NATIONAL PARK SERVICE ,@_i 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR - ~ T 

"" 

HERITAGE MATTERS 

N E W S 0 F T H E NATION'S DIVERSE CULTURAL HERITAGE 

INSIDE THIS ISSUE 

Conferences 

upcoming, p. 21 

Exhibit opening, p. 23 

Grants available, p. 23 

Internship sponsors 

sought, p. 6 

National Register 

listings, p. 10 

Publications 

of note, p. 21 

Teaching materials 

available, p. 3 and p. 21 

Chair detail from 

San Cristobal, one 

of the "Forts of Old 

San Juan" featured 

in TwHP lesson 

plans. See page 3 for 

program details. 

HERITAGE 

MATTERS 

DECEMBER 2002 

Kids' Culture Camps Reconnect Their Heritage: 

A 300-mile Trek into Lakota History and Other Tales of the Past 

Lynda Lantz 

In December 2001, seven members 

of a public school horse club on the 

Standing Rock Reservation, aged 

7 to 14, braved the South Dakota 

winter to join mostly adult riders 

from around the world as Si Tonta 

Wokiksuye Kin (Big Foot Memorial 

Riders). In its fifteenth year, the ride 

honors the Lakota who died at the 

Wounded Knee Massacre. Over the 

course of two weeks, the ride follows the almost 300-mile trek of the 

Big Foot and his people following 

the arrest and murder of Sitting Bull 

in December 1890. 

In their personal journals, the 

children described the cold, saddle 

sores, and falls from horses. However, when about 40 participants 

gathered in March for the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) workshop on 

implementing culture camps, they 

also heard first-hand how the trip 

boosted the riders' sense of competence and understanding of their 

heritage. The journals can be read 

on-line at http://www.smee.k12.sd.us, 

under "school groups:' 

Speaker Darrin Old Coyote of the 

Crow Agency Our Way of Life 

Culture Camp in Montana can attest 

to the transformative power of 

culture as documented by the Lakota 

culture camp. Over the past three 

years, he has directed students to 

take on roles in a pageant that traces 

the history of the Crow people, from 

their creation story to a battle when 

the Crow defended itself against 

three attacking enemy tribes. 

One young actor said, "If they 

hadn't survived, I wouldn't be here:' 

At one time, such a crucial lesson 

would not have needed to be taught. 

Young people in Native communities 

learned by doing and listening. 

During ceremonies and activities of 

daily living, young people listened to 

(SEE TREK, PAGE 7) 

These young Spirit Riders from Wakpala School Horse Club, South Dakota, traced the historic 300-mile route Big Foot 

had taken in 1890 from Standing Rock Reservation to Wounded Knee, following Sitting Bull's arrest and death. Students 

kept journals of their wintry journey Photo illustrat1on by Marcia Axtmann Smith based on photo by Mike Little Bear 
HERITAGE

MATTERS

DECEMBER 2002

page 2
page 3

Teaching American

Diversity

Michael Chin

Teaching with Historic Places, 

National Register of Historic Places

With thousands of culturally significant sites ranging from historic mining districts to the birthplace of

modern aviation, the National

Register of Historic Places collection

houses a wealth of information on

American history and the American

“identity.” Today, the concept of

“American” connotes a richness of

unprecedented cultural and ideological diversity, which is constantly

changing and expanding. 

Key to the survival of these concepts is the continued education of

students on the importance of our

nation’s diverse history. Focused not

only on the incorporation of cultural resources into standard curricula,

the Teaching with Historic Places

program (TwHP) looks to address

issues of diversity through its more

than 90 classroom-ready lesson

plans, available online at

www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp. With

approximately 40 plans covering

issues of diversity, educators can

pick from a range of lessons that

explore the roles of African

Americans, American Indians, Asian

Americans, Hispanic Americans, and

women as part of our nation’s 

history. TwHP lesson plans incorporate the significance of diversity into

the larger historical experience,

making the necessary connections

between today’s cultural variety and

historic sites of the past.

The TwHP staff has worked to

bring new topics of historical 

cultural diversity to its online series

of lesson plans (See Heritage

Matters, October 2000 for an earlier

article on diversity within TwHP).

“Iron Hill School: An AfricanAmerican One-Room School” tells

the story of a Progressive Era push

for the development of modern

school buildings for AfricanAmerican communities in rural

Delaware. In turn, the lesson helps

students to consider the educational

concepts of the time, as well as, the

impact of segregation on the quality

of education.

TwHP also captures the influential nature of American Indians on

our nation’s history. As seen in

“Knife River: Early Village Life on

the Plains,” the Mandan and Hidatsa

peoples were important players in

the economic and cultural history of

the Midwest, participating in the fur

trade in the early 19th century. “The

Battle of Honey Springs: The Civil

War Comes to Indian Territory”

provides a unique look at American

Indian history by examining the

choices made by different tribes

regarding their participation in the

U.S. Civil War.

The many forms of historical

diversity can easily overlap, as evidenced by American Indian and

Hispanic-American cultures. “Gran

Quivara: A Blending of Cultures in a

Pueblo Indian Village” brings the

American Southwest into the classroom through the study of the

indigenous people of Las Humanas.

Playing an important role within

society, Pueblo women show that

historical diversity crosses gender

lines as well. Furthermore, the lesson details the intricate relationships of Pueblos with foreigners,

specifically the Spanish in the 16th

century. “The Forts of Old San Juan:

Guardians of the Caribbean” stresses the influential role of the Spanish

on native societies. Establishing

Puerto Rico as the bulwark for the

defense of its colonial possessions,

the Spanish irrevocably enmeshed

American culture with their own. 

Examining Asian-American 

history is integral to our understanding of America’s past.

Highlighting the plight of West

Coast Japanese-Americans during

the 1940s, “The War Relocation

Camps of WWII: When Fear was

Stronger than Justice” tells of a

nation at war and the unjust steps it

took to assuage national anxiety.

This lesson encourages students to

think critically about compelling

issues of cultural diversity and individual liberty, in addition to discussing the significance of the war. 

TwHP continues to promote the

diversity of American history, as

embodied in historical sites, to students through its lesson plans.

Michael Chin, a junior at Pomona College, was an

intern in the Summer 2002 NPS Cultural Resources

Diversity Internship Program. For more information on Teaching with Historic Places, contact Beth

Boland at 202/343-9545, e-mail:beth_boland@nps.gov

Fortress San Cristobal retains a

prominent position overlooking San

Juan harbor. It is included in the

TwHP lesson plan, “The Forts of Old

San Juan: Guardians of the

Caribbean.” Photos courtesy of Marcia

Axtmann Smith

NPS ACTIVITIES
The Lowell Folk

Festival: Celebrating

and Preserving

National Treasures

Audrey Ambrosino

Erin Sheehan

Lowell National Historical Park

Once a bustling textile center,

Lowell, Massachusetts, has become

a center for traditional culture. Since

1990, the streets of historic downtown Lowell come alive with the

excitement of the annual Lowell

Folk Festival, held the last weekend

of July. The festival, with music and

dance presented on six outdoor

stages, craft demonstrations, parades,

and ethnic foods prepared by local

community groups, is a celebration of

Lowell’s cultural diversity and

preservation of traditional arts.

The Lowell Folk Festival is more

than just an isolated event. It recognizes Lowell’s historic role in the

Industrial Revolution and its

impressive array of resources. The

festival takes place in the shadow of

the towering textile mills that once

led Lowell to international prominence and along the 5.6 miles of

canals that powered those mills.

Most importantly, it is testimony to

the will of individuals and communities who, often despite hardship

and the pressures of contemporary

culture, continue to celebrate, preserve, and share their heritage and

traditions. 

The Lowell Folk Festival grew

out of the National Folk Festival,

held in Lowell from 1987 to 1989.

Organized by the National Council

for the Traditional Arts in Silver

Spring, Maryland, the National Folk

Festival typically takes up residence

in a location for three years, working hand-in-hand with the host

community to launch the festival

and to encourage its continuation

beyond those three years. In

Lowell’s case, the festival’s 

producing partners, Lowell National

Historical Park, the City of Lowell,

the National Council for the

Traditional Arts, and the Lowell

Festival Foundation, have succeeded

in making the event a permanent

summer attraction. Dedication to the

festival mission has resulted in 16

years of enthusiasm, cooperation,

enjoyment, and patronage. Word has

spread, crowds have grown, and the

festival has become a highlight in the

regional roster of summer events.

The mission of the Lowell Folk

Festival is to present the finest in

traditional music, dance, crafts, ethnic food, and the cultural treasures

that make up our diverse nation.

The key to the festival is its commitment to traditional arts. Traditional

music and crafts are generally

passed on informally. Since these

skills are handed down through

families or apprenticeships, traditional methods and designs are

maintained through generations of

artists producing the work. In addition, the cultural and regional values

and beliefs that are associated with

music and crafts are also evident.

Traditional arts are generally not

what you hear on the radio, or what

you see on television. They are ageold methods of passing stories from

generation to generation through

dance, song, and artistic expression.

Traditional arts, such as those seen

at the Lowell Folk Festival, offer a

glimpse into the history and culture

of diverse groups of people. 

Over the years, the festival has

presented performers from a vast

array of traditions including Native

American, Bluegrass, Gospel,

Armenian, Greek, French-Canadian,

Blues, Puerto Rican, Hawaiian,

Brazilian, Colombian, Cuban,

Mexican, and Polish, among others.

While nationally known artists such

as Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley

and the Clinch Mountain Boys and

Irish dancer Michael Flatley have

played the festival, much of the 

festival’s real beauty and success

shines through its more intimate

moments—the whispers of a Native

American storyteller, the intricate

Cambodian blessing dance, and the

songs of lost love from a Piedmont

bluesman. 

In the words of a young visitor

speaking for himself and his brother

(from a letter written after attending

the 2000 Festival), “We liked the

Puerto Rican band and the Irish

Music and the international food.

But our favorite thing of all is that

there is something for everyone. I

liked the music, my brother liked the

Indian canoe, and we all liked the

historical part of Lowell. My mom

has attended since she was my age.

She and my aunt like everything.”

For more information on the festival, visit the

Lowell Folk Festival website at http://www.lowellfolkfestival.org/home.htm.

Cotter Award for

Excellence in Park

Archeology to Ken

Wild for Cinnamon

Bay Studies 

Roger Kelly

Pacific Basin West Support Office

National Park Service archeologist

Ken S. Wild was awarded the John L.

Cotter Award for 2002. In 2001, Wild

guided a multiyear project of archeological and supporting studies at

Cinnamon Bay, St. Johns Island,

Virgin Islands National Park.

Beginning in 1998, the project

focused on pre-contact native Taino

culture (900-1500 AD) and an early

17th-century plantation village with

a slave cemetery at Cinnamon Bay.

Investigation of the Taino ritual and

residential site was the first major

scientific excavation in U.S. Virgin

Islands of the native people who

met Columbus. 

Funded by the National Park

HERITAGE

MATTERS

DECEMBER 2002

page 4

The Treme Brass Band, a traditional

New Orleans parade band, performs

at the 2002 Lowell Folk Festival. Photo

courtesy of Audrey Ambrosino. 
Service (NPS) and contributions

generated by Friends of the Park,

project volunteers and staff accessioned 50,000 archeological materials. Specialists from several natural

resources disciplines, academic

anthropologists from mainland universities, and Caribbean professional

researchers assisted in the project.

Hundreds of Virgin Island high

school or grade school students, as

well as students from eight mainland

colleges and universities, volunteered thousands of hours to excavations, laboratory processing, and

research. 

Ken Wild, a 20-year NPS archeologist, developed a project research

design, coordinated fieldwork, guided an on-site laboratory, established

volunteers’ schedules, accommodated media coverage, and arranged for

colleagues to assist with the project.

His leadership of the Cinnamon Bay

project has had a major impact on

enhancing understanding of Caribbean archeology and local interest

in island heritage resources. 

The Cotter Award is an unofficial,

non-monetary annual recognition

of a park archeological project,

guided by an NPS employee or partner, which is an exemplary effort,

following the model of excellence

set by Dr. Cotter as a leading Park

Service archeologist over many

decades. The community of NPS

archeologists makes the award each

year. Nomin-ations will be accepted

until Feb-ruary 28, 2003.

For more information about the nomination

process, contact Roger Kelly, Pacific West Region’s

Oakland Support Office at roger_kelly@nps.gov. 

The Cultural Resources

Diversity Internship

Program, 2002/2003

Since 1999, the Cultural Resources

Diversity Internship Program has

page 5
provided 47 interns with career

exploration opportunities in historic

preservation/cultural resources

work. During the 10-week summer

session in 2002, 13 interns were

placed with National Park Service

administrative offices and national

parks, other federal agencies, state

historic preservation offices, and

private non-profit organizations. 

Summer interns experienced an

array of historic preservation/ 

cultural resources work. For

instance, Michael Chin worked on

writing and editing lesson plans for

the Teaching with Historic Places

Program of the National Register of

Historic Places in Washington, DC.

(See his article, “Teaching American

Diversity,” in this issue.) Another

intern, Ora Marek, who studies

anthropology at Northern Arizona

University, worked with the Federal

Emergency Management Agency

(FEMA) to assist with strategies to

improve tribal consultations on

FEMA projects. Other intern 

projects included: assisting AfricanAmerican non-profit organizations

to become involved with the Rosenwald School Initiative in Charleston,

South Carolina; archeological field

excavations at the Harriet Tubman

birthplace site on Maryland’s Eastern Shore; and primary research on

rare book collections at the Stone

Library of Adams National Historical Park in Quincy, Massachusetts.

During the last week of the

internship, all 13 interns were invited

to Washington, DC, where they participated in a three-day Career

Workshop. Interns were introduced

to programs and institutions 

involving cultural resources work

beyond their internship experience.

During the three-day program,

interns visited National Park Service

cultural resources offices, met with

professionals at the National Trust of

Historic Preservation, and toured

the Smithsonian’s Archives Center

and the exhibition, “Within These

Walls,” at the National Museum of

American History.

On the last day of the Career

Workshop, interns participated in a

career discussion panel with diverse

professionals: Olivia Cadaval from

the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife

and Cultural Heritage; Susan

Schreiber from the City Museum in

Washington, DC; Louis Hicks from

the Black Resources Center in

Alexandria, Virginia; and Toni Lee,

from the National Park Service.

Interns had a unique opportunity to

discuss their education and career

development and to gain useful

advice from established professionals in the field.

This year the Diversity Internship

Program will continue into the fall

and spring of 2002-2003 with five 

15-week semester internships. Fall

HERITAGE

MATTERS

DECEMBER 2002

page 6
2002 intern sponsors include the

Banneker-Douglass Museum in

Annapolis, Maryland; the Southeast

Regional Office of the National Park

Service in Atlanta, Georgia; and the

Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC.

The Statue of Liberty in New York

City and the Texas Historical Commission in Austin will sponsor additional interns in the spring of 2003.

Intern sponsors were selected

competitively based on the quality of

the proposed project and on the

opportunities for interns to complete a defined project while building their resumés. Another 12 to 13

summer interns will be placed in the

summer of 2003, and five more in

the fall 2003/spring 2004, with

National Park Service administrative

offices, park units, and partnership

organizations. 

We are now accepting project

proposals from potential host intern

sponsors for the summer of 2003

and the academic year 2003-2004.

The deadline is December 16, 2002.

The cost of a Diversity Intern is

shared on a 50/50 basis between the

National Park Service and the host

intern sponsor. 

For more details about the Cultural Resources

Diversity Internship Program and how to apply,

contact Michèle Gates Moresi at 

202/354-2266, e-mail, michele_gates_moresi@

contractor.nps.gov.

page 7

Summer 2002 Interns visit Union

Station in Washington, DC during

the three-day Career Workshop,

August 7-9, 2002. Photo courtesy of Justin

Chow, Student Conservation Association.

family members and community

elders. 

Assimilation policies—such as

forced attendance in boarding

schools, where the speaking of

Native languages was forbidden, and

voluntary relocation programs of

the 1960s, which moved families to

city centers—helped bring the

transmission of culture to a critical

low point. Many people, especially

youth, had “lost understanding of

what it means to be connected 

to ... mother earth and father sky,”

as Henry Niese of the Eagle Voice

Center put it. The presenters offered

attendees models of multiple paths

communities might take to keep the

cultures vibrant and youth healthy.

As in many minority communities, the relationship between selfesteem, self-knowledge, and respect

comes up repeatedly. To bridge that

gap with high school students in

Grass Lodge, Montana, Mr. Old

Coyote set the students to studying

the derivation of their own last

names. Previously, students had

been reluctant to speak their own

language, but afterwards, he said,

“[t]hey spoke easily. When they

know where they come from, it’s

easy for them to know where they

want to go.”

Lois Dalke of the Oneida Nation

of Wisconsin said, “I saw disrespect

to culture in their actions.” The

Oneida’s culture camp, Unity in Our

Community Culture Camp, grew out

of a successful summer session on

fire, water, and other safety issues.

Their week-long camp worked with

teen-aged girls and boys, many of

whom lived in group homes. The

camp was a mix of intensive sessions on provocative contemporary

topics and traditional cultural activities. The Oneida, as well as the

Jicarilla Apache tribe of Dulce, New

Mexico, designed their camps to

discuss sensitive information among

separated boys and girls groups.

The camps introduce fading traditions to new audiences with the

hope that these skills, traditions,

and arts will again grow strong. The

camp organizers hope that the

experience will not end when the

camp participants—both elders or

teachers and youth—leave camp, but

will become part of their daily lives

and inspire them to fulfill their

potential as human beings and

members of the community. 

One way to make cultural traditions more a part of daily life is to

expand camp activities over the

entire year. At the Oneida Nation

camp, the staff—including the two

Oneida police officers—continued

to mentor the youth once a month.

The Sugar Island Camp of the Sault

Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa

Indians in Michigan is one of the

oldest camps, with one of the most

ambitious curriculums. Over the

course of a year, youth, and at times

their families, come out to this

“primitive” camp to perform various traditional cultural tasks—from

tapping maple syrup to constructing

lodges and improving winter survival skills.

Although funding remains a persistent problem, the camp organizers were most concerned that the

camps’ cultural and community

purpose endure. Brian Vigil of the

Jicarilla Apache Culture Camp urged

participants to focus on keeping the

entire community involved in the

creation of the camp. As Sugar

Island Camp Director Bud Biron

stated: “If the money weren’t there,

wouldn’t we still be Anishnabe people?” The purpose of the culture

camps is to keep that statement a

reality. 

For more information, contact HUD’s Indian

Housing Drug Elimination Information and

Resource Center (IHDE-IRC), PO Box 14970, Silver

Spring, MD 20911; phone: 800/839-5561, fax:

301/495-3178.

(TREK, FROM PAGE 1)
New Registry Will

Present Living

Cultures

Alexis Bierman

National Museum of the American Indian

Presenting the living cultures of

indigenous Americans is part of the

mission of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the

American Indian (NMAI). Established by Act of Congress in 1989,

NMAI is an institution of living cultures dedicated to the life, languages,

literature, history, and arts of the

native peoples of the Western

Hemisphere. NMAI has four components: a center in New York 

City

(the George Gustav Heye Center

[GGHC]); a collections and research

facility (the Cultural Resource

Center in Suitland, Maryland); a

pioneering museum on the National

Mall in Washington D.C. (opening in

the fall of 2004); and a permanent

outreach presence in Indian

Country (“The Fourth Museum,” a

museum-without-walls). 

Although many efforts at each of

these facilities present Native cultures to the public, staff at the DC

site have begun a formal search and

outreach effort to identify native 

tradition-bearers with the end goal

of compiling a cultural

registry.

This registry will provide a database

of contact information for native

artists, dancers, musicians, artisans,

scholars, writers, poets, speakers,

leaders, storytellers, and others who

could be called upon for future

museum programs. In addition, the

information will be available to be

shared with others interested in cultural resources throughout the field. 

HERITAGE

MATTERS

DECEMBER 2002

TRIBAL ACTIVITIES

(below) NMAI will have a 300-seat

theater designed to present many

types of performances, including

dance, both solo and ensemble music

concerts, dialogues, and discussions. 

(opposite) Watercolor rendering

shows the eastern end of the

National Museum of the American

Indian, highlighting the building's

natural landscape and dramatic eastfacing entrance. Both renderings

by Elizabeth Day.

page 8
page 9

With a primary mission of presenting programs in the native voice,

the museum is committed to “grass

roots” performers and resources as

well as to well-established artists of

all kinds. The DC staff takes its lead

from program staff at the GGHC,

where a myriad of programs have

been offered over the last eight

years. Programs being considered

for the Mall facility include storytelling, author events, issuesoriented dialogue programs,

demonstrations, community-based

performances, and living arts performances (including music, dance,

and theater). Programs will be

designed for a variety of audiences,

including families, school groups,

teens, and adults, depending on

focus and program content. While

the primary goal of NMAI is to serve

the interests of native people, it is

understood that the vast majority of 

museum visitors will be non-native,

many with stereotyped images of

Indians in mind. Therefore, an additional goal of these programs is to

provide a real alternative to these

stereotypes.

Anyone who would like to be 

listed in the registry or would like to

know more about the registry is

encouraged to visit the museum’s

website (www.AmericanIndian.si.edu)

where a basic registry form is downloadable, along with more information on the types of programs being

planned for the new Mall facility. 

Questions or comments on the registry or NMAI’s

program plans can be directed to Howard Bass,

Senior Public Programs Producer, at: The National

Museum of the American Indian, P.O. Box 37012;

470 L’Enfant Plaza, Suite 7103; MRC 934;

Washington, DC 20013-7012; e-mail: bassh@si.edu;

fax: 202/287-3528; phone: 202/287-2020, x-137. 

As of October 31, 2002, the listing of Native American

tribes with Tribal Historic Preservation Offices is as

follows:

• Caddo Tribe (Oklahoma)

• Catawba Indian Nation (South Carolina)

• Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (South Dakota)

• Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation

(Washington)

• Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (North Carolina) 

• Hualapai Tribe (Arizona)

• Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

Indians of Wisconsin (Wisconsin)

• Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

Indians (Wisconsin)

• Leech Lake Band of Chippewa Indians (Minnesota) 

• Makah Tribe (Washington)

• Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (Wisconsin)

• Mescalero Apache Tribe (New Mexico)

• Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians (Minnesota)

• Narragansett Indian Tribe (Rhode Island)

• Navajo Nation (Arizona)

• Passamaquoddy Tribe (Maine)

• Oneida Nation (Wisconsin)

• Poarch Band of Creek Indians (Alabama)

• Pueblo of Zuni (New Mexico)

• Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewas

(Wisconsin)

• Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the

Flathead Nation (Montana)

• Seneca Nation of Indians (New York)

• Skokomish Indian Tribe (Washington) 

• Spokane Tribe of Indians (Washington) 

• Squaxin Island Tribe (Washington)

• Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (North Dakota)

• Table Bluff-Wiyot Tribe (California)

• Timbisha Shoshone Tribe (California) 

• Tunica-Biloxi Indians of Louisiana (Louisiana) 

• Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa (North Dakota) 

• Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation

(Oregon) 

• Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah,

Massachusetts) 

• Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs

Reservation in Oregon (Oregon) 

• White Mountain Apache Tribe (Arizona)

• Yurok Tribe (California)

For more information on THPOs, contact H. Bryan Mitchell at 

202/354-2078, e-mail: bryan_mitchell@nps.gov

Current Listing of Tribal Historic Preservation Offices
HERITAGE

MATTERS

DECEMBER 2002

Recent National

Register of Historic

Places Listings 

Rustin Quaide 

Tangula Chambers

National Register of Historic Places

The Booker T. Washington 

High School and Auditorium

The Booker T. Washington High

School and Auditorium, located 

on 1201 South Roman Street,

New

Orleans, was listed in the National

Register of Historic Places on July 17,

2002, for its significance as a milestone in the development of secondary public school education for

African-Americans in New Orleans. 

The Art Deco three-story high

school and attached auditorium

opened in 1942. It had state-of-theart vocational educational facilities,

and was the first public high school

in the city built for African Americans. The Washington High

School’s opening was the result of

decades of sustained activism from

African-American community

leaders, working through civic,

religious, and educational organizations, including the Colored

Educational Alliance, the New

Orleans NAACP, and the

Federation of Civic Leagues. The

auditorium became a municipal

auditorium for the AfricanAmerican community, and such

entertainers as Paul Robeson,

Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie

and Mahalia Jackson performed

there.

The Roosevelt School Auditorium 

and Classroom Addition

The Roosevelt School Auditorium

and Classroom Addition, located in

Mission, Hidalgo County, Texas, and

listed on the National Register of

Historic Places on July 1, 2002, is the

only surviving element of Mission’s

once segregated school system and

is significant for its contributions to

the city’s ethnic heritage and association with the Hispanic population.

In 1921, the Mission Independent

School District (ISD) built a separate

school in South Mission for the 

purpose of educating MexicanAmerican children. 

The School District added an

auditorium to the campus in 1929

and a classroom addition in 1949.

These additions are the only part of

the original campus still standing

and are, in fact, the district’s only

surviving historic school buildings.

The Roosevelt School campus was

used until 1968, when an accrediting

team condemned the original 1921

building for safety reasons, and the

main building was razed. 

STATE INITIATIVES

page 10
Lodge Boleslav Jablonsky No. 219

The Lodge Boleslav Jablonsky,

No.219 in Poplar Grove Township,

Minnesota, was listed in the

National Register on September 10,

2002. The Czechs and other ethnic

groups arriving in this region of

Minnesota in the 1890s were intent

on maintaining their identity and

language by establishing churches

and schools that maintained language and cultural traditions

brought from their countries of origin. The Boleslav Jablonsky Lodge

hall was built in 1916, although a

local Czech organization had been

in existence since 1914. 

The lodge was named for Boleslav

Jablonsky (1813-1881), a priest, poet,

and Czech nationalist. The lodge hall

has been in continuous use from

1916 to the present. Built by lodge

members, the hall is a wood frame

structure on a poured concrete

foundation with no basement. It was 

listed because of its significance in

the area of ethnic heritage and social

history.

Virginia Key Beach Park

Located on a barrier island

near Miami, Virginia Key

Beach Park was designated as

the first African American

beach in the city. Because

African Americans

were banned

from all

public

beaches in the area, this park was

set aside exclusively for blacks, and

provided for their recreational needs

as well as religious functions, such

as picnics and baptisms. 

Virginia Key Beach Park developed out of the protest in the summer of 1945 by a group of black

men, led by Judge Lawson E.

Thomas. The group staged a protest

at the “whites-only” Baker’s

Haulover Beach in northern Dade

County against the segregation laws

that prohibited black persons from

using the public beaches of Miami

and Dade County. In response to the

protest, county officials 

established 

a public beach for the black 

community

on

Virginia

Key,

(bottom left) The Art Deco Booker T.

Washington High School also served

as a municipal auditorium for the

African-American community, featuring national acts, such as Dizzy

Gillespie. Photo courtesy of Donna Fricker.

(bottom middle) The Roosevelt

school auditorium and addition were

listed in the National Register in

recognition of their significance to

the city’s ethnic heritage. Photo courtesy of the Texas State Historical Commission.

(bottom right) The Lodge Boleslav

Jablonsky assisted Czech immigrants

in maintaining cultural identity after

settling in Minnesota. Photo courtesy of

David C. Anderson.

(above) As a stepping stone for the

eventual desegregation of public

facilities, Virginia Key Beach Park

was the first African American in the

city of Miami. Photo courtesy of Vicki L.

Cole.

page 11
which opened on August 1, 1945.

This beach served as a stepping

stone to desegregate other public

facilities. This property was listed in

the National Register of Historic

Places on June 28, 2002, for its connection with African-American heritage and recreational progress. 

Hurricane of 1928 African American

Mass Grave

The Hurricane of 1928 African

American Mass Burial site in West

Palm Beach, Florida, is the burial

site of approximately 674 victims,

primarily African-American agricultural workers, who were killed in the

hurricane of 1928 that devastated

South Florida—one of the worst

natural disasters in American history. Listed in the National Register of

Historic Places on September 13,

2002, the catastrophe was a major

event for the African-American

community and was described by

noted author Zora Neale Hurston.

Well-known educator Mary

McLeod Bethune and 3,000 other

mourners attended the memorial

service at the mass grave.

The bodies were brought to West

Palm Beach, Florida, and were delivered to two cemeteries. Sixty-nine

bodies were buried in a mass grave

intended for white victims at Woodlawn Cemetery, and 674 victims were

buried in a mass grave intended for

black victims in the city’s pauper

cemetery at 25th Street and Tamarind Avenue, although the burial site

was never identified. In December

2000, the City of West Palm Beach

reacquired the property of the burial

ground and plans to memorialize this

site in the history of the community.

Cine El Rey

The Cine El Rey (“The King

Cinema”) opened as a theater in

downtown McAllen, Texas, in 1947

and served the city’s Hispanic community for 40 years. The movie

house was built to capitalize on the

demand for Spanish-language

entertainment created by the influx

of Mexican Braceros into the United

States during the 1940s. The

Braceros were named after the U.S.-

Mexican Bracero program established at the end of World War II to

help with a shortage of agricultural

workers in the United States. More

than 4.9 million Mexican workers

were recruited to work on U.S.

farms. Many of Mexico’s greatest

actors and actresses made personal

appearances on the El Rey stage,

including German Valdes, Pedro

Infante, Pedro Armendariz, Sara

Garcia, Antonio Aguilar, Tito Guizar,

and Lucha Villa. 

The Cine El Rey is a good example of a small-town, downtown

movie theater in Texas in the 1940s.

The building features a projecting

neon marquee, neon and metal

canopy, bold colors, geometric 

patHERITAGE

MATTERS

DECEMBER 2002
terns, and enamel panels on the

lower part of the front façade, all of

which contribute to its Moderne

design. Cine El Rey was listed in the

National Register for its architectural

and ethnic heritage significance.

Palo Homestead

The John and Justina Palo

Homestead is an example of a

Finnish homestead that was constructed when the northern

Wisconsin “cutover” was settled in

the late 1880s and early 1900s by

immigrants from Finland. Located

in the Township of Oulu, Bayfield

County, Wisconsin, the house was

built in 1910-1911. Listed in the

National Register on September 14,

2002, the John and Justina Palo

Homestead is a cluster of four

buildings and includes a house, an

outbuilding which is partitioned

into a sauna, a woodshed, and a

workshop. 

The original house was a simple

vernacular two-story log structure,

which rests on a poured concrete

foundation. The original house was

a gabled “ell” design. An addition

was constructed in the late 1920s or

early 1930s that enclosed the

entrance area. A pantry was located

in this addition and the stairway to

the second story was relocated here.

The Palo Homestead is significant as

it represents the settlement pattern

of Finnish settlement in northern

Wisconsin.

Crisler Mounds

Crisler Mounds Site is a burial

mound site overlooking the Ohio

River. It is attributed to the Adena

culture based on their size, shape,

and topographic location. Adena

culture is best known for its mortuary ritual system characterized by

the construction of burial mounds.

Located in Boone County, Kentucky,

where other similar Adena burial

mounds have been found, the

Crisler Mounds site was listed in the

National Register on April 11, 2002,

based upon its potential to yield 

further information on prehistoric

Indian peoples.

Sugar Hill Historic District

The Sugar Hill Historic District was

the preeminent African American

residential enclave during New York

City’s Harlem Renaissance and

afterwards. It was home to many

famous African Americans, including Adam Clayton Powell, Sr.,

Thurgood Marshall, W.E.B. Du Bois,

and Duke Ellington. The historic

district is made up of over 400

buildings of various late 19th and

20th century Revival styles—French

Renaissance, Colonial, Tudor, as well

as Art Deco and Moderne style

buildings.

Sugar Hill housed an economically diverse population, but was the

symbolic focus of African American

achievement until the late 1960s.

Sugar Hill Historic District was listed

in the National Register on April 11,

2002, based on its architectural significance, social history, and community planning and development.

Heritage Trails in Iron

County

Marcia Bernhardt

Iron County Historical and Museum Society

The Friends of Heritage Trail in Iron

County, Michigan, have been working diligently to identify historic sites

and provide appropriate signs for

them. All are located either within

or near the perimeter of the Ottawa

page 13

(left) The Moderne-style Cine El Rey

was a center of ethnic heritage for

the Mexican agricultural workers in

Hidalgo County. Photo illustration by

Marcia Axtmann Smith based on photo 

courtesy of Luis Muñoz. 

(right) The Palo House, listed in the

National Register on September 14,

2002, is representative of Finnish

immigration to Wisconsin at the turn

of the 20th century. Photo courtesy of

the Wisconsin Historical Society.
National Forest. The sites chosen for

signage represent a range of cultural

heritage sites, significant to the history of Michigan.

Initially thirteen sites were selected

for signage. The first was Pentoga Park

Indian Burial Grounds, where small

wooden structures protect and mark

individual Native American graves. It

was followed by the Iron County

Museum in Caspian. It is located on

an 8.5-acre tract with 22 buildings,

including a former mine site, whose

headframe is listed on the National

Register of Historic Places.

Three other sites have been dedicated, including the Iron County

Courthouse in Crystal Falls; the

Amasa Museum, located in the former township hall of Amasa; and

Larson Park, located along U.S 2.

Three more sites—Apple Blossom

Trail, the Harbour House, and

Mansfield Location and Pioneer

Church—are scheduled for dedication this year, with the other sites,

such as Be-Wa-Bic State Park and

Lake Ottawa Recreation Area to be

dedicated in the near future.

The work of the Friends has

developed much local interest and is

responsible for a movement in other

counties in the Upper of Peninsula

of Michigan to carry out similar

projects. As a result of the Friends’

work, the Michigan Department of

Transportation has designated U.S. 2

from Crystal Falls to Iron River a

State Heritage Route.

For more information on the Friends of Heritage

Trail in Iron County, visit their website at

www.ironheritage.org/.

Archeological

Investigations at

Gunston Hall Yields

Information on

Enslaved Population

Anne Worsley

National Register of Historic Places, 

History and Education

Gunston Hall is a brick Georgian

mansion completed in 1760 in

Mason Neck, Virginia, by George

Mason, father of the Virginia Bill of

Rights, gentry man, and patriot. He

was also a slave owner. Approximately 80 enslaved persons lived

and worked at Gunston Hall. It was

on the lives of these individuals that

recent archeological investigations

focused its excavations. In one of

the few documents that describes

the landscape surrounding Gunston

Hall, George Mason’s son John 

recollects in an 1830 journal entry:

“to the East [of the mansion] was a high

paled yard, adjoining the House into which

opened an outer door from the private

front, within or connected with which yard

were the kitchen, well, poultry Houses and

other domestic arrangements; and beyond

it on the same side were the corn house

and grainery—servants house’s (in them

days called Negroe quarters)”

During the first week, excavations

were focused in the yard east of the

mansion. Two-foot-by-two-foot

test units were laid out in 20-foot

intervals. The soil layers, color, and

composition varied greatly from unit

to unit. One unit in the area

described by Mason as slave quarters did present an exciting find,

possible foundation stones. Further

investigation into the east yard may

determine the nature of these

stones.

The kitchen yard, where enslaved

African Americans would have lived

and worked, was also investigated.

Remnants of pathways were found

in two adjacent units, both 18th and

19th century, meaning that at least

part of the kitchen yard was not disturbed by human occupation since

George Mason’s time. Artifacts were

heavily concentrated in this area,

from pottery (creamware, pearlware,

stone-ware, and porcelain), to glass,

animal bones, and nails. A fence post

and series of postholes also were

uncovered. A formal garden runs

adjacent to the kitchen yard, and

according to the findings, it was

fenced during the 18th century. The

fence line runs into the reconstructed kitchen yard. Future excavations

planned hopefully will reveal more

about how the buildings in the

kitchen yard were situated in relation to the mansion, the formal garden, and the rest of Gunston Hall.

For more information on Gunston Hall, visit

www.gunstonhall.org.

Preservation and

Protection of the New

Philadelphia Site

Vibert L. White 

New Philadelphia Project

In 2000, the University of Illinois

stumbled upon one of the most

intriguing stories in American history.

New Philadelphia, a community that

is known only by a few people outside of Pike County, Illinois, is recognized as the first incorporated

African-American town in the

United States. Unlike Chicago, which

was first discovered by a black

explorer, the New Philadelphia site

was located, purchased, founded,

and governed by a former enslaved

man named Free Frank McWorthy.

New Philadelphia, as McWorthy

HERITAGE

MATTERS

DECEMBER 2002

COMMUNITY INITIATIVES

page 14
page 15

named the village, was created in

1831 as an enclave that attracted

freedmen and women and scores of

white Americans who made the village their home between 1831 and

1888. In the late 1850s the village

reached its pinnacle with a post

office, boarding house, and several

businesses. It became one of the

most significant communities in

western Illinois. Moreover, it established itself as a cradle for black

pride and self-determinism, as well

as racial cooperation. The demise of

the town started in the 1870s when

the village leaders could not influence the railroad system to route its

tracks through the black town.

With-out the railroad, New

Philadelphia rapidly declined as villagers moved to more prosperous

areas. By 1888, the black community

had virtually become a ghost town. 

The University of Illinois has

begun the task of historical and

archeological research to preserve

and present the story of New Philadelphia to the American public.

Through the efforts of the AfricanAmerican Studies Program, the

Lincoln Institute, and the community- based New Philadelphia

Association, the University is laying

the foundation for the protection

and preservation of the New

Philadelphia site. In the fall of 2002,

Professor Vibert White, Chair of the

African-American Studies Program

and Director of the New

Philadelphia Initiative, will led a

group of archeologists in a land survey and archeological investigations.

Documen-tation will also be submitted for nominating New

Philadelphia to the National

Register of Historic Places. 

For more information, visit the website at

http://newphiladelphia.uis.edu/

NARA Symposium on

Asian Americans and

Pacific Islanders

On Saturday, May 4, 2002, the

National Archives and Records

Administration-Pacific Region

(NARA), in conjunction with the

White House Initiative on Asian

Americans and Pacific Islanders,

and 12 major historical organizations, hosted “Reclaiming the

Legacy: Asian Americans and Pacific

Islanders in U.S. History.” A capacity

crowd of nearly 400 attended an

all-day public conference at the

University of San Francisco’s Lone

Mountain Conference Center. 

According to Daniel Nealand,

NARA-San Francisco Regional

Archives Director, “‘Reclaiming the

Legacy’ was the first and largest

public event of its kind, bringing

together historical insights, issues,

performances, and art by and about

Americans with ‘roots’ in China,

Japan, the Philippines, Korea,

Vietnam, India, Hawaii, and

American Samoa.”

Following the opening Taiko

Drum ceremony and morning

keynote address by Congressman

Tom Lantos, attendees chose among

40 presentations and four subject

tracks featuring acclaimed authors

and historians, award-winning filmmakers, performing artists, genealogists, and museum and archival

resources experts. Twenty-two presentations stemmed from National

Archives research. The afternoon

keynote address featured Helen Zia,

former executive and current contributing editor to Ms. Magazine,

journalist, and author of Asian

American Dreams: The Emergence

of an American People. At the 

conference closing reception, John

Tsu, Chair of the White House

Commission on Asian American and

Pacific Islanders, read a Presidential

Proclamation on Asian Pacific

Heritage Month.

The conference is a result of the

efforts to use the President's executive powers on behalf of Asian

Americans and Pacific Islanders

(AAPI). In June 1999, President

Clinton issued Executive Order

13216, directing the agencies of the

Federal government to use their

resources to improve the quality of

life of these populations. The Executive Order established both an

external Advisory Commission on

Asian Americans and Pacific

Islanders and an Interagency

Working Group.

One decision of the Interagency

Working Group was to develop and

inventory of existing Federal programs and services designated for

PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVES

Taiko drummers open the AAPI conference in San

Francisco. Photo illustration by Marcia Axtmann Smith based on photo

courtesy of NARA.
HERITAGE

MATTERS

DECEMBER 2002

the AAPI community. Most participants assumed that the inventory

would list typical social services and

grant programs. However, since the

cultural resources agencies of the

Federal government were included

in the Interagency Working Group,

the inventory contained a surprising

breadth of topics, including an

inventory of cultural services to the

target population. 

The inventory pulled together all

the AAPI cultural resources available

across the Federal government.

NARA saw the potential for new initiatives in these resources. It prepared a list of its archival resources

relating to the AAPI community:

immigrant ship rosters, files relating

to the implementation of exclusionary laws, photographs, and census

reports. The various agencies realized that despite the wealth of AAPI

historical and cultural resources in

their possession, the AAPI story was

largely missing in history textbooks

and in the memory of the greater

population. 

The result of all of these events

was "Reclaiming the Legacy."

Participating agencies included

NARA, the White House Initiative

on Asian Americans and Pacific

Islanders, Angel Island Immigration

Station Foundation, the Chinese

Historical Society of America,

Filipino American National

Historical Society, National Japanese

American Historical Society, San

Francisco State University Asian

American Studies Department,

University of San Francisco Religion

and Immigration Project, and the

Center for the Pacific Rim.

The conference contributed to

“reclaiming the legacy” of Asian

Americans and Pacific Islanders in

the United States, and demonstrated

the positive role Federal agencies can

play as a catalyst for such activities.

For more information, contact Kevin Green at

kevin.green@archives.gov.

Association of 

African American

Museums 2002 

Annual Conference

Michele Gates-Moresi

National Park Service

The Association of African American

Museums (AAAM) held its annual

meeting entitled, “A Sacred Trust:

Interpreting Our Past, Preserving

Our Future,” August 21-24, 2002, in

Washington, DC. The Smithsonian’s

Anacostia Museum and Center for

African American History and

Culture hosted the conference. The

conference offered an array of paper

presentations, panel discussions,

local tours, and events that stimulated conversations and facilitated

institutional cooperation. The conference was an opportunity to learn

about other colleagues’ activities,

various museum programs, and the

latest trends in the field.

The conference saw its best

attendance number ever and gained

unprecedented coverage in the

media. Some sessions were televised

by C-Span, including the first session of African-American museum

pioneers. AAAM conference proceedings were covered in part by

National Public Radio. This media

attention reflects the growing number of people working in AfricanAmerican cultural institutions as

well as an increasing interest from

the mainstream museum community

in African-American issues.

Distinguished keynote speakers

were Professors John Hope Franklin

of Duke University and Deborah

Newman-Ham of Morgan State

University. Professor Franklin

offered humble and inspiring words

by describing aspects of his career

through a series of encounters with

giants in the field: Mary McLeod

Bethune, W.E.B. Du Bois, and

Theodore Shirley Currier. His presence throughout the conference was

a unique opportunity for all participants to see and hear in person this

prolific and honored scholar.

Professor Newman-Ham used

endearing stories of discussing history with children, including her

own, to point out the need to better

educate students in history to ensure

the future of the museum field. 

Conference sessions stayed true

to the theme of looking backward,

pondering the present, and thinking

ahead. The first sessions, “Reflections: History of the African American Museums From its Pioneers,”

allowed the audience to hear from

Margaret T. Burroughs, who was

involved in the founding of the

AAAM and founder of the DuSable

Museum in Chicago, and from Joan

Maynard, who pioneered local

African-American historic preservation in her work to found the Society for the Preservation of Weeksville and Bedford-Stuyvesant in New

York, among others in the field. The

panel moderator, Professor Gabriel

Tenabe of Morgan State University,

pointed out that while so many had

been busy founding museums and

programs to preserve and disseminate black history and culture, they

had overlooked recording the story

of their own struggles. Thus, he had

been inspired to assemble the panel

and start a dialogue between the old

generation and the new.

Other sessions ranged from presentations on Gullah traditions and

culture to marketing and fundraising

issues in the context of a post-9/11

economic climate. In addition to the

tours and events familiarizing attendees with local history, a panel 

session on black architects illustrated

their impact on the architectural

landscape of Washington, DC. 

A significant event of the conference was the plenary session,

“Toward a National African American Museum,” in which speakers

offered insight about past efforts to

establish a museum that first began

in 1916. The session described the

current state of the Presidential

page 16
page 17

Commission for the National Museum of African American History

and Culture (NMAAHC), and heard

concerns and ideas from the

African-American museum community. Panel speakers included

Commis-sion members, historians,

a representative from the

Smithsonian secretary’s office, and

AAAM president, William Gwaltney.

The plenary session was an

opportunity for commission members to hear the opinions of

African-American museum professionals. Several individuals

expressed their concerns, indicating

a high-level of engagement and

emotional ties to the Commission’s

endeavor. Comments included:

young people need to be a part of

the process; a national conversation

about slavery must be at the core of

the museum’s program; local stories

should not be forgotten; and the

Commission needs to make a serious

effort to listen to the concerns of

everyone, especially those who know

and practice their own history. The

Commis-sion plans to hold a series

of “Town Hall Meetings” throughout

the country intended to solicit the

public views.

The next AAAM annual conference will be held in Chattanooga,

Tennessee at the Marriott Convention Center during Aug 20-23,

2003. The conference theme will be

announced in November.

For more information on the conference, visit the

website at www.blackmuseums.org, or contact

William Billingsley, 937/376-4944, ext. 123; e-mail:

wbillingsley@ohiohistory.org. For more information on NMAAHC, visit the website at

planning.den.nps.gov/nmaahc, or contact the staff

for the Commission at 202/208-4227.

National Trust’s

National Preservation

Conference

Brian D. Joyner

National Park Service

The National Trust for Historic

Preservation held its annual conference on October 8-13, 2002, in

Cleveland, Ohio. Over 1,500 people

attended the conference and were

introduced to a range of preservation activities in the Cleveland metropolitan area, from the outlying

counties, to the pastoral setting of

the Cuyahoga Valley, and the broad

avenues and towering buildings of

its downtown. This year’s theme,

“Cities, Suburbs & Countryside,”

addressed the concerns of preservationists in dealing with a region as

diverse—in its landscape, ethnicities,

and economic opportunities—as

Northeast Ohio.

The opening plenary session featured Fran Mainella, Director of the

National Park Service; Cleveland

Mayor Jane Campbell; Richard Moe,

President of the Trust; Bishop

Anthony M. Pilla; and Cleveland

native, Rodney J. Reynolds, publisher of American Legacy Magazine.

Each addressed the need for the

historic preservation to reflect all of

American society. Mr. Reynolds was

later presented with the Southeast

Regional African American

Preservation Alliance’s “Triangle of

Service Award” for his magazine’s

efforts on behalf of AfricanAmerican historic preservation.

Among the conference highlights

was the session “Broadening

Diversity in the Preservation

Movement.” National Trust Board of

Advisors members Elmo Baca (New

Mexico), Janese Chapman

(Michigan), Sue Fawn Chung

(Nevada), Arleen Pabón (Puerto

Rico), and independent consultants

William Colburn and Rudy Lamarr,

engaged in conversations regarding

contemporary cultural diversity

issues. By asking several advisors

three questions—“How and why

does historic preservation resonate

with you?, What barriers have you

personally experienced and/or witnessed?, and What suggestions do

you have for making preservation

more welcoming to more people?”—

the session tried to shed light on

current preservation perspectives.

Pabón suggested that preservationists needed to “question traditional

historic preservation perceptions

and interpretations and, most

importantly, its current philosophical paradigms that, in some cases,

have remained unchanged for more

than forty years,” to determine their

relevance in the modern preservation movement.

The result of the “Broadening

Diversity” session was a four-part

recommendation, as articulated by

Pabón: 1) examining and understanding what it is we call American

culture, 2) trying not to trivialize or

‘sacramentalize’ what we do as

preservationists, 3) recognizing and

accepting the difficulties of preservation in an American society rooted in materialism and change, and

4) constantly question ourselves by

asking, “Why are we doing this?”

The task for preservationists is a

complex one: preserving not the

private heritage of a few enlightened

souls but the heritage of humanity.

The National Trust’s annual

National Preservation Honor Award

ceremony at Severance Music Hall

saw a number of diverse projects

honored. Included among the honorees was the Hamilton Hotel in

Laredo, Texas, once a cultural and

social hub for the Latino community

in North and South America, now

renovated to serve the elderly community; the restored Temple of

Kwan Tai, a Buddhist temple in

Mendocino, California; and, the

refurbished Wabash YMCA in the

Bronzeville section of Chicago,

Illinois. In addition, the Hartford

Courant, America’s longest continuously published newspaper,

received an award for its efforts on

behalf of historic preservation (a

special edition of the Courant’s

Sunday magazine, Northeast, is featured in this issue of Heritage

Matters, under “Conferences,

Publications, and Announcements”).

Each conference session, tour, or
workshop highlighted preservation

activities and issues addressing one

of the five focus areas: advocacy,

cultural diversity, federal and state

stewardship of historic sites, heritage tourism, and international

preservation. Sessions were interlaced with walking tours, such as a

tour of Cleveland’s ethnic enclaves,

and workshops, such as one on historic rehabilitation tax credits. The

Cleveland conference sessions illustrated the range of new preservation

issues being addressed by preserva-

tionists throughout the country.

Next year’s National Trust meeting

will be held in Denver, Colorado,

September 30-October 5. 

For more information, contact the National Trust

at 800/944-6847, or visit their website at

http://www.nthpconference.org/. Arleen Pabón

also contributed to the writing of this article.

California's 

Latino Legacy

Refugio I. Rochin 

University of Notre Dame

From the time of California's first

sighting in 1542 by the navigator

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, to the time

of Manifest Destiny and the end of

the U.S. War with Mexico in 1848,

Latinos laid a remarkable founda-

tion in California.

Before Cabrillo's voyage the

name California was given in a

page 18

(left) The influence of Spanish 

culture on American architecture is

abundantly evident at Scotty’s

Castle, a National Regiser-listed

property in Death Valley, California. Photo by Jack Boucher for the Historic

American Buildings Survey.

(opposite) This sign marks the

coordinates used to denote what

was then known as Indian

Territory, now Oklahoma. Photo

courtesy of Flisa Stevenson.

HERITAGE

MATTERS

DECEMBER 2002
POINTS OF VIEW 

California's 

Latino Legacy 

Refugio I. Rochin 

University of Notre Dame 

From the time of California's first 

sighting in 1542 by the navigator 

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, to the time 

of Manifest Destiny and the end of 

the U.S. War with Mexico in 1848, 

Latinos laid a remarkable foundation in California. 

Before Cabrillo's voyage the 

name California was given in a 

Spanish novel of 15w. It was 

described as a mythical island "very 

close to the paradise on earth;' with 

pearls, rich salt deposits, gold, and 

silver. 

For nearly 200 years the Spanish 

Crown mistakenly thought that 

California was an island. Once its 

peninsular nature was established 

and the Pacific Coast was claimed by 

Spain, General Jose de Galvez utilized three institutions to carry out 

the occupation of California: mission, presidio, and pueblo. Two original civil pueblos, San Jose (1777) 

and Los Angeles (1781) and four presidios were established: San Diego 

(1769), Monterey (1770), San 

Francisco (1776), and Santa Barbara 

(1782). The colonizers and descendents of these efforts became known 

as the "Californios:' 

The Franciscan friar Junipero 

Serra established the first mission at 

San Diego in 1769. Over a span of 50 

years, 22 missions were added. Local 

farms would grow into extensive cattle and horse ranches, some totaling 

tens of thousands of acres each. The 

vaquero or cowboy was born on 

this land. 

El Camino Real, an important highway for the expansion of New Spain, 

linked San Francisco to Mexico City, 

connecting the missions and presidios. In one sense, El Camino Real 

was a military road, a supply line to 

presidios. Today, El Camino Real is 

Highway 101. 

Mexico became independent 

from Spain in 1821, and its mission 

properties were parceled out as land 

grants by the Mexican government 

in 1833-40. In 1848, Mexico ceded 

California to the United States, after 

losing its War with the U.S. 

Today California has nearly 11 

million Latinos, more than in the 

entire populations of 40 states of 

the union. The cultural legacy of 

Latinos is alive and well, especially 

in this California. In fact, it is prospering. And after all is said and written, Americans today are witness to 

the role of Latino Heritage in 

California: the geographic patterns 

of Mexican land estates, Spanish 

named places, historic missions, El 

Camino Real, and the legacy of 

"California" itself. Latino heritage is 

as rich as the newcomers who enter 

daily. And because of this richness, 

California is today an island of sorts, 

a land of wealth and great strength, 

and very close to the paradise on 

earth. 

Rochin I. Refug·,o is a Senior fellow, Institute for 

Latino Studies, at t he University of Notre Dame. 

For more information, contact Rochin Refugio at 

219/63 1-3672, e-mail: rochin.1@nd.edu. 

\NO\AN MER\D\AN 

Cornell University 

Department of 

Landscape 

Architecture: Using 

Genealogy as a 

Path to Place 

History in 

Oklahoma 

Flisa M. Stevenson 

The Department of Landscape 

Architecture at Cornell University is an internationally recognized community of designers 

and scholars who integrate the 

theory and practice of landscape architecture with cultural landscape studies. It views 

landscape architecture as a 

dynamic act of culture, and 

encourages and supports heritage studies within and 

through research in cultural 

landscapes. The Cornell program challenges students to 

draw from the diversity of the 

American cultural landscape 

for thesis topics. One example 

is the relationship between 

African Americans and Native 

Americans, and its effects on 

the land and on our shared 

heritage. 

Fleet Stevenson,Jr., always 

claimed his family's farm in 

south central Oklahoma came 

from Indians. Many African 

Americans speak of an 

African-Native American 

ancestry, but have difficulty 

tracing their lineage, or citing 

customs or traditions from 

page 19 
page 20

someone new in their community,

“Who are your people?”

When the Federal government

expelled the so-called Five Civilized

Tribes from their traditional homes

in the eastern United States, they

took the enslaved Africans they

owned with them to new lands in the

West. Indian Territory, which was

carved out of lands acquired in the

Louisiana Purchase, roughly consisted of the eastern half of present day

Oklahoma. This forced migration to

the government-established Indian

Territory provides a wealth of documentary evidence, including census

data, field reports, and land allotment records produced by the

United States government.

The Chickasaw Indians were

among the Five Civilized Tribes, and

were slaveholders. When the Civil

War ended, it took another treaty

(the Treaty of 1866) to free the

enslaved within Indian Territory.

Among the stipulations was to free

the Africans held in bondage in all

tribes and adopt them as citizens

with full rights in their respective

nations. However, the Chickasaw

did not want the freedmen living

among them and asked the United

States to remove the freedmen from

their nation. Chickasaw freedmen

found themselves a people 

disenfranchised in the nation of

their birth.

The native-born freedmen did

not want to leave the land that was

their homeland for several decades.

They had bonded with the land, and

for the most part identified with the

Chickasaw customs and lifeways in

which they had been raised. By 1882,

many black Chickasaw had been

born free, but the elder freedmen

were born in the Chickasaw Nation

after removal to Indian Territory.

Despite attempts by the Chickasaw

to oust them, the freedmen tenaciously held their position in the

Chickasaw country, until they

became citizens of the United States

in 1907.

Fleet Stevenson, Jr., grew up on a

farmstead in former Chickasaw

country, near Wildhorse Creek, until

1954. He has always said his family’s

land came from Indians. A review of

historical records indicates that his

great-grandfather, Dave Stevenson,

was a freedmen descendant of Lanie

Stevenson, a slave and half-blood

Chickasaw in Mississippi. Her sons

Dick, Joe, and Dave Stevenson settled in Indian Territory near Wildhorse Creek. Several generations of

Stevensons were born and raised in

this area. Thus, the Stevensons’ claim

to African-Native American heritage

was substantiated. 

Although the built environment

has the capacity to serve as a repository of our collective and individual

history and memory, following the

genealogy trail through a place

acknowledges the presence of the

intangible, the interweaving of

memory and experience, to reveal

the people who contributed to its

making.

Understanding Wildhorse Creek,

and other places related to African

American-Native American commingled heritage, requires addressing the gap in historical knowledge

concerning Native Americans as

slaveholders, and African Americans’

relationship to land. Exploring issues

of spatial identity, using the genealogy trail gave focus to the documentary evidence. The personal histories

expressed by the members of this

black frontier society, shaping space

in the land they were born to, called

home and struggled to keep, give it

significance. 

Flisa M. Stevenson is a MLA candidate at Cornell

University. For more information about the Cornell

University Department of Landscape Architecture,

visit the website at www.landscape.cornell.edu. 

Conferences

Protecting Our Diverse Heritage: 

The Role of Parks, Protected Areas,

and Cultural Sites, GWS/CR2003 Joint

Conference 

On April 14-18, 2003, the George

Wright Society (GWS) and the

National Park Service (NPS) will

hold a joint conference of natural

and cultural resource professionals

in San Diego, California. “Protecting

Our Diverse Heritage” incorporates

two conferences on parks and cultural resources. The GWS Biennial

Conference is the largest interdisciplinary conference on research and

resource management on protected

HERITAGE

MATTERS

DECEMBER 2002

Wildhorse Creek runs along the

south boundary of the Stevenson

farmstead. Photo courtesy of Flisa

Stevenson.
page 21

areas in the nation. NPS “Cultural

Resources 2003: A Conference for

the National Park Service and its

Partners” is the second in a series of

nationwide forums for discussing

how to increase awareness of the

value of cultural resources and

strengthen communication among

NPS cultural resources staff and

NPS partners.

Proposals for papers, posters,

concurrent sessions, workshops,

side/affinity meetings, computer

demos, and exhibits are being

accepted. Complete details are

available through the joint conference website at

http://www.georgewright.

org/2003.html. 

For more information, call 906/487-9722, or 

e-mail: info@georgewright.org. 

20th International Conference 

on the History of Cartography

The biennial International

Conferences on the History of

Cartography (ICHC), under the auspices of Imago Mundi:

International Journal for the

History of Cartography, will take

place June 15-20, 2003, at Harvard

University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the University of

Southern Maine, in Portland, Maine.

The conference will be held June 15-

17, 2003, in the Harvard Map

Collection at Harvard University,

and June 18-20, in the Osher Map

Library at the University of Southern

Maine.

Conference themes are as 

follows: cartography, states, and

empires; cartographic literacy and

culture; cartography and commerce;

and other topics in the history of

cartography. ICHC 2003 will also

include three workshops on issues

relating to the history of cartography, several associated cartographic

exhibitions, an extensive social program, and activities for accompanying persons. 

Persons interested in submitting

a paper, poster, or session idea can

send the proposal, via e-mail to

oml@usm.maine.edu, or on disk to

ICHC 2003 Program Committee, 

c/o Osher Map Library, University 

of Southern Maine, Portland, ME

04104-9301. Full details of conference activities, together with registration forms, are available at

www.ichc2003.org. 

For any additional questions regarding the conference, contact info@ichc2003.org.

Association for the Study of 

African American Life and History

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

will be “The Souls of Black Folks,”

to commemorate the 100th anniversary of W.E.B. Du Bois’s book. It will

feature the latest scholarship on

African American history, culture,

politics, and society.

Meeting organizers are currently

accepting paper proposals that

explore aspects of the theme of 

Du Bois’s seminal work and of the

meeting. Proposals must include

session participants, paper titles,

and an abstract of the presentation.

The deadline for proposals is

January 31, 2003. 

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.

Publications

Teaching Materials: 

Cultural Heritage Preservation 

Course Outline 

The course outline for “Teaching

Cultural Heritage Preservation” is

now available from the National

Center for Cultural Resources,

National Park Service. This course

outline developed from the meeting

of the Curriculum Forum in

Baltimore, Maryland, in April 2001.

The forum members developed this

outline as a model for an undergraduate course that could be taught

at minority colleges and universities.

The course outline is arranged in

three units: 1) Place and Culture, 2)

Power and Politics, and 3) Process

and Profession. Learning Objectives,

Learning Activities, and Learning

Resources are provided for each

unit. 

The purpose of the course is to

introduce diverse students to the

cultural heritage preservation field;

increase the number of diverse individuals in cultural heritage work;

and increase the number of professional historians, curators, historical

architects, archeologists, etc., in this

area of work who reflect the diverse

and multicultural character of 

21st century America. This course

outline was a cooperative project of

Coppin State University, Goucher

College, and Morgan State University, all of Baltimore, Maryland, and

the National Park Service.

Copies of the course outline are available from:

Michele Gates Moresi, 202/354-2266, e-mail:

michele_gates_moresi @contractor.nps.gov. It also

is available on the website for the Cultural

Resources Diversity Program: www.cr.nps.gov/crdi,

click: “Colleges and Universities.”

Sento at Sixth and Main: Preserving

Landmarks of Japanese American

Heritage

Combining in-depth research on

historic places, personal memories

CONFERENCES, PUBLICATIONS,

AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
drawn from oral histories of

Japanese Americans, and striking

vintage photographs, Sento at Sixth

and Main: Preserving Landmarks

of Japanese American Heritage

explores the previously undocumented built environment and cultural landscape associated with once

familiar aspects of Japanese

American life—community halls,

farms, lumber camps, temples,

schools, hospitals, midwiferies,

bowling alleys, and the Japanesestyle public bathhouses known as

sento.

By calling attention to ten places

significant in Japanese American

heritage on the West Coast, and presenting evidence of the vast array of

resources that await further study,

Sento at Sixth and Main makes a

case for protecting the remaining

landmarks. Sento at Sixth and Main

was written by Gail Dubrow, an

Associate Professor in the College of

Architecture and Urban Planning at

the University of Washington, and

Donna Graves, a writer and cultural

planner. 

The Heritage and Culture of 

African Americans in Virginia: 

A Guide to the Sites

Every other year, the Virginia

Tourism Corporation publishes a

comprehensive inventory of sites of

importance to African American

heritage throughout the state. The

Heritage and Culture of African

Americans in Virginia: A Guide to

the Sites contains suggested itineraries and descriptions of historical

sites, museums, and churches, as

well as maps of the state’s eight

regions.

A directory to the African

American Heritage Theme Tours

through several cities is included in

the guide. The guide contains a

short history of African Americans

in Virginia written by Edgar A.

Toppin, retired dean of Virginia

State University’s Graduate Program and author of books on

African Americans in the United

States. Copies are available through

the Virginia Tourism Corporation.

Contact Bruce Twyman at 804/371-8234, e-mail:

btwyman@virginia.org.

Slavery in Connecticut

The Hartford Courant’s Sunday

magazine, Northeast Magazine,

published a special issue September

29, 2002, called, “Complicity: How

Connecticut Chained Itself to

Slavery.” A series of essays, totaling

80 pages, explore the state’s slave

past, a little-known yet significant

aspect of the region’s history.

Responding to comments that local,

well-established companies had

connections to slavery, the editors

consulted with scholars and the

Gilder Lehrman Institute of

American History in New York to

learn more about the broader context of slavery in the 17th and 18th

centuries and the economic links

between Connecticut industries and

slavery well into the 19th century. 

The essays in “Complicity” cover

a range of topics including: ongoing

archeological and museum research

projects, ivory businesses that flourished in the late 19th century, runaway slave advertisements, and how

prominent leaders of the state benefited from the slave economy and

helped to preserve slavery in the

south. The result is an unflinching

examination of slave labor in

Connecticut, an area rarely associated with slavery and usually considered a “free state.” 

The Hartford Courant is the nation’s longest continuously published newspaper. It has long been

an advocate for historic preservation, and was recognized with an award for its efforts by the

National Trust for Historic Places at its annual

meeting in Cleveland. The special issue is available

on the newspaper website (www.ctnow.com) at:

http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/northeast/

hc-slavery.special.

African Reflections on the 

American Landscape: Identifying 

and Interpreting Africanisms

African Reflections on the

American Landscape: Identifying

and Interpreting Africanisms highlights West and Central African cultural contributions to the nation’s

built environment that has been

documented and recognized in the

cultural resources programs of the

National Park Service (NPS). This

guide to Africanisms forms part of

the larger effort of NPS and its partners to increase awareness of the

role of various cultural groups in

shaping the American landscape. 

This publication is intended to

support historic preservation and

cultural resources stewardship

efforts of organizations and individuals within their communities. It is

designed for the general reader,

HERITAGE

MATTERS

DECEMBER 2002

The Teaching Cultural Heritage Preservation Course Outline

is available through the National Park Service.

page 22

Culit/raz 

Heritage 

RESER\'A ON 

'tP' • I• 
without a background in

Africanisms or West and Central

African history and cultural practices. This document includes: an

introductory essay that summarizes

Africanisms and their origins; an

annotated discussion of historic

properties listed in the National

Register of Historic Places, designated as National Historic

Landmarks, and documented by the

Historic American Buildings Survey

and the Historic American

Engineering Record (all programs of

the National Park Service); examples

of historic sites where African cultural heritage is interpreted; a bibliography of well-known publications

on the topic; and more complete list

of historic properties documented

by National Park Service cultural

resources programs, arranged by

program and state.

African Reflections on the American Landscape

will be available in early winter of 2003. For

copies, please contact Brian Joyner at 202/354-

2276, e-mail: brian_joyner@nps.gov.

Announcements

2003 Preservation Technology 

and Training Grants

The National Center for Preservation

Technology and Training (NCPTT)

announces its 2003 Preservation

Technology and Training Grants in

historic preservation. NCPTT is a

National Park Service initiative to

advance the practice of historic

preservation in the fields of archeology, architecture, landscape architecture, and materials conservation.

Proposals will be considered that

address critical challenges to the

preservation of our nation’s cultural

heritage through the innovative

application of advances in science

and technology.

Grants will be awarded on a

competitive basis, pending the availability of funds.

The proposal deadline is

February 1, 2003. The complete

2003 PTTGrants Call for

Proposals—including instructions

on how to prepare and submit

applications—is available via

NCPTT’s website at

http://www.ncptt.nps.gov, or by

contacting NCPTT at 645 College

Avenue, Natchitoches, LA, 71457;

phone: 318/356-7444.

Growing Up in Washington

Receives Two Awards

The Historical Society of

Washington, DC is the recipient of

two awards for the Growing Up in

Washington exhibit and book. Both

the exhibit and the book focus on

and record the similarities and differences of childhood experiences

and the importance of place among

the diverse population of the

nation’s capital over the course of a

century.

Growing Up in Washingtonwas

awarded the American Association

of State and Local History’s

(AASLH) Certificate of Commendation and the Oral History Association’s Elizabeth B. Mason Project

Award, in 2002. The book is available through Arcadia Publishing. 

For more information, visit the Historical Society

of Washington, DC website at www.hswdc.org.

El Río Opening in February 2003

The Smithsonian Institution’s Center

for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

announces the opening of El Río—a

traveling exhibition that explores the

complex relationship between local

culture and sustainable environment

in the Río Grande/Río Bravo Basin.

This area extends from Colorado to

New Mexico and Texas and into five

Mexican states. El Río is designed

with and for grassroots communities

and groups to provide the public

with an interactive experience and

encourage a better understanding of

the ecosystem in this diverse region. 

The exhibit opens February 6,

2003, in Washington, DC, and will

travel to museums and cultural centers throughout the project area for

the next four year. Dates and locations for Mexican sites are still being

negotiated. It will feature regional

music and performances, and offer

public programming with traditional

practitioners and artists. 

For more information, contact Olivia Cadaval at

cadavalo@si.edu or visit the website at 

www.folklife.si.edu.

page 23
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

Katherine H. Stevenson

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. Black and white photographs or color 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 Initiative:

www.cr.nps.gov/crdi

HERITAGE

MATTERS

DECEMBER 2002

CONTENTS

HERITAGE MATTERS

See page 15, Symposium on Asian

Americans and Pacific Islanders

NPS ACTIVITIES, pages 3-7

Teaching American Diversity with NPS Lesson

Plans, p. 3

Lowell, Mass., Folk Festival, p. 4

Cotter Award for Archeology to Ken Wild for

Cinnamon Bay Studies, p. 4

Cultural Resources Diversity Internship

Program, 2002/2003, p. 6

TRIBAL ACTIVITIES, pages 8-9

New Registry of Living Culture Planned by

National Museum of the American Indian,

p. 8

Current List of Tribal Historic Preservation

Offices, p. 8

STATE INITIATIVES, pages 10-14

Recent National Register Listings, p. 11

• Booker T. Washington High School, New

Orleans 

• Roosevelt School Auditorium and Classroom

Addition, Mission, Texas

• Lodge Boleslav Jablonsky No. 219, Poplar

Grove Township, Minnesota

• Virginia Key Beach Park, near Miami, Florida

• Hurricane of 1928 African American Mass

Grave, West Palm Beach, Florida

• Cine El Rey, McAllen, Texas

• Palo Homestead, Oulu, Wisconsin

• Crisler-Crisler Mounds Site, Boone County,

Kentucky

• Sugar Hill Historic District, New York City

Heritage Trails in Iron County, Michigan, p. 11

COMMUNITY INITIATIVES, pages 14-15

Archeological Investigations at Gunston Hall

Yield Information on Enslaved Population, 

p. 14

Preservation and Protection of the New

Philadelphia Site, p. 14

PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVES, pages 15-18

NARA Symposium on Asian Americans and

Pacific Islanders, p. 15

Association of African American Museums

2002 Annual Conference, p. 16

National Trust’s National Preservation

Conference, p. 17

POINTS OF VIEW, pages 19-20

California’s Latino Legacy, p. 19

Cornell University’s Department of Landscape

Architecture: Using Geneology as a Path to

Place History in Oklahoma, p. 19

CONFERENCES, PUBLICATIONS, AND

ANNOUNCEMENTS, pages 21-23

Conferences , p. 21

• Protecting Our Diverse Heritage

• 20th International Conference on the History

of Cartography

• Association for the Study of African

American Life and History 88th National

Meeting

Publications, p. 21

• Teaching Materials: Cultural Heritage

Preservation Course Outline

• Sento at Sixth and Main: Preserving

Landmarks of Japanese American Heritage

• The Heritage and Culture of African

Americans in Virginia: A Guide to the Sites

• Slavery in Connecticut

Announcements, p. 23

• 2003 Preservation Technology and Training

Grants

• Growing Up in Washington Receives Awards

• El Rio Exhibit Opening in February 2003

page 24