino immigrants was miniscule

prior to World War II, so some Pinoy

married outside of their community,

primarily to Mexican women.) 

Other Filipinos remained bachelors well into their forties, or until

they could return to the Philippines to

find a wife. Images of solitary Filipino men working in agricultural

labor transition to those of Pinoy

families at home and at play in Alvarado’s work. The photographs show

Pinoy community-sponsored events,

such as “box” dances and beauty pageants. The narrative denotes the

implicit prosperity and security of the

community in these events.

PARTNERS INITIATIVES

(right) Filipino migrant workers harvested bellpeppers, lettuce, celery,

artichoke, and asparagus crops. Photo

courtesy of Ricardo Alvarado, the Alvarado

Project.

(opposite page) This portrait was

taken during one of Alvarado’s visits

to a California farm area. Photo courtesy of Ricado Alvarado, the Alvaredo Project.
page 7

Through My Father’s Eyes illustrates the multicultural nature of the

Pinoy experience. Residents lived

and worked with African Americans,

Latin Americans, and European

Americans. Alvarado captures his

neighbors in bars and stores, at social

occasions, and in their places of business. One image of Pinoy and

European Americans at a picnic is

hung near another of Alvarado and

his coworkers, black and Latino, in

the Letterman Army Hospital kitchen.

An interracial band performs at a

party for the Pinoy community in the

Bay area in another.

Alvarado’s personal experience is

reflected in the narrative arc of the

exhibit. He arrived in the United

States in 1928, working as a houseboy and janitor. After a stint in the

U.S. Army First Filipino Infantry

Regiment during World War II, he

worked as a cook at Letterman

Army Hospital at the Presidio in San

Francisco. He returned to the

Philippines in 1959 to get married.

Through My Father’s Eyes offers an

impressive view of Filipino

Americans. The exhibit will travel

the country in conjunction with the

Smithsonian Institution Traveling

Exhibition Service (SITES).

For more information, visit

thealvaradoproject.com or www.apa.si.edu.

Forgotten Patriots

Symposium

Eric G. Grundset

Daughters of the American Revolution Library

On January 11, 2003, over 200 participants attended the Forgotten

Patriots: African American and

American Indian Service in the

Revolutionary War symposium

held at the national headquarters of

the Daughters of the American

Revolution (DAR) in Washington,

DC. The event was part of the

DAR’s desire to recognize the

involvement of all patriots, regardless of color, in the Revolutionary

War and to help illuminate their 

stories in the historical record.

The symposium was the result of

a long-standing research project

supported by DAR. In the mid1980s, DAR staff sought to identify

and document the names of African

Americans and American Indians

who joined in the war against Great

Britain. A series of booklets were

published in the 1980s and 1990s.

After the completion of the final

booklet in 2000, all of these compilations were gathered together,

updated, and edited as a single volume. The resulting publication,

African American and American

Indian Patriots of the Revolutionary War, identifies some 3,000

individuals and provides references

to the documented sources, which

support their identification as patriots of the American cause during

the period of the Revolutionary War,

April 1775-November 1783.

With the completion of African

American and American Indian

Patriots, the DAR Museum decided

to prepare an exhibit on the same

topic. After securing the necessary

personal effects and illustrative documents, the Forgotten Patriots

exhibit opened at DAR headquarters

in October 2002. The central feature

of the exhibit is a series of large

panels bearing the names of those

patriots identified in the book. The

exhibit will run through mid-August

2003 and is open to the public.

The symposium began with

greetings from Linda Tinker

Watkins, President General, National

Society of Daughters of the

American Revolution; Mark A.

Gresham, President and CEO of the

Black Patriots Foundation; and

Keller George, President of the

United Southern and Eastern Tribes.

The speakers, session chairs, and

commentators were well-known figures in the field of Revolutionary

War history: Gary B. Nash, UCLA;

Colin G. Calloway, Dartmouth

College; Louis E. Wilson, Smith

College; Debra Newman Ham,
HERITAGE

MATTERS

JUNE 2003

page 8

Morgan State University; Gregory E.

Dowd, University of Michigan; Greg

O’Brien, University of Southern

Mississippi; Andrew R. L. Cayton,

Miami University; Sylvia R. Frey,

Tulane University; Julie Winch,

University of Massachusetts,

Boston; Woody Holton, University

of Richmond; Ira Berlin, University

of Maryland; Warren Hofstra,

Shenandoah University; John D.

Garrigus, Jacksonville University;

and Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, Rutgers

University.

Among the topics covered were

the role of Northern Indians,

George Washington’s relationship

with Indians, the impact of the

Revolution on the Choctaws,

American Indian influences on the

United States Constitution, African

American patriots of Rhode Island,

methods for identifying African

American soldiers, the varied roles

of black patriots in the struggle, and

the French Colonial “free colored”

volunteers in the Battle of

Savannah. The idea of publishing

the papers presented at the seminar

is under investigation.

The DAR welcomes information

documenting the roles of other

African American and American

Indian patriots in the Revolutionary

War. The study of this important

aspect of the history of the

American Revolution continues

daily at DAR by staff members who

are proud to be involved in ensuring

that this story is no longer forgotten.

For more information on Forgotten Patriots

exhibit, visit http://www.dar.org/museum/exhibitions.html, or contact Nancy Gibson at 202/879-

3238, e-mail: ngibson@dar.org.

Passages to Freedom

Conference

Brian D. Joyner and Diane Miller 

National Park Service

The past two decades have seen a

renewed interest in the

Underground Railroad (UGRR), the

cultural phenomenon in which

enslaved African Americans fled to

freedom by their own means or

with the assistance of sympathetic

individuals of all persuasions: black,

white, enslaved, and free. This has

led to legislation from Congress to

research and commemorate the

UGRR, increased academic research

on the topic, and new collecting

institutions and organizations dedicated to preserving its legacy. Part

of that legacy is the assertion of the

historic merit and veracity of the

UGRR. On February 27-March 1,

2003, “Passages to Freedom: The

Underground Railroad in American

History and Legend” Conference,

Community Tribute, and Cultural

Fair convened in Washington, DC

“to increase the public awareness of

both the written and oral history of

one of the most important movements in United States history,” as

stated by Niani Kilkenny, Director

of the Smithsonian Institution’s

Program in African American

Culture.

“Passages to Freedom” was a

joint endeavor of the National

Museum of American History and

the National Underground Freedom

Center, in collaboration with the

National Park Service (NPS). The

event was held at the Smithsonian’s

National Museum of American

History Behring Center. Over the

course of the conference’s seven

sessions, scholars, private and public preservation practitioners, and

interpreters presented varied interpretations of the UGRR: as a means

of resistance, placed within an

international, diasporic context, and

as a powerful part of American

mythology.

Sessions on the first day of the

conference featured noted scholars.

“Follow the Drinking Gourd:

Underground Railroad in Legends

and Lore” explored the issue of

how we can know about the

Underground Railroad. In particular, use of oral traditions to illuminate Underground Railroad history

and the means of evaluating them

were presented by Milton Sernett,

John Michael Vlach, and Judith

Wellman. African American agency

in the struggle for freedom and selfdetermination was the focus of

“Freedom Over Me: African

American Resistance and the

Underground Railroad.” This session, with presentations by Wilma

King, Carol Wilson, Hilary Russell,

and Freddie Parker, illuminated the

role of children, free blacks, and

freedom seekers themselves, in

escaping enslavement.

“I Want to Cross Over: The

International Context for the

Underground Railroad” drew attention to the broader context of the

Underground Railroad and the

need to examine where freedom

seekers settled in order to understand the movement. Jane Landers,

Ron Tyler, Jane Rhodes, and Kevin

Mulroy shared material on resistance in Spanish Florida, Mexico,

and Canada, and discussed the

international diplomacy skills of

Seminole maroon communities.

The session “Trouble the Water:

Interpreting and Presenting the

Underground Railroad, A Public

History Roundtable” facilitated by

James Horton, sought to address the

issue of the UGRR’s mythology and

historicity as it relates to public sites

through a series of questions posed

to the panel. The session opened

with a welcome from David Blight,

who set the stage for a discussion of

the tension between myth and reality as it plays out in the public history arena.

The session “...‘Sounds Within

My Soul’: Pioneers in Underground

Railroad Research and Collecting”

brought together community advocates who have been preserving the

history of the Underground

Railroad for decades. These

researchers spoke of their passion
for, and the importance of, this story

while explaining how they came to

devote so much of their lives to it.

Panelists included Charles Blockson,

whose scholarship and extensive

collection are largely responsible for

the resurgence of interest in the

Underground Railroad.

The conference concluded with 

a session by Bernice Johnson

Reagon, “Songs and Singing in the

Struggle for Freedom and Survival

during the Era of Slavery in the

United States of America.” This

presentation mixed a capella renditions of many well-known songs

performed by Dr. Johnson Reagon

with analysis of their meaning. She

also discussed historically and culturally accurate versions of many

songs.

The conference was a part of the

Smithsonian Institution’s Program in

African American Culture’s Annual

African American History Month

Observance.

For more information on the Program in 

African American Culture, visit the website at

http://americanhistory.si.edu/paac/

New Building for 

Iowa African

American Museum

Pam Edwards

The African American Historical Museum 

and Cultural Center of Iowa

The African American Historical

Museum and Cultural Center of

Iowa will open its new facility in

Cedar Rapids during the summer of

2003. Iowa’s forgotten black history—such as the enslaved African

American York on the Lewis and

Clark Expedition, Underground

Railroad exploits, Iowa’s 1867 lawsuit desegregating its schools, and

the Civil Rights ferment of the 1960s

and 1970s—will be exhibited.

Founded in 1994 by members of

Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Cedar

Rapids, the African American

Historical Museum quickly

outgrew its

original concept as a local history

collection. The upcoming grand

opening will reveal a 17,000 square

foot museum that will explore

Iowa’s black history through exhibitions, educational programming,

and the Iowa Communications

Network—a state-owned fiber optic

link connecting Iowa’s educational

institutions and libraries.

While past indifference has

regrettably allowed invaluable historical artifacts to be lost, the

Museum’s staff is now working to

preserve as much as possible

statewide. In addition, exhibition

artifacts borrowed from other museums include slave shackles, a Civil

War projectile, and a desk used in

the South Carolina statehouse during Reconstruction.

For more information, contact Executive Director

Joseph McGill, Jr. at PO Box 1626, Cedar Rapids, 

IA 52406. Phone: 319/862-2101, e-mail: valjoe@

aol.com or curator Susan Kuecker at 

grahamjames@mcleod.net.

STATE INITIATIVES

The new African American Historical

Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa

will exhibit and interpret the state’s

African American history. Photo 

courtesy of Kristine Chiafos.

page 9
page 10

National Register

Nominations

Rustin Quaide and Caridad de la Vega 

National Conference of State Historic

Preservation Officers

Bethel African Methodist 

Episcopal Church 

The Bethel African Methodist Epis- copal (AME) Church of Monongahela City, located in Washington

County, Pennsylvania, was con- structed in the Gothic Revival style

and served as the social center of the

African-American community since

the 1870s. Bethel AME derives its

significance in the areas of architecture and ethnic heritage. Listed in

the National Register of Historic

Places on November 17, 2002, Bethel

AME stands as one of the oldest

African-American congregations in

southwestern Pennsylvania.

The construction of the church is

attributed to a well-known local

architect/builder, John Blythe, who was involved in the construction of

other local buildings during the

city’s largest building boom in history. Construction on the church

commenced in 1871 with the interior

of the sanctuary not completed until 1894, however, the congregation utilized the building starting in 1871.

Previously housed at a smaller

church located on Fair Street 

(currently known as Sixth Street),

Bethel AME stands as the oldest

landmark of Monongahela’s AfricanAmerican community because almost all African-Americans residing in Monongahela prior to the 1880s were associated in some

respect with this congregation.

Bethel AME was designated a National

Register property on November 17,

2002 for its architectural contribution

as a Gothic Revival style church, and as

the social center for African-Americans

in Monongahela City, Pennsylvania,

since the 1870s. Photo courtesy of Terry A.

Necciai.

HERITAGE

MATTERS

JUNE 2003
page 11

As the oldest enduring AfricanAmerican institution in the eastern

half of Washington County, Bethel

AME has met the religious and

social needs of its congregation for

more than a century.

St. Christopher’s Mission

St. Christopher’s Mission, listed in

the National Register of Historic

Places on November 18, 2002, is

located just east of the town of

Bluff, Utah. It was established in

1943 with the construction of the

Mission House, constructed of local

red sandstone. H. Baxter Liebler

(1889-1982), an Episcopal priest from

Connecticut, came to Bluff in 1943

to establish a mission to the Navajos,

which he named St. Christopher’s

Mission. Father Lieber established

himself within the community, by

participating in Navajo ceremonies

and rituals, and growing his hair

long and wearing it tied back. The

Navajo called him “The One With

Long Hair Who Drags His Robe

Around” or “Long Hair” for short.

St. Christopher’s Mission was the

first medical facility to treat tuberculosis among the Navajos in Utah. By

1950, a room in the east wing of the

mission house became the official

clinic, which averaged nearly 300

outpatients a month, and during the

years that the mission ran the hospital, there are estimates of 500

Navajo births at the clinic.

Today, St. Christopher’s remains

a church; its other duties have been

taken over by federal, state, and tribal facilities. Before Father Liebler

arrived in Bluff, there were no missions, schools, or medical facilities

for the Navajo living in the barren

and remote Utah section of the

Navajo reservation, and less than

100 miles of road serviced the whole

Navajo reservation.

Congregation Tifereth Israel

Congregation Tifereth Israel was

entered in the National Register of

Historic Places on November 21,

2002. Tifereth Israel is located on

the south side of 54th Avenue

between 109th and 111th Streets, in

the Corona neighborhood of

Queens, New York. Built in 1911, the

property consists of two contributing buildings: the synagogue and the

rabbi’s residence.

Congregation Independent

Chevra Tyfers Israel Anshei Corona

was organized in 1907 but did not

incorporate until 1911. Unlike synagogues formed by Jews immigrating

from a single town in Europe, who

often included in their synagogue’s

name the phrase “Anshei” plus the

name of their European town of origin, in Corona what united the synagogue members was their new

neighborhood, hence the name

“Anshei Corona” (“People of

Corona”). It was built as the religious center of the Ashkenazic community. According to its incorporation, the congregation’s purpose was

“[t]o have a synagogue for the purposes of praying, to bury their dead,

and to advance its members spiritually and intellectually.” 

One of the members of the synagogue was Josephine Esther Mentzer

who grew up to become the successful cosmetic entrepreneur, Estee

Lauder. Although the relatively

small Jewish population of Queens

has grown over the past decades, the

population of Corona was shrinking

until recent Bukharan immigrants

from the former Soviet republics

arrived and added life to Tifereth

Israel. The Corona synagogue 

survives today as a distinctive 

One of the more famous members of

Tiferith Israel was Estee Lauder, who

began her cosmetic business selling

products door-to-door in the Corona

neighborhood of Queens, New York.

Photo courtesy of Kathy Howe.

The St. Christopher’s Mission has

served the Navajo community in

Bluff, Utah, for 60 years. Photo 

courtesy of Corey Jensen. 
HERITAGE

MATTERS

JUNE 2003

page 12

architectural, cultural, and religious

landmark of the Yiddish-speaking,

Eastern European Jewish community

in New York City.

Oregon-American Lumber Company

Mill Office

The Oregon-American Lumber

Company Mill office, built in 1924,

was listed in the National Register of

Historic Places in December 5, 2002.

It is significant as the only remaining

building of the mill’s complex that

once covered more than 100 acres at

the city limits of Veronica, Oregon.

The Oregon-American Lumber

Company was a major employer of

African Americans, Filipino,

Japanese, and East Indian workers.

The workers lived in company

housing segregated by ethnicity.

Filipinos worked as experienced

timber workers in the mill while the

Japanese men mainly performed

section gang work on the logging

railroad. The national decree that

sent Japanese-Americans to internment camps during the war ended

their presence in Veronica, and none

returned to the mill after World War

II. Little is known of the East

Indian workers and their experiences working for the mill and living

in Veronica. Company officials

recruited numerous African American workers and their families from

Kansas City, Missouri, to work at the

company. Although an NAACP

chapter secured access to public

schools for African American children in 1926, African American families left Veronica with the closing of

the mill.

The Oregon-American Lumber

Company Mill Office building is a

one-and-one-half-story wood frame

building that reflects the Craftsmen

Bungalow style, and is roughly Lshaped in plan, with a concrete

foundation and brick chimneys.

Moncure Tipi

The Moncure Tipi, in Busby,

Montana, was listed in the National

Register of Historic Places on

December 20, 2002. The Moncure

Tipi is one of three permanent tipishaped buildings to have been constructed in Montana during the

early 20th century, and was a site of

tribal ceremonies and dances for the

Northern Cheyenne American

Indian community. In addition, it

housed Civilian Conservation Corps

work crews during the 1930s 

construction of the Busby School.

The Oregon-American lumber mill in Veronica, Oregon employed people of multiple Asian descents and of African

descent during its 30-year history. Photo courtesy of Janice Dilg.
page 13

The Moncure Tipi stands along

Montana Highway 212 on the southwestern edge of the small community of Busby, a town with over 400

people lying within the Northern

Cheyenne Indian reservation in

southeastern Montana, in the

Rosebud Creek valley. The Moncure

Tipi is a two-story conical wooden

building clad in continuous courses

of wood shingles from the top to

ground level. An expression of

Northern Cheyenne culture and a

gathering place for the small town of

Busby, the Moncure Tipi is both

architecturally and historically significant to the local community.

Though the building’s design is

reminiscent of roadside architecture

often constructed in an effort to

entice automobile travelers to stop

and visit, the Moncure Tipi was not

designed as a tourist attraction.

Rather, it recalls the traditional tipi

design used by the Northern

Cheyenne, and is indicative of the

importance of cultural tradition in

the community. In 1941, the building

was sold to Northern Cheyenne tribal members. It was later used as a

restaurant and furniture store before

passing out of use, but it has

remained a local landmark for the

Northern Cheyenne people.

Booker T. Washington School

The Booker T. Washington School in

Terre Haute, Indiana, was listed in

the National Register of Historic

Places on October 16, 2002. Built in

1914, it was located in what was the

heart of the African American community. The original two-story, rectangular brick structure features a

flat roof, a raised concrete basement, and concrete and limestone

detailing. It replaced the 10th

District School (1884-1914), which

was renamed for Booker T.

Washington in 1906. The new

Booker T. Washington School was

formally dedicated on May 28, 1915,

at South 13th Street between Craft

and Franklin, where it still stands.

The Washington School became a

meeting place for African American

clubs, groups, and other activities.

Part of the Washington School’s

significance lies in its educators,

including Charles T. Hyte, Jane

Dabney

Shackleford, and Evangeline Harris

Merriweather, all of whom have all

been intimately tied to Washington

School and the history of African

American education in Indiana.

Shackleford taught at the

Washington School from 1925-1962.

Shackleford wrote textbooks on

African Americans or their achievements, including My Happy Days

and The Child’s Story of the Negro.

Merriweather also taught at the

Washington School, and received

fame as a musician and author. She

performed throughout the United

States and penned the readers The

Family and later Stories for Little

Tots, a book geared for African

American elementary school students that included brief biographies of prominent African

American men and women.

Anduiza Hotel

The Anduiza Hotel, in Boise, Idaho,

was listed in the National Register of

Historic Places on February 25,

2003. The growth and movement of

the sheep herding industry led to

the Basque immigrants’ dispersing

across the American West into

The Moncure Tipi in Busby,

Montana, is a landmark

for the Northern Cheyenne people because it

was the site of tribal

ceremonies and

dances. Photo courtesy of Chere Jiusto.
HERITAGE

MATTERS

JUNE 2003

page 14

Idaho, Nevada, and parts of Oregon

and Utah, but California and Idaho

held the greatest number of Basque

colonies. Basques may have arrived

in Idaho as early as 1891. The Basque

people originate from an area in

Spain occupying the Pyrenees at the

Bay of Biscay on either side of the

border of northern Spain and southern France.

Basques built boarding houses

across the American West to fulfill

the need for short-term housing for

the sheep herding industry. The first

boarding house in Boise was documented in Ada County city directories in 1903, and by 1920 as many as

13 Basque boarding houses operated

within five blocks of one another in

downtown Boise. Juan “Jack”

Anduiza, a Basque immigrant, built

the Anduiza Hotel in 1914. Local

architects Benjamin Nisbet and

Frank Paradice designed the building for Anduiza specifically as a

Basque boarding house with a fronton (ball court) integrated into the

structure. The incorporation of the

handball court into the design of the

boarding house reflects the strong

associations with the Basque

“national” game of pelota.

Many Basques did not speak

English, however the proprietors, or

hoteleros of the boarding houses,

did, and could provide a link to

employment and the wider community. Anduiza was active in the

Basque and local community, and he

founded an organization to aid

Basques with insurance matters.

The Anduiza Hotel’s significance is

derived from the fact that only two

completely intact pelota courts

remain in the state of Idaho while

formerly, there were at least four

courts in Boise, and as many as five

others in the state.

Eagle Saloon Building 

The Eagle Saloon Building, in New

Orleans, Louisiana, was listed in the

National Register of Historic Places

on November 16, 2002. South

Rampart Street, home to the Eagle

Saloon Building, was once a flourishing entertainment and commercial district for African Americans

containing drugstores, barbershops,

theaters, live music venues, combination grocery stores/saloons, second-hand stores, saloons and pawnshops. Those who knew South

Rampart in its heyday remember it

as a central hub of the African

American community. South

Rampart was one of New Orleans'

most important neighborhoods in

the early development of jazz.

The Eagle Saloon was a favorite

haunt of early jazz musicians, possibly giving its name to the Eagle
page 15

Band, the successor to Buddy

Bolden's band. Bolden, among the

earliest to play jazz, was called by

some “the father of jazz.” The third

floor of this building is widely

believed by locals to be the location

of the famed Odd Fellows ballroom,

an early jazz venue where musicians

such as Bolden and the Robichaux

Orchestra played. The Eagle name is

generally regarded by jazz historians

as progressing from the pawnshop,

to the saloon, to the famous Eagle

Band.

The three-story, plaster-overbrick Eagle Saloon Building fronts

onto South Rampart, at the corner

of Perdido. The building was

remodeled in the 1920s and features

a cast concrete parapet composed of

sections of openwork Italianate

balustrade punctured by solid panels with ornamental bas-relief. It is

listed for its significance to local history and to the history of jazz in

America.

Karnofsky Tailor Shop-House 

The Karnofsky Tailor Shop-House,

in New Orleans, Louisiana, a twostory brick building, was listed in

the National Register of Historic

Places on October 16, 2002. The

building at 427-431 South Rampart is

locally significant within the context

of New Orleans’ African American

history as a rare survivor of once

flourishing entertainment/business

district, which stretched for several

blocks along South Rampart. Aside

from the African American presence,

a mixture of Jewish, Italian, and

Chinese stores, tailor shops, and

other businesses were common in

the area. The Louisiana State

Historic Preservation office staff

estimate the date of construction for

the Karnofsky Tailor Shop-House

around 1910.

While it has had various occupants over the years, the most

famous in local jazz circles are the

Karnofskys, a Jewish family that has

attained almost mythical status for

befriending a young Louis

Armstrong (1901-1971), who would

grow up to be the international performer called by many the greatest

of all jazz musicians. In unpublished memoirs Armstrong relates

that, as a youngster, he worked for

Louis Karnofsky’s junk business.

Armstrong recalled that the

Karnofskys loaned him money on

his salary to buy a “real horn.” 

Federal Tax Incentives

for Rehabilitating

Historic Properties

Projects

Angela Shearer

National Park Service

For more than a quarter century, the

Federal Historic Tax Incentives

Program has been an effective tool

for stimulating economic revitalization in communities throughout the

United States while preserving our

culturally significant places. 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 of the cost of

rehabilitating an income-producing

building. The following are two

notable examples of successful rehabilitation projects that utilized the

federal tax credit program while protecting valuable diverse resources.

(left and above) The Eagle Saloon and the Karnofsky Tailor Shop-House, both

on South Rampart Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, are connected to the

beginnings of jazz through Buddy Bolden and Louis Armstrong, respectively. 

Photos courtesy of Donna Fricker (left) and State of Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation

and Tourism Office of Cultural Development, Historic Preservation (above).
HERITAGE

MATTERS

JUNE 2003

page 16

Douglas Junior and Senior 

High School

For nearly 40 years, the Douglass

Junior and Senior High School,

located at the corner of Bruce Street

and Tenth Avenue in Huntington,

West Virginia served as the educational, cultural, and athletic center

for the African-American community. Named in honor of Frederick

Douglass, this three-story red-brick

school was built 1924-1926 to replace

the old “Douglass” school and was

designed by the Ohio firm of

Frampton and Bowers.

This Neoclassical style building

features white terra cotta exterior

trim and large elegant windows.

The school’s expanding educational

curriculum and growth were facilitated with the addition of a twostory auditorium in 1937 and a gymnasium in 1950. Graduates of

Douglass School who achieved distinguished careers include: Dr.

Leroy Allen, educator (served as

President of Bluefield State College);

Dr. Vernie Bolden, pastor and

author on several books on psychology; Earl Johnson, attorney, involved

in many civil rights cases in Florida

during the 1960s; and Hal Geer, athlete, star of the Philadelphia 76ers

basketball team.

Douglass High School closed in

1961 and was later renamed the

Fairfield School. Between 1963 and

1981, the building served as a school

for special education, educational

offices, and a student-testing center.

Although the interior was renovated

several times after the building initially closed in 1961, the exterior

barely changed. On December 25,

1985, the building was listed in the

National Register of Historic Places

for its significance to AfricanAmerican history during the period

of segregation. The historic name of

Douglass Junior and Senior High

School was returned to this landmark building the same year.

In the summer 2001, rehabilitation work was undertaken to convert Douglass Junior and Senior

High School to a new use as a medical outreach clinic and job training

center. Prior to the rehabilitation

work, the original windows were

highly deteriorated with more than

50% of the original windows having

been previously replaced.

Replacement windows and new

entrance doors returned the building to its original appearance. In

addition, the brick and terra cotta

trim were cleaned according to

National Park Service guidance

using the gentlest means possible.

The gymnasium roof was also

replaced. The project was completed in January 2003.

Ike’s Café

Ike’s Café forms an integral component of the Chinese-American

community in the small agricultural

town of Walnut Grove, located in

California’s Sacramento Valley.

Although fire twice destroyed the

Chinese community’s cultural, recreational, and commercial center, a

collection of about thirty buildings

constructed primarily between 1937

and 1940 forms the city’s Chinese

American Historic District. Listed

in the National Register of Historic

Places on March 22, 1990, the district is significant as the last Chinese

American commercial district constructed for Chinese agricultural

workers of the Sacramento Delta.

The district is characterized architecturally by small-scale commercial
page 17

City of Atlanta’s

Comprehensive

Historic Resource

Survey

Doug Young

Atlanta Urban Design Commission

The Comprehensive Historic

Resource Survey (CHRS) is a multiyear project by the city of Atlanta’s

Urban Design Commission to create

a comprehensive inventory of the

city’s historic places. The survey

will focus on neighborhoods, buildings, sites, and structures. Of particular interest to the Atlanta Urban

Design Commission are places that

have been unrecognized before or

that have importance beyond what

is known.

The last comprehensive survey of

the historic places was completed the

in the late 1980s. The findings were

compiled and published in Atlanta’s

Lasting Landmarks. The Atlanta City

Council adopted the finished publication as the official inventory of

potential, listed, or designated historic resources in Atlanta. However,

since 1987, only neighborhood-oriented or project-specific surveys have

been completed.

Maintaining and updating an

inventory of historic properties is

both a regulatory and policy requirement of the Atlanta Urban Design

Commission. The 2000 and 2001

Atlanta Comprehensive Development

Plans identified several historic

resource or historic preservation

issues that necessitate an updated

comprehensive historic resource

inventory.

For example, properties associated both locally and nationally with

the Civil Rights Movement are not

well recognized by the general public,

as was demonstrated in the discussion of the fate of the Rich’s

Department Store complex and the

Peachtree-Broad Building. Much of

Atlanta’s industrial and rural past is

slowly vanishing as more in-fill development and redevelopment occurs in

and around the city. Pre-history,

archeological, and Civil War sites are

undocumented. Buildings, structures, and neighborhoods that illustrate Atlanta’s development after

World War II and were less than 50

years old at the time of the last survey are now old enough to be considered. With the advent of geographic

information systems, computer databases, and interactive web-based

applications, the ability to catalogue

and distribute information about historic properties is greatly increased.

The updated survey will synthesize all efforts since 1987 and at the

same time address pressing cultural

resource management issues. The

Atlanta Urban Design Commission

will provide the overall project management, and has formed the Survey

Advisory Committee to help oversee

the survey. The current Advisory

Committee consists of individuals

from a variety of backgrounds who

have expertise in a wide range of historic preservation, planning, and

general design subjects.

Since the convening of the

Advisory Committee a year ago, the

Committee members and Urban

Design Commission staff have been

focusing on organizational and logistical issues, basic fact gathering, and

consolidation of existing information. As part of this effort, a variety

of readily available information

sources have been electronically catalogued and mapped. In addition, the

COMMUNITY INITIATIVES buildings, one-and two-stories in

height, covered in stucco or a stucco façade with corrugated metal on

the other elevations.

Ike’s Café was constructed in

1916 following the first fire and is

significant as one of only two buildings in the historic district to have

survived the 1937 fire. This wood

frame building is one story in

height at the front elevation, but

two stories at the rear elevation.

After the 1937 fire, all but the front

elevation of the building was covered in corrugated metal as a fire

protection measure. The building

derives its name from Isaac (Ike)

Hanlon, who operated a restaurant

and stage depot in the building

from the late 1920s to the early

1940s.

After sitting vacant for a number

of years, rehabilitation work was

undertaken in 1999 and 2000 to

convert the building into a retail

space and café. The rehabilitation

largely covered the existing historic

materials including the corrugated

metal siding and roofing, storefront,

front entrance door, and the original windows. Interior tongue and

groove siding was repaired, and

missing or broken features were

replicated to match the existing historic materials. Plumbing, electrical

systems, and HVAC were upgraded.

The successful use of the federal tax

credit has provided a helpful financial incentive to this important local

resource and spawned further revitalization in this community.

For more information, visit the TPS website at

www.cr.nps.gov/hos/tps/tax/index.htm.

(left) One of the few structures to

survive the fires that ravaged the

Chinese American Historic District in

Walnut Grove, California, Ike’s Café

found new life through rehabilitation.

Photo courtesy of Technical Preservation Services

files.

(right) By taking advantage of the

rehabilitation tax credit program,

buildings like Douglass High School in

Huntington, West Virginia, remain

vital parts of the community. Photo

courtesy of Technical Preservation Services files.
HERITAGE

MATTERS

JUNE 2003

page 18

Urban Design Commission is developing contacts with neighborhoods,

government agencies, professional

associations, non-profit organizations, advocacy groups, and related

university departments. The information gathered during the survey

will be available to the general public

through on-line, government, and

non-profit sources.

For more information on Atlanta’s CHRS and the

Urban Design Commission, contact Doug Young at

dyoung@ci.atlanta.ga.us, phone: 404/320-6600, or

visit the website at www.ci.atlanta.ga.us/citydir/

urbandesign_info.html.

The Hispanic

Experience in Reading,

Pennsylvania

Michel R. Lefevre

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum

Commission, Bureau for Historic Preservation

Like many older cities in

Pennsylvania, Reading exhibits many

buildings that illustrate its rich

industrial past. Wealth generated

through industrial development is

reflected in the city’s architectural

heritage, including residential, commercial, religious, and industrial

buildings. In common with other

older industrial cities, Reading more

recently has become a magnet for

Hispanic residents who are attracted

to employment opportunities.

Many Hispanic residents settle in

areas that are either designated and

regulated by local government historic preservation ordinances or are

determined to be eligible for listing

in the National Register of Historic

Places under Section 106 of the

National Historic Preservation Act.

Section 106 comes into play because

of the use of federal funds for rehabilitation programs.

Thus far, only two older cities in

Pennsylvania have reached out to

Hispanic residents who reside in

historic districts. They include

Gettysburg Borough and the City of

Lancaster. By contrast, at public

meetings in Reading to discuss possible local historic district designation,

no informational brochures were

translated into Spanish and no

aggressive outreach to the Hispanic

population was made.

The Pennsylvania Bureau of

Historic Preservation is working with

the City of Reading on the proposed

local designation of the Penn’s

Common and Park Line historic districts and Reading’s Hispanic community to ensure that the full range of

views are considered. An intern from

the National Park Service’s Cultural

Resources Diversity Internship

Program will work with the various

organizations to develop these outreach opportunities.

It is hoped that the residents of

Reading will view Hispanics as part of

the succession of ethnic groups that

built the city—from the Irish to the

Polish, Italian, and now Hispanic

immigrants. Over the years, these

groups have purchased homes, established businesses, and built houses of

worship. Historic preservation is a

part of Hispanic cultural values,

which should be incorporated into

historic preservation planning. When

all groups realize that they are working toward a healthy and safe neighborhood that retains its sense of

place, they can unite their efforts to

work toward common goals.

For more information, contact Michel Lefevre at

717/787-0771, e-mail: mlefevre@state.pa.us.

African Reflections on the American Landscape Now Available

African Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and

Interpreting Africanisms, highlights West and Central African cultural contributions to the nation's built environment that have

been documented and recognized in the cultural resources programs of the National Park Service. This guide to Africanisms is

intended to support historic preservation and cultural resource

stewardship efforts of organizations and individuals within their

communities. For copies, contact Brian Joyner at brian_joyner

@nps.gov, phone: 202/354-2276. It is also available through the

Cultural Diversity Program website at www.cr.nps.gov/crdi, under

“publications.”
page 19

Conferences

AAAM Annual Conference

The African American Association of

Museums will hold its annual conference August 20-23, 2003 at the

Chattanooga Marriott Convention

Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The conference theme is, “Helping

to Shape the Landscape of African

American History.” The AAAM

invites proposals that explore how

the African American story is shared

with the world and how African

Americans re-invest in their cultural

heritage.

For more information on the call

for papers and conference details,

visit the AAAM website,

http://www.blackmuseums.org, or

contact William H. Billingsley:

phone, 937/376-4944, x123, e-mail:

info@blackmuseums.org.

ASALH 88th National Meeting

The Association for the Study of

African American Life and History

(ASALH) will host its annual meeting September 23-28, 2003 in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The theme,

"The Souls of Black Folks," commemorates the 100th anniversary of

W.E.B. Du Bois's book. It will feature scholarship on African

American history, culture, politics,

and society.

For more information on proposals, contact Dr. Fancille Rusan

Wilson, c/o ASALH, 7961 Eastern

Avenue, Suite 301, Silver Spring, MD

20910; or e-mail:

asalh2003@aasp.umd.edu.

National Trust's Annual National

Preservation Conference

The National Trust for Historic

Preservation (National Trust) will

hold its annual meeting September

30-October 5, 2003, in Denver,

Colorado. This year's theme, "New

Frontiers in Preservation," will

address diversifying the preservation

movement, historic landscapes and

downtowns in the age of sprawl, and

preservation of post-World War II

resources, among other topics.

For more information, contact

Renee Harrison at 202/588-6095, email: renee_harrison@nthp.org, or

visit their website at www.nthpconference.org.

Sixth Annual Congress of the

Americas

The Vernacular Congress, in association with the Instituto de Ciencias

Sociales y Humanidades of the

Autonomous University of Puebla,

various popular and American culture associations, and other academic groups will host the 6th

Congress of the Americas, the

International Colloquium for

Vernacular, Hispanic, Historical,

American and Folklore Studies,

October 9-12, 2003 in Puebla,

Mexico.

Topics will include anthropology,

sociology, archeology, gender,

tourism and travel, Central America,

communication, computing, culture

wars, photography, psychology,

Chicano and Chicana issues,

Mexican History, art and architecture, linguistics, folklore, poetry and

literature readings, music and performance, dance, film and television,

food, computers, education, and

urban issues.

For more information, contact

Norma Contreras at ri108533@mail.

udlap.mx or visit the website,

http://www.ipsonet.org/vernacular/.

Call for Papers

New England Slavery and the Slave

Trade

The Colonial Society of Massachusetts; the Du Bois Institute, Harvard

University; the Museum of AfroAmerican History, Massachusetts;

the National Park Service; the

Omhundro Institute for Early

American History and Culture, and

Suffolk University will hold the conference, “New England Slavery and

the Slave Trade” in Boston,

Massachusetts, on April 21-23, 2004.

Conference organizers are currently accepting proposals. Presentations should be limited to the

colonial period, but might extend

through the first quarter of the

nineteenth century as well. Public

history treatments of New England

slavery and the slave trade will be

critically examined during the conference. Presentations could

include museum exhibits, first and

third person interpretation in historical re-enactments, and documentary films. Proposals are due

September 1, 2003.

Because the Colonial Society

intends to print a volume of selected

proceedings drawn from the conference, formal academic papers should

not have been previously printed

elsewhere.

A brief description of the proposal should be sent to John W. Tyler,

Editor of Publications, Colonial

Society of Massachusetts, 87 Mount

Vernon Street, Boston, MA 02108,

e-mail: jtyler@groton.org.

CONFERENCES AND 

CALL FOR PAPERS
HERITAGE

MATTERS

JUNE 2003

Galveston, Texas, and

Farragut Square,

Washington, D.C.:

Places of Hispanic

Heritage

Refugio I. Rochin

University of Notre Dame

Ask a friend or a classroom of students to name a Hispanic hero of

the American Revolution or the Civil

War. Few would probably mention

these names: Bernardo de Gálvez

and David G. Farragut. Both are

recorded in the annals of American

history and names for famous

places. They share a common bond

of Hispanic heritage.

After the Declaration of Independence, the southern populations of

Spanish colonists followed the

course of the American Revolution.

Bernardo de Gálvez, the Governor

of New Orleans, was responsible for the Spanish territories of Louisiana and the

Mississippi River. From 1775-

1777, Governor de Gálvez provided

rations and weapons to the

Continental Army, and he

arranged safe passage for

James Willing, an American

agent of the Continental

Congress, who led a successful campaign along

the Mississippi River

harassing British

shipping, plantation

owners, and military outposts.

After the colonists scored a stunning victory at Saratoga, New York,

in 1778, Spain declared war against

Britain on June 21, 1779. Governor

de Gálvez took up the charge and

organized a militia of American

Indians, freed African-Americans,

and led Spanish soldiers to attack

British-held forts at Baton Rouge,

Louisiana, Fort Manchac, located

south of Baton Rouge, and Fort

Panmure, at Natchez, Mississippi.

On March 14, 1780, de Gálvez took

Mobile, Alabama, and, on May 10

1781, gained the formal surrender of

Pensacola, Florida, from the British.

Governor de Galvez’s military successes marked the end of the British

threat on the western and southern

fringes of the colonies. Thus, de

Gálvez contributed to the cause of

the American Revolution with a

handful of victories, friendship of

the Indians, aid to colonial fighters,

and control of the Mississippi. Galveston, Texas, once called “Galveztown” as early as 1789, takes its

name from the revolutionary hero.

A well-known name in

Washington, D.C., not recognized as

Hispanic, is Admiral David Glasgow

Farragut (FAR-uh-guht). Farragut

Square, in the capital city is named

after him. The square contains a

prominent statue of the admiral,

designating him as a Civil War hero.

He was born in Knoxville, Tennessee

in 1801. His father, Jorge Farragut,

came to the American colonies from

the Spanish island of Minorca. He

joined the Carolina Navy, became a

lieutenant and fought the British at

Savannah, Georgia and Charleston,

South Carolina. David was named

James at birth. After his mother’s

death, young Farragut, with the consent of his father, was adopted by

POINT OF VIEW

Hispanic patriot Admiral Farragut is best remembered for

shouting the order, “Damn the torpedos! Full speed

ahead.” Today he stands guard over one of Washington,

DC’s most popular city squares, named in his honor. His

father, Jorge, hailed from the Spanish island of Minorca.

Photo by Marcia Axtmann Smith.

page 20
page 21

Navy Captain David Porter, and took

the name David in Porter’s honor.

When David was nine years old

he was appointed a midshipman in

the U.S. Navy on Captain Porter’s

ship. At 11 years of age, he served

aboard the U.S.S. Essex during the

War of 1812. He later fought pirates

in the Caribbean region and in the

war with Mexico, 1846-48. It was his

victory at Mobile Bay, Alabama on

August 5, 1864 where his fame was

solidified. After seeing the ironclad

U.S.S. Tecumseh sunk by floating

“torpedoes” of “gunpowder in barrels,” Farragut took command with

his wooden vessel and shouted this

famous order: "Damn the torpedoes!

Full speed ahead!" Other ships followed this brave leader and soon

captured the ironclad Confederate

Tennessee and the fort defending

Mobile. This southern port was in

Union control for the remainder of

the war. On July 26, 1866, Farragut

was named the Navy’s first full

admiral by President Abraham

Lincoln, a rank awarded to him by

the U.S. Congress after victories

against the Confederate forces on

the Gulf of Mexico, in New Orleans,

and along the Mississippi River.

The destroyer U.S.S. Farragut

carries a plaque summarizing his

life. The Naval Academy's library

and museum contain many of

Admiral Farragut's memorabilia,

including his signature under his

oath as a cadet, signed on December

19, 1810, when he was nine years old.

Refugio I. Rochin is a Senior Fellow, Institute for

Latino Studies, at the University of Notre Dame.

Refugio Rochin can be reached at

rochin.1@nd.edu.

Tackling Tough Topics

at Colonial

Williamsburg

Mark M. Howell 

In one chair, a man waits to become

a slave owner. Another man next to

him waits to become enslaved. Both

will be interviewed during a videoconference with hundreds of 4th6th graders studying this grim reality

of our nation’s history. "Chained to

the Land," part of the Colonial

Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip

program, which broadcasts six hourlong programs each year via satellite

to public television and schools.

The Electronic Field Trip program expands Colonial

Williamsburg's educational reach

beyond the physical confines of

Williamsburg and connects with

schools that cannot travel to the

museum. Subscribing schools

receive preprogram materials, have

the opportunity to call and e-mail

questions to the program, and later

participate in a survey. The program’s story is broken into three

segments. During the story and at

its end, there are breaks where kids

can call in and talk to prominent

characters in the story and a staff

historian. A bank of about 30 eduA frank and meaningful interchange

about controversial subjects is possible only when the presenter has

gained the trust and respect of the

audience. Photo courtesy of the Colonial

Williamsburg Foundation.
HERITAGE

MATTERS

JUNE 2003

page 22

cators mans the phones and computers to respond to those questions

that do not make it onto the air.

In “Chained to the Land,” the

story deals with a wealthy planter

deciding to sell some of his livestock

and slaves to pay off some pressing

debts. The story shows the implications on both whites and blacks living on the plantation. Although the

“electronic field trips” have been

available for six years and the subject of slavery has been a topic on

several occasions, it is the first time

this script has been presented.

Not so long ago, such a project

would have met with trepidation

from the intended audience as well as

the participants. Difficult subjects—

slavery, religion, ethnicity, or politics—cause some level of apprehension. The recent history of public

programming at Colonial Williamsburg is an example. The interpretation of the realities of life for all of

Virginia’s inhabitants has been met

with both skepticism and apprehension from various sections of the

population. And yet, organizations

committed to the public’s trust are

obliged to address these issues, no

matter how painful or uncomfortable

they may be. It is the only way to

continually ensure that trust.

There is no simple solution to

presenting controversial issues. The

thoughtful and sincere presentation

of difficult subjects demonstrates a

commitment to an earnest and

scholarly analysis of the past, warts

and all. In developing an exhibit,

public program or live interpretation

that includes a controversial topic,

one should consider these points:

• Involvement of those parties

affected by the topic you are considering presenting.

• Commitment of the organization’s leadership once advice,

suggestions, encouragement, and

reservations have been gathered.

• Training the staff in content, sensitivity, and interpretive technique to ensure the effective

presentation of controversial 

topics.

Presenting controversial topics is

not easy. But investing the necessary time and money into such an

initiative speaks volumes as to the

institution’s credibility and maturity

when it comes to being perceived as

a responsible steward of the past.

Mark Howell is the principal of Howell Consulting

and can be contacted at mkhowell@cox.net. For

more information on the Colonial Williamsburg

Electronic Field Trip, visit the website at 

www.history.org.

Cuban Diaspora: The

Washington

Community

Caridad de la Vega 

National Conference of State Historic

Preservation Officers

The United States and Cuba are

geographically close, only 90 miles

apart, and share a strong historical

past. The Cuban American

Friendship Urn stands as a tribute to

those intimate historical connections.

Located in Washington, DC, in

Potomac Park, at the intersections of

14th Street and Ohio Drive, NW, the

Friendship Urn commemorates the

American lives lost in the explosion

of the battleship U.S.S. Maine “and

the friendships and bonds between

Cuba and the United States.” The urn

sat atop a marble column in Havana,

Cuba, until a hurricane in 1926 felled

the column. Cuba then added a marble plinth to the urn and sent it to the

United States to rest outside the

Cuban Embassy. The memorial was

relocated to its current place when

relations between the two countries

deteriorated after the ascension of

Communist leader Fidel Castro in

1959.

Cuban immigration to the United

States is traditionally viewed in the

post-1959 waves of political exiles—

or immigrants—who fled Cuba after

Castro’s ascension to power.

However, the Cuban-American

Friendship Urn is a reminder of

those Cubans that resided in the

United States prior to the 1959 exodus, particularly during the turbulent decades of the 1880s and 1890s

when Cubans struggled to liberate

themselves from Spanish rule.

Washington comprises one of

fourteen major metropolitan cities

within the United States where

Cubans and Cuban-Americans

reside. Cubans have a vibrant historical past in Washington that predates the Castro regime. Not only

did they already have a community,

albeit a small one, but the people

within them shared bonds that unite

the history of one community of

Cubans with another. The preCastro group was demographically

different from those Cubans who

would arrive in higher proportions

after Castro’s rise into power. With

its lack of heavy industry, the

Washington community cannot be

compared with the Miami, Tampa,

and New York communities. It had

no “single” geographically bounded

ethnic enclave. Adams-Morgan in

the District, Barcroft and Arlington

in Virginia, and Takoma Park and

Rockville in Maryland represent the

nuclei of the Cuban community.

In spite of the dispersed nature

of the Washington Cuban community, they have managed to maintain

networks of communication with

other fellow Cubans. The existence

of an already established Spanishspeaking community functioned as a

natural attraction for the Cuban

exiles that settled in the Columbia

Road area, the heart of the AdamsMorgan neighborhood. The Latino

presence was primarily composed of

embassy employees, professionals,

domestic employees, and Latin

American students in area universities. Additionally, Cubans were
page 23

among the multiple Latino groups

that were immigrating into the area during the 1960s, when the local

Latino population was on the rise.

Washington Cubans have been

successful in maintaining their cultural integrity and heritage amidst

other Latin American groups and

immigrant communities with the

creation and development of cultural organizations and local businesses

to serve their particular needs.

Cubans established some of the earliest Latino businesses in the

Adams-Morgan area. However, the

selectivity of the immigrants and the

presence of a Latino community

upon their arrival were two crucial

factors that facilitated the successful

adjustment of the Cuban immigrants.

Hispanics recently became the

largest minority group within the

United States. The presence of 37

million Latinos underscores the

need to engage the history of these

communities in order to assess the

historical impact that their presence

has occasioned within the larger

context of American history. The

Cuban-American Friendship Urn

reminds us that although Latinos

have only recently become a dominant presence, there is a deep-seated

history often not acknowledged or

recognized.

The Cuban-American Friendship Urn,

also known as the “Maine Memorial,” commemorates the military,

political, and historical bonds

between the United States and Cuba

as a result of the Spanish-American

War. It is located in Potomac Park in Washington, DC. Photo by Marcia

Axtmann Smith.
FIRST CLASS MAIL

Postage & Fees Paid

U.S. Department 

of the Interior

National Park Service

1849 C Street, NW (2251)

Washington, DC 20240

Fran P. Mainella

Director

de Teel Patterson Tiller

Acting Associate Director

Cultural Resources 

John Robbins 

Assistant Director

Cultural Resources

Antoinette J. Lee

Special Projects Manager

Brian D. Joyner

Heritage Matters Editor

Mission of the 

National Park Service

The National Park Service is dedicated to

conserving 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 Service also cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.

Heritage Matters, sponsored by the

Cultural Resources Programs of the

National Park Service, is published twice-ayear 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 (2251), Washington, DC 20240. Phone:

202/354-2276, email: brian_joyner@nps.gov.

Visit the Web site for the NPS Cultural

Resources Diversity Program:

www.cr.nps.gov/crdi

HERITAGE

MATTERS

JUNE 2003

CONTENTS

HERITAGE MATTERS

Where’s Smokey? A curious 

connection between Sioux Tribe

members and the World War II

effort. See page 4.

NPS ACTIVITIES, pages 2-5

Penn Students Conserve at Bandelier, p. 2

Teaching with Historic Places Launches 100th 

On-line Lesson Plan, p. 3

Sioux Code Talkers and World War II, p. 4

PARTNERS INITIATIVES, pages 5-9

New SITES exhibit on Filipino American 

history, p. 6

Forgotten Patriots Symposium, p. 7

Passages to Freedom Conference, p. 17

STATE INITIATIVES, pages 9-16

Lewis Museum Groundbreaking, p. 1

New African American Museum in Iowa, p. 9

Recent National Register Nominations, p. 10

• Bethel AME Church, Monongahela City,

Pennsylvania

• St. Christopher’s Mission, Bluff, Utah

• Congregation Tifereth Israel, Queens, New

York

• Booker T. Washington School, Terre Haute,

Indiana

• Oregon-American Lumber Company Mill

Office, Veronica, Oregon

• Moncure Tipi, Busby, Montana

• Anduiza Hotel, Boise, Idaho

• Eagle Saloon Building, New Orleans, Louisiana

• Karnofsky Tailor Shop-House, New Orleans,

Louisiana

Federal Tax Incentives for Rehabilitating Historic

Properties Projects, p. 15

• Douglas Junior and Senior High School,

Huntington, West Virginia

• Ike’s Cafe, Walnut Grove, California

COMMUNITY INITIATIVES, pages 17-18

City of Atlanta’s Comprehensive Historic

Resources Survey, p. 17

The Hispanic Experience in Reading,

Pennsylvania, p. 18

CONFERENCES AND CALL FOR 

PAPERS, pages 18-19

Conferences

• AAAM Annual Conference, p. 19

• ASALH 88th National Meeting, p. 19

• National Trust’s Annual National Preservation

Conference, p.19

• Sixth Annual Congress of the Americas, p.19

Publication, p. 18

• African Reflections on the American

Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting

Africanisms

POINT OF VIEW, pages 20-23

Galveston, Texas, and Farragut Square,

Washington, D.C.: Places of Hispanic Heritage, 

p. 20

Tackling Tough Topics at Colonial Williamsburg,

p. 21

Cuban Diaspora: The Washington Community, 

p. 22

page 24

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.