The Tuskegee Airmen

Oral History Project

Todd Moye, Southeast Regional Office

In 1998, President Clinton signed Public

Law 105–355, establishing the Tuskegee

Airmen National Historic Site at Moton

Field in Tuskegee,AL, to commemorate

the heroic actions of the Tuskegee

Airmen during World War II. Two years

later in 2000, the National Park Service

initiated the Tuskegee Airmen Oral

History Project. Today, five full-time

oral history interviewers are interviewing participants in the Tuskegee Airmen

experience throughout the country.

When opened to the public, the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site at

Moton Field will contain a museum and

interpretive programs at the historic

complex at Moton Field. The new unit

of the National Park System will address

the training of the Tuskegee Airmen,

their contributions to the U.S.World

War II effort, their role in expanding the

opportunities available to African

Americans in the U.S.mi litary, and

the impact of their efforts on the

subsequent desegregation of the U.S.

military and the ensuing civil rights

movement.

The task of creating the Tuskegee

Airmen NHS presents the National Park

Service with a unique opportunity.

Many of the people whose stories will

be commemorated and interpreted at

the new site are still alive. From the outset, it has been clear that an oral history

project with the goal of interviewing as

many participants in the Tuskegee

Airmen experience as possible would be

a crucial component of this effort.

Or al histories of the su rviving Tuskegee

Airmen will be us ed for th ree main pu rpos es .Inform ation from the interviews

will guide the Park Service’s rehabilit ation and construction projects at Moton

Field. Recordings of the interviews will

be us ed in the NHS’s interpretive progr ams ,so that visitors will be able to

learn about the Tuskegee Airmen ex perience from those who partic ipated, in

their own words . Finally, the interviews

and their tr ans c ripts will hous ed in an

arch ive at the NHS and made available

to res earchers and the public.

The National Park Service has 

define a “Tuskegee Airman” in 

broadest possible terms. Nearl

pilots successfully completed A

Corps flight training at Tuskeg

between 1941 and 1946. These 

have recently begun to win rec

for their excellent service in W

II, and justly so. But they made 

a fraction of the total number 

whose collective service was re

for the success of the Tuskegee 

gram. The Tuskegee Airmen O

History Project is identifying a

viewing the thousands of peop

served behind the scene—as m

ics, parachute packers, weathe

ers,radio operators,secr etarie

in addition to those who flew t

planes.

The goal is to interview a mini

1,500 participants in the Tuske

Airmen experience. The staff o

time interviewers is based in t

Southeast Regional Office of th

National Park Service, in Atlan

If you know of anyone who should b

ered for an interview, contact Todd M

404/562-3117 or Todd_Moye@nps.g

H E R I TAGE MAT T E R 

JUNE 2001

Moton Air Hanger No. 1. In interpreting the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, NPS seeks to interview at least 1,500 

participants in the Tuskegee Airmen experience.

Moton Field, Tuskegee, AL, 1999. Photo by Museum Management Program, NPS. 

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Ft. Sumter Ferry Facility

Offers New Interpretation

for Visitors

Carlin Timmons, Fort Sumter National

Monument

A dream 25 years in the making is

about to become a reality in Charleston,

SC. Fort Sumter National Monument’s

new ferry boat facility will be opening

downtown at Liberty Square this summer. This project is significant in a

number of ways.It is built on a

reclaimed Super Fund site and is part of

a broad based waterfront revitalization.

On the ferry, visitors to Fort Sumter

take part in interpretive programs that

will help them appreciate the many

meanings associated with Fort Sumter.

The challenge has been to greatly

ex pand the story told at the fort’s mus eu m ,w h ich was renovated in 1995. It s

emphasis is on the what happened at

Su m ter and the Charleston area du ring

the Civil War. The new Liberty Squ are

ex h ibits will place the events at Fort

Su m ter in the larger context of Un ited

St ates history. Th is context will ex tend

back to the colon i al roots of the conf lict

and events leading up to secession . The

ex h ibits will bring the visitor up to the

begin n ing of the Civil War in April 1861.

The exhibits will cover the causes of the

war, the growth of sectionalism,slavery,

the Constitution, and the greatest challenge that this country has ever faced.

Visitors likely will include those whose

great-great grandparents were born into

slavery and others whose ancestors

might have been Confederate generals.

knows that staff and visitors come to

these sites with their own past experiences and beliefs.

Fort Sumter National Monument is

committed to telling a broader story

about our history, including the voices

of captured and enslaved Africans.

These voices from the past are voices

that we hope will provoke curiosity and

interest in learning more about our

shared heritage as United States citizens.Visitors should be able to connect

with our exhibits with issues that are

still relevant to who we are today—the

role of the federal government,states’

rights, and race relations.

For more information, contact Carlin Timmons,

Ft Sumter National Monument; 843/883-3123,

e-mail: Carlin_Timmons@nps.gov.

Anacostia Park Brochure

Moriba N. McDonald, Cultural Resources

Diversity Initiative

The National Park Service is cooperating with the National Parks

Conservation Association (NPCA) to

produce a basic NPS brochure for

Anacostia Park in Washington, DC.

Located on both sides of the Anacostia

River, Anacostia Park is a major natural,

cultural, and recreational resource in

the national capital city and an important part of the national park system in

the Washington DC area.Anacostia Park

is close to other NPS attractions, including the Frederick Douglass National

Historic Site and Kenilworth Aquatic

Gardens. City historic places, including

the residential Anacostia Historic

District and Anacostia High School, are

near the park.

Despite the central location and large

size of Anacostia Park, it is little known

to many residents of the Washington,

DC metropolitan area or to many visitors.A NPS brochure will provide the

visitor with a map of the park.It identifies park boundaries, visitor facilities,

ranger stations, and areas for recreational uses and summarizes the natural and cultural resources within and

around the park. These brochures are

provided to visitors,schools, and residents of nearby communities.

expects that this brochure will 

public understanding of, and a

tion for, the cultural, natural, a

ational resources within and c

park. The brochure also can bu

port for interpretative program

ronmental and cultural resour

tion, and maintenance.

The NPS FY 2000 Challenge Co

Program (CCSP) provided seed 

for the preparation of the broc

NPCA matched the CCSP gran

grants from the Marpat Found

the Seraph Foundation, both o

Washington, DC.

The Anacostia Brochure Projec

out of the Community Partner

Program of the NPCA, and its 

engage minority communities 

national parks and the work of 

National Park Service. In addit

Anacostia Brochure Project can 

ful to efforts of the District of 

government in revitalizing the 

Anacostia community.

Moriba N. McDonald is a historian w

Cultural Resources Diversity Initiativ

information, contact Mr. McDonald a

2231, or by e-mail: moriba_mcdonal

Applied Anthropolog

Unique Role in the

National Park Servic

Alexa Roberts, Intermountain R

Support Office, and Jacilee Wra

Olympia National Park

Your park has completed a com

sive archeological survey, and y

where all your archeological si

You have also inventoried all o

historic structures,cultural lan

and museum collections.You n

all that you need to know to pr

interpret your park's cultural r

Or do you?

What do you know about that p

nent hill in the southeast corne

park that people who have alw

arou nd here have a spec i al nam

What about those cat t ails grow

arou nd the spring, or the place 

that old cabin us ed to st and — 

you still sometimes see people 

Are you aware that these may b

page 2

This US Army Air Force Training war bond poster features a Tuskegee

Airman pilot standing on the wing of a fighter airplane. The inscription reads “Back

our attack buy your share of war bonds today. 5th war loan drive June 12–July 18.” 

Owned by Tuskegee Airman Robert Glass, courtesy of Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, TUAI 40
eth nogr aph ic res ou rces , to which nei ghboring commu n ities may at t ach spec i al

cultu r al values? Do you know the commu n ity's names for these spec i al

places — and do you underst and the

commu n ity's concerns about how they

are managed? And what happens if

your park hasn't yet identified its culturally significant resources?

NPS's Applied Ethnography Program is

a small service-wide group of cultural

anthropologists based in regions,support offices,service centers, programs,

and parks across the country. They

focus on the relationships between

Parks,NPS programs, and peoples

whose customary ways of life affect, or

are affected by, NPS management activities. They also reach out to federal,

state, tribal, and other partners beyond

the NPS. Although ethnographic, cultural, and natural resources (including the

landscapes of which they are a part) can

be eligible for listing in the National

Register of Historic Places, the true

importance of these resources lies in

the unique cultural value that they have

to contemporary peoples and communities and the continuance of traditional

practices.

NPS ethnographers can guide your

basic ethnographic research, as you

identify traditionally associated communities, and their uses of parklands

tions with tribes and other communities. They help park interpreters, and

other staff learn about connections

between parks and traditionally associated groups. They assist in the collection of oral histories, and in addressing

tribal access and other issues. When the

park proposes projects, they help communities document community

responses,evaluate cultural impacts,

and determine courses of action to

resolve conflicts. And, they help you

find your way through NPS policies and

federal requirements,NAGPRA,EIS

preparation, and regional implementation of the service-wide Ethnographic

Resources Inventory database.

For more information, contact Ms. Roberts at

Alexa_Roberts@nps.gov, or Ms. Wray at

Jacilee_Wray@nps.gov.

Hope and Glory: The

Story of the Fifty-Fourth

Massachusetts Regiment

Marty Blatt, Chief of Cultural

Resources/Historian at Boston National

Historical Park, is the co-editor of the

new book,Hope and Glory: Essays on

the Legacy of the 54th Massachusetts

Regiment, published by University of

Massachusetts Press. Secretary of State

Colin Powell wrote the foreword.

Contributors examine the media of history, memory, art, literature,music, and

film regarding the 54th, the most celebrated black regiment to fight for the

Union in the Civil War. Blatt wrote an

essay entitled “Glory: Hollywood

History, Popular Culture and the Fiftyfourth Massachusetts Regiment.”

This book originated in the 1997 centennial celebration of the Augustus

Saint-Gaudens Monument to Robert

Gould Shaw and the 54th. The National

Park Service played a central role in

planning this program.Not since the

Civil War has Boston or any city in the

United States witnessed such an outpouring of admiration for the AfricanAmerican soldiers and their white

brethren who together risked their lives

so that others might be free.

The story of the Massachusetts 54th, the most celebrated black regiment

to fight for the Union in the Civil War, is the subject of Hope & Glory.

Courtesy of University of Massachusetts Press.
Fort Lewis College Starts

Undergraduate Heritage

Preservation Program 

Deborah Uroda, Fort Lewis College

Stored within the collections of a new

museum at Fort Lewis College in

Durango, CO, is a small baby's blanket

that, by itself, doesn't have much value,

but whose story is priceless. The blanket had belonged to a Navajo man born

at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, in the

early 1860s following the Diné Long

Walk from Canyon de Chelley in

Arizona.More than 3,000 died during

the death march and subsequent incarceration.With its story, the weaving has

become a powerful symbol of a people's

history that should never be forgotten.

The blanket is one of thousands of historic and prehistoric artifacts, oral histories,rare books,maps, and historical

photographs now available to the public

through the college's new $8 million

Center of Southwest Studies,a museum,

archives, research library, and home to

the institution's award-winning

Southwest Studies and Anthropology

degree programs.

Although originally established in 1964,

it is the country's oldest center that is

focused solely on Southwest history and

cultures. The center had been hidden

away on the third floor of the college's

library, and trying to access its collections was akin to engaging in an

archaeological dig. That is,until now.

Built with private donations and funds

from the state of Colorado, the threestory, 48,500-square-foot facility will

offer unprecedented opportunities for

researchers to explore the cultural heritage of the Southwest,says Center

Director Andrew Gulliford. For example,

the center is home to the one-of-a-kind

Durango Collection,a selection of 160

textiles that spans eight centuries of

Southwestern weaving. Donated by the

Richard and Mary Lyn Ballantine family of Durango and the Mark and Lerin

Winter family of Pagosa Springs, the

collection includes an Ancestral

Puebloan shawl dating from the

Saltillo serapes woven by Navajo slaves

for colonial Spanish gentlemen, and

other rare weavings.

The world-renowned collection will be

on permanent rotating display in the

center's 4,400-square-foot main exhibit

gallery. It also will be used to train students through the college's new

Heritage Preservation Program,established with the center's opening, to

train students for careers in cultural

tourism,museum work,historic preservation and historical interpretation.

“Located as we are in the Four Corners

Region with Mesa Verde National Park,

the various Indian tribes and the many

archaeological and historical sites the

can be found in the area, we can offer

our students numerous opportunities

for internships.We'll be able to provide

trained professionals for the growing

ecotourism,cultural tourism, and tribal

museum facilities,” Gulliford added.

For more information about the Center of

Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College, con -

tact Andrew Gulliford at 970/247-7494, e-mail:

gulliford_a@fortlewis.edu, web site:

swcenter.fortlewis.edu.

Assumption of SHPO

Duties by Five Tribes

As of October 27, 2000, the follow -

ing tribes have officially assumed

State Historic Preservation Officer

(SHPO) functions within the exterior

boundaries of their respective reservations, bringing the number to 27

tribes that have assumed SHPO

duties, pursuant to Section 101

(d)(2) of the National Historic

Preservation Act:

Catawba Indian Nation, South

Carolina

Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake of

Superior, Wisconsin

Makah Tribe, Washington

Seneca Nation of Indians, New York

Skokomish Indian Tribe, Washington
Fort Lewis College alumna

Candace Becenti, a Navajo from Fort

Defiance, AZ, wears a Navajo Woman's

Serape from The Durango Collection

outside the new $8 million Center of

Southwest Studies. 

Courtesy of Deborah Uroda.

This Germantown Eyedazzler, a

Navajo weaving from the 1870s, is one

of 160 weavings found in The Durango

Collection, a collection that illustrates

eight centuries of weaving traditions in

the Southwest. It is one of the most

famous collections in the Center of

Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College

in Durango, CO. 

Courtesy of Deborah Uroda.
National Center for the

Preservation of

Democracy Established

at Japanese American

National Museum

On October 17,2000, the Japanese

American National Museum and the

Chairman of its Board of Governors,

Senator Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI),

announced the appropriation of $20

million in federal funds to establish the

National Center for the Preservation of

Democracy. This Center will be affiliated with and housed at the National

Museum in Los Angeles. The purpose of

the National Center is to examine the

rights and freedoms of all Americans

through the lessons learned from the

Japanese American experience.

In making the announcement, Senator

Inouye stated,“The Japanese

Americans’ story celebrates the triumphs of American democracy.I am

proud to be able to announce that the

National Center for the Preservation for

Democracy will be affiliated with the

Japanese American National Museum,

which is an institution that is dedicated

to the study, preservation, and interpretation of democratic issues. The

National Center’s development of

nationwide programs about the issues

of democracy and its education and

public programs examining democracy

in action will be a natural complement

to the important work being done by

the National Museum.”

The National Center will provide a wide

array of educational programming that

includes exhibitions, media arts presentation, public programs,conferences,

and civic dialogue/public forums. The

educational programming will be

multi-faceted, using Japanese American

history as the lens to look at U.S.constitutional and civil rights issues and the

experiences of a broad range of ethnic

and racial groups.

George Takei, Chairman of the Board of

Trustees for the Japanese American

National Museum,cited the appropri

toric building—a National Historic

Landmark as designated by the

Secretary of the Interior. The building

has been a focal point of American history,serving as a U.S. government

assembly point where Japanese

Americans were ordered to report

before their unconstitutional World War

II incarceration.As Takei stated,“What

better place to learn the lessons of

American democracy than at this

historic site?”

For more information, contact Chris Komai, the

National Center for the Preservation of

Democracy, 213/830-5648.

Engaging a Descendent

Community in

Interpreting the Past

Donald K. Creveling, Archaeology

Program, Maryland-National Capital Park

and Planning Commission

Many public archaeology projects offer

volunteers and students the opportunity to participate in an excavation. Most

people are fascinated with the discovery

of artifacts from the past,whether they

are stone tools from thousands of years

ago, or shreds of pottery, glass, or buttons from our more recent past. One

such project is the archaeology project

being conducted at the Northampton

Slave Quarters and Archaeological Park

in Prince George’s County, MD. This

unique African American site is located

in a one-half acre park within a townhouse development in suburban

Maryland, less than ten miles from

Washington, DC.

The archaeology project at the

Northampton Slave Quarters and

Archaeological Park is taking public

archaeology one step further. The

descendants of Elizabeth Hawkins, an

AfricanAmerican who was born at

Northampton Plantation in the midnineteenth century, are helping to excavate the ruins of two slave quarters,

where their ancestors were enslaved.

doing more than just participa

the excavations. Several Hawki

descendants have provided inf

oral histories and family genea

the seven Hawkins family line

trace their ancestry to the slav

at Northampton. Family memb

also taking a proactive role in 

obtain finding and to encourag

munity support for the project

Excavations of the two slave qu

have been completed. Historic

research and artifact analyses 

being conducted via a grant fr

Maryland Historical Trust. The 

tion of one of the quarters has 

reconstructed as a permanent 

Upon entering the park, an asp

directs the visitor past the reco

ed foundation of an 1840s dup

ter, to a sitting area with two b

sign includes text, graphics, an

graphs,which offer an interpre

the site.

Among the brief narratives on 

is the following statement by t

descendants of Elizabeth Haw

“There are five living generatio

descendants of the Hawkinses

ily that resided on this farm he

Prince George’s County. We tot

excess of 400 people, and more 

three-fourths of those folks ma

home within a 20-mile radius 

location of the slave cabins in 

Arbor. Its significance to this f

tremendous; it has been like a 

binds us together.... We the des

of Robert and Lizzie Hawkins 

ber the Northampton Plantatio

Through the Hawkins’ family’s 

participation in the planning a

pretation of the Northampton 

Quarters and Archaeological P

Maryland-National Capital Par

Planning Commission believes 

project can serve as a model fo

ing communities in the interpr

of their past.

For more information, contact Donal

at 301/218-9651; e-mail: d c r e v e l i @ p 
The Sapelo Preservation

Project

On one of Georgia’s protected sea

islands, an abandoned, century-old

church has gained new life though the

Sapelo Preservation Project. Students

and faculty of the Savannah College of

Art and Design over the past year

joined forces with the Sapelo Island

Cultural Revitalization Society and with

the state’s Department of Natural

Resources to save the First African

Baptist Church. The church revitalization has preserved one of the most significant monuments of the island’s

Gullah-Geechee culture.

Located amid the haunting beauty of

the island’s maritime forest and nearby

shore, the century-old First African

Baptist Church is testimony to the

strong faith and traditions of a culture,

which is one of America’s living treasures.Deserted for almost 40 years, the

wooden Gothic style church was rededicated this past December by Governor

Roy Barnes and college President Paula

S.Wallace to become a place to celebrate

special community events and give

island visitors a glimpse of a restored

heritage.

The restoration program called for stabilization of foundations, roof replacement,sensitive addition of conventional

electric lighting, and climate control as

well as rebuilding the church steeple

was rebuilt based on existing photos.

The preservation philosophy which governed the decision making process for

this project required the conservation

and reuse of historic materials, the use

of period materials where necessary,

and the replication of moldings,fixtures

and elements as needed.

Unique to this project was the barging

over of materials and the ferrying of

workers to the barrier island. Students

gained firsthand knowledge and experience undertaking all phases of the documentation,construction and restoration process while working hand in

hand with residents of the island. The

Sapelo Preservation Project has preserved an important element of an

island heritage and created a legacy for

a growing audience that has come to

appreciate the traditions and lore of the

Gullah-Geechee community.

For more information on this project or Historic

Preservation at the college, contact Maureen

Burke or Robert Dickensheets at the Savannah

College of Art and Design, P.O. Box 3146,

Savannah, GA. 31402-3146, Phone: 912/525-

5200; email: smburke@scad.edu or rdickens@scad.edu. 

Zion Poplars Baptist

Church, Rooted in 135 of

History and Culture

Natalie S. Robertson, Hampton

University

In 1999, the magnificent edifice known

as Zion Poplars Baptist Church, located

in Gloucester,VA, was placed on the

Virginia Historic Landmarks Register,

as well as the National Register of

Historic Places. Built in 1894, the church

is rendered in the mid-nineteenth century gothic revival architectural style

with vernacular detailing. The spectacular interior of the church exhibits the

creative craftsmanship of Frank

Braxton,a former slave. Braxton,early

congregants, their descendants, and

Civil War veterans are interred in the

old cemetery.

One of the oldest African American

congregations in Gloucester County,

terns of our nations history. Be

1865, and for some time afterw

blacks were prohibited by law 

gathering in large numbers for 

pose of educational or religiou

tion. Consequently, blacks held 

arbors,” or clandestine religiou

ings in wooded areas. However

arbors held significance beyon

function as safe havens for wo

God.

Brush arbors represented appr

sanctuaries because, according 

west African religious beliefs,s

reside in the brush. Zion Popla

oped out of this west African-i

tradition when, in 1866, its fou

mothers and fathers chose sev

trees as their sanctuary. These 

four of which are extant on chu

grounds,unite to form one bas

African-Baptist worldview, Mo

was the sacred place where Go

with his people. The seven uni

poplar trees constituted a kind 

“Zion,” or sacred place, indicat

inclusion of the word Zion in t

of the church. Therefore, the hi

culture of Zion Poplars Baptist 

are “rooted” in the seven untie

trees.

Observing the tradition of mo

pendent black churches that w

lished during the Reconstructi

Zion Poplars was a multi-func

institution that served the spir

educational, and economic nee

congregants and community m

In that regard, Zion Poplars pr

blacks with many resources th

larger society refused to grant

aid is one of Zion Poplar’s cher

legacies, fostered by the comm

indomitable spirit of its memb

their ancestors. For its service 

congregants,its architectural s

its west African cultural influe

Poplars Baptist Church is a loc

and national treasure.

For more information, contact Natalie 

Robertson, 757/727-5749. Dr. Robe

assistant professor at Hampton Univ

The brush arbors provided a safe place for religious meetings, and are connected

to the develoment of Zion Poplars Baptist Church in Gloucester, VA.

Photo courtesy of Natalie S. Robertson.
The Spanish Caribbean

Colonies as Stepping

Stones In the North

American Colonization

Luis F. Olivieri-Robert, University of

Puerto Rico-Carolina

As early as the sixteenth century, both

Cuba and Puerto Rico were steppingstones for the early Spanish colonization of the North A merican lands .Cuba

was a departu re port for the ex plor ation of Florida by Hernando De Soto,

w h ile Puerto Rico was the departu re

site for Ju an Ponce de Leon's at tempt in

the early qu arter of the same centu ry.

This history dealt with the pirates and

buccaneers that made the Caribbean

Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the

Atlantic coast their performing scenario. The underground economy

sponsored and promoted by these outlaws was strong. Monitoring of, and

participation in, the illegal trade of

tobacco, slaves,sugar, leather, or other

goods was one of the non-written

duties of the colonial governor. There

are well-documented testimonies of

New York, Pennsylvania, and Puerto

Rico governors as active participants

in this economy as early as the sixteenth century, and up to the days of

the American Revolution in the eighteenth century.

The famous William Kidd used

Vieques and Mona islands (in Puerto

Rico) as trading posts for his smuggled

goods. In the same way William Syms,

from Boston,MA, was well known in

the Caribbean maritime routes.The

commerce between New York and

Puerto Rico was very lucrative up to

1769 due to the Caribbean need for

flour and the American colonial need

for rum. During the Revolutionary

period (1776–1783) pirates and corsaries from the revolutionized colonies

traveled through the Antilles, in violation of the British laws, and in favor of

the Spanish policy of exclusivism,

which made the Cuban and Puerto

Rican colonial economies eventually

more dependent of the North

American.

In Puerto Rico, places like Fort “El

Morro,” under the purview of the

National Park Service,were vital to the

military history of the Caribbean

the governors mansion since the

1540s, is a good example of the presence of late Gothic military architecture combined with baroque and

Neoclassical decorative trends.At this

present moment,“La Fortaleza” in San

Juan and the “Armstrong-Poventud”

mansion are asking for urgent attention concerning its preservation and

conservation.

Luis Olievera-Robert is a professor at the

University of Puerto Rico-Carolina.

Sites of Conflict and

Collaboration: New

Developments from the

West

Ned Kaufman

Preservationists are finding common

ground with environmentalists in a

new appreciation of the cultural heritage of place: all over the West, people

are working together in new ways to

protect environmental values and traditions.It's happening in Bozeman,

MT,where a group of ranchers recently

got together to place their land under

conservation easements. It's happening

in Missoula,where the O'Connor

Center for the Rocky Mountain West is

studying ways for local ranchers, and

others, to gain greater responsibility

for managing public lands; in

Steamboat Springs, CO,where the City

Council,helped by the Orton Family

Foundation, just opened a civic hall

where planning meetings can be truly

public; and at Heart Mountain,WY,

where efforts to preserve a World War

II internment camp are bringing

together the State Historic Preservation

Office with local business interests and

Japanese Americans.

It's happening throughout the West,

where groups like the Northern Lights

Institute and the Sonoran Institute are

developing new techniques of collaborative conservation, bringing residents,

environmentalists, business interests,

and officials together to solve the

thorniest problems of conservation

and development.In each example,

people have come to value cultural heritage as part of their environment.

One story is especially relevant to our

concern with ethnic heritage, because

cause for collaboration,while pointing

to new understandings of the meaning

of place. In 1864,American soldiers

massacred an encampment of

Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians by the

banks of Sand Creek, CO.

135 years later, at the prompting of

Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, the

National Park Service joined forces

with four Indian tribes, local landowners, and the State of Colorado to protect and commemorate the site. The

first challenge was to find it. Indian

tradition placed it in one location,

while documentary evidence and

archeology raised the possibility of a

nearby place. In the end, the boundaries of the Sand Creek Massacre

National Historic Site were drawn to

include both sites.

Sand Creek of fers sever al less ons . First ,

it shows how we can stretch the bou nds

of collabor ation beyond the lim its typically set by govern ment agenc ies .

Second, it demonstr ates the spec i al

power of sites ass oc i ated with conf lict

and grief. Such sites enable us to carry

on a public convers ation about painful

and unres olved epis odes in our national history. The debates thems elves can

c reate a new public cons c ious ness of

h istory.

Finally, Sand Creek poses a question

about what we mean by place. All participants agreed that it was important

to find the site and protect it. In the

end, they also agreed to differ in where

they thought it was. That is no trivial

disagreement, yet neither need it

become a crippling one. We need different things from a site. While the scientific mind may crave the certainty of

saying “it happened precisely here,”

others seek a spot where they can commune with memory, observe some personal or communal ritual. For them,

the site's authenticity may not depend

on a test boring. Shovels might even

diminish its aura.

As preservationists, we need to create

collaboration out of conflict,make

peace between research and reflection,

create space for ceremony as well as

science. Sand Creek shows that it can

be done.

Ned Kaufman is a cultural heritage 

based in Yonkers, New York and fo

Place Matters, a non-profit program 

York City. Contact Mr. Kaufman at 

914/476-3045; email: NK290nk@ao

page 8

Bohemian Hall add

to the National

Register 

Bohemian Hall, in Astoria,N

listed in the National Registe

Historic Places on March 23

a traditional cultural proper

Bohemian Hall has served th

community, and other ethni

diverse groups seeking a pla

congress in Queens for 90 ye

Completed in 1911, the two-

Neo-Classical Revival style h

used not only for “public ass

but also as a Czech language 

and presently houses a Greek 

center and the Emerald Soci

Irish policemen. Behind it is 

beer garden, added in the 19

last one built in New York.

Bohemian Hall is a place rep

ing the ethnic heritage of on

many enclaves of immigrant

United States.It serves as a s

educational, and heritage cen

the Czech community.

Bohemian Hall in Astoria, N

listed in the National Register o

Places as a traditional cultural 
Colorado Annual

Conference Emphasizes

Diverse Cultural Heritage

Antoinette J. Lee, National Park Service

“Preserving Diverse Cultural Heritage”

was the theme for the annual meeting

of Colorado Preservation,Inc.(CPI).

Held February 1–3,2001, the conference

attracted approximately 600 attendees.

The conference featured plenary sessions by Senator Ben Nighthorse

Campbell, Congressman Mark Udall,

and State Senate President Stan

Matsunaka. Speakers included representatives from national,state,regional,

and local preservation organizations

and agencies.

Among the highlights of the conference

were the sessions that addressed the

new Sand Creek Massacre National

Historic Site. Senator Campbell was a

driving force behind the project that

studied of the location of the massacre

of 1864,where 700 soldiers, led by Col.

John M. Chivington, attacked a village

of 500 Cheyenne and Arapaho people.

At least 150 people, including women

and children, were killed. In order to

identify the location and extent of the

massacre,the Sand Creek Massacre

Project staff consulted with Indian

tribes,undertook research on written

records,studied archeological sites, and

conducted aerial photography analyses.

The Special Resource Study for the Sand

Creek Massacre site concluded that the

site possessed exceptional value in illustrating and interpreting the history of

U.S.-Indian relations in the American

West. The massacre was a major turning point in the relationship between

whites and Indians and succeeding

Indian and army conflicts were tied in

someway to the massacre. Today, the

site’s high degree of physical integrity

and its isolated setting give visitors an

opportunity to comprehend the tragedy

that took place there.

During the conference,CPI announced

the properties on its “most endangered

places list” for 2001. Historic properties

associated with diverse cultural groups

included Camp Amache in Powers

thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II. Today, the Camp

Amache site is threatened by neglect

and vandalism.Another property is the

1895 San Rafael Church in Conejos

County,which represents a religious

clash between Anglo and Hispanic missionaries.Dating from 1200 A.D.,the

Shield Rock Art Site in Rio Blanco

County is located in an area that has

some of the oldest Native American pictographs and petroglyphs in the state.

Conference sessions reinforced the

major conference theme. Topics included historical archeology and cultural

diversity, redefining cultural heritage

for the twenty-first century, historic

Jewish sites in the Denver area, diverse

communities and historic preservation,

and current issues in preserving Native

American heritage.

The 2001 CPI annual conference offered

Colorado preservationists an important

opportunity to tie their programs with

the state’s and the nation’s increasingly

diverse population. In addition, the conference invited diverse community

members to make connections between

their priorities and available preservation tools and approaches.

Antoinette J. Lee is Special Projects Manager,

National Center for Cultural Resources,

National Park Service. 

Your Town: Mississippi

Delta Focuses on African

American Community

Planning

Shelley S. Mastran, Your Town:

Designing Its Future, and 

Shannon Criss, Small Town Center,

Mississippi State University

In mid-November 2000,a special workshop was held at the Center for

Community Development,Delta State

University, in Cleveland, MS, focused on

planning and design for rural African

American communities of the Delta.

Coordinated by the Small Town Center

of Mississippi State University, and the

Mississippi Department of Archives and

History, the workshop was a special initiative of the Your Town: Designing Its

Future program,funded by the National

tered by the National Trust for 

Preservation and the Faculty o

Landscape Architecture at SUN

Syracuse. Your Town workshop

together rural community lead

engage in community design p

This Delta workshop was the f

devoted to African American c

ty issues.

Fifty five participants convene

Cleveland to discuss a range o

ning, development, and design 

the core of the workshop was a 

hour field trip along Highway 

Mound Bayou, an exclusively A

American town founded in 18

Jonestown,a tiny African Ame

community; and Clarksdale, h

the Delta Blues Museum. Parti

worked on design problems fo

communities, including rehabi

and re-using historic structure

enhancing community spaces, 

maintaining cultural identity i

context of limited resources an

unemployment.

Mark Robbins,Director of Des

National Endowment for the A

believes strongly that rural Afr

American communities, gener

underserved in access to desig

vation, and planning assistanc

entitled to the same level of de

expertise that other communit

receive. The Your Town worksh

brought nationally known Afri

American speakers to the Delt

their experience and expertise

For more information, contact Shann

Criss, 662/525-2207; Michelle Weav

662/325-2520; or, Shelley Mastran 

703/734-1742.
Scholarship Funds

Offered for 2001 National

Preservation Conference

The National Trust for Historic

Preservation encourages culturally

diverse community activists and college

students to apply for scholarships to the

National Preservation Conference 2001,

which will be held in Providence,RI,

Oct.16–21, and is considered the country's premier preservation event. The

scholarship deadline is June 15,2001.

Since 1992, the Emerging Preservation

Leaders Scholarship Program has provided financial assistance to more than

780 preservationists from diverse racial,

ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The

National Trust is seeking applicants

whose attendance at the conference will

benefit their communities,whose commitment to historic preservation will be

strengthened by their participation, and

who will contribute valuable perspectives to conference dialogue. Awards

will help pay registration, transportation, and accommodation costs.

The conference theme is “Preserving the

Spirit of Place.” The conference will

offer tools to strengthen the commitment and effectiveness to preserve historic places and revitalize communities.

Participants will learn through plenary

and educational sessions,field sessions,

discussion groups and tours of

Providence and surrounding areas.

For an application, contact the National Trust's

Southern Office, 456 King Street, Charleston,

SC, 29403, or call 843/722-8552; e-mail, schol -

arships@nthp.org. Applications are also available through the National Trust fax service at

202/588-6444, document #9006, or online at

http://www.nthpconference.org/. 

Formation of AASLH

Diversity Task Force

The American Association for State and

Local History has assembled a special

task force to develop strategies for

improving the persistent problem of the

low number of minority professionals

in the field. The committee has identified two goals. The first is to increase

the number of minority professionals in

the field. The second is to create a dia

ing the general lack of ethnic diversity

in their collections and interpretation

programs.

For more information, contact Lauren E. Batte

and Natalie Norris of AASLH, at 615/320-3203,

e-mail, history@asslh.org.

The Wheel Reinvented 

in Spanish

Cindy Olsen, National Task Force on

Emergency Response, Heritage

Preservation

A Spanish language version of the

Emergency Response and Salvage

Wheel is now in progress. This popular

resource is an interactive slide chart

that makes accurate information on

protecting and salvaging collections

easily accessible. The wheel was originally produced in 1997 by the National

Task Force on Emergency Response, an

initiative of Heritage Preservation, the

Federal Emergency Management

Agency, and the Getty Conservation

Institute. Today, nearly 65,000 wheels

are in circulation.

Last year, the National Endowment for

the Humanities made a grant to

Heritage Preservation for the partial

costs of producing and distributing

25,000 free copies of the Rueda de

Salvamento y de Respuesta a

Emergencias. Private sector funds have

been sought to complete the project.

The current goal is to launch the

Spanish-language wheel with a mass

mailing of more than 15,000 copies

near the beginning of the 2001 hurricane season.

The project will target archives,

libraries,historic sites, collecting institutions, and other cultural resources in

areas where the Spanish-speaking populations are the largest: California,

Florida, New Mexico, Texas, Puerto

Rico, parts of Arizona and Colorado,

and the metropolitan areas of New York

City, Philadelphia, and Chicago. The

remaining wheels will be distributed

free by request.

For more information call 888/979-2233, e-mail:

spanishwheel@heritagepreservation.org, or

colsen@heritagepreservation.org, or visit the

Web site for National Task Force on Emergency

Response at www.heritagepreservation.org/

programs/taskfer.htm.

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Asian American

Comparative Collection

Seeks to Interpret Asian

Material Culture Piece-byPiece

There has been an increase in studies of

people of Asian ancestry, primarily of

Chinese and Japanese decent,who

immigrated to the West during the

nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Archaeological excavations conducted on a variety of sites have recovered everyday objects that were made in

China and Japan. The need to understand these artifacts, their uses, and the

people who owned them led to the

establishment of the Asian American

Comparative Collection in 1982.

Priscilla Wegars is the volunteer Curator

and founder of the Asian American

Comparative Collection (AACC), at the

University of Idaho Laboratory of

Anthropology. According to the website,

their charge is “to obtain an actual

example, or photograph, of every representative object of Asian manufacture

that has been, or is likely to be, found in

an archaeological context in the western

United States and elsewhere,” since

1982.

In addition to the collection,AACC

serves as a clearinghouse of information for individuals conducting

research. Students, researchers, museum curators, have consulted the collection.AACC also publishes a quarterly

newsletter, the Asian American

Comparative Collection newsletter, with

information on recent publications.

For more information, contact Priscilla Wegars

at 208/885-7075 or 208/885-6723, e-mail: 

pwegars@uidaho.edu. Visit the website at

http://www.uidaho.edu/LS/AACC. 

Call for Information 

and Papers: 

Biographical Dictionary of

African American Architects

A Biographical Dictionary of African

American Architects,1865–1945, to be

published by Routledge Press in 2002,

seeks contributors. This reference work

will profile approximately 250 black

architects who practiced throughout the

of WWII. The editor welcomes recommendations of subjects to be covered.

To be included, architects need not have

been licensed; they may have trained

through a correspondence course,

apprenticed with an architect, or attended an art school, vocational institute,

college, or university. Contributors must

be willing to undertake primary

research and write individual biographies of 250–1000 words in length.

Contributing authors will receive attribution for their entries and a free copy

of the published dictionary.

If you would like to suggest architects for inclusion or if you are interested in contributing, contact: Dreck Wilson, Editor, 202/726-2101; 

e-mail: Dwi5928417@aol.com.

Photographic Histories of African

American Communities

Arcadia Publishing, the nation's leading

publisher of local and regional photographic histories is currently looking

for authors to work with on photographic histories of African American

communities throughout the Midwest.

Arcadia is in search of any community

historian, or another individual interested in a collaboration. Arcadia

assumes costs of publication, and pays

royalties on every book sold.

For more information, contact Brendan

McKenna, acquisitions editor, Arcadia

Publishing, at bmckenna@

mailhost.chi.ameritech.net.

Conference on Slave Narratives

“Consolidating Our Gains; Strategizing

for the Twenty-first Century: The

Second Wilberforce International

Conference on Slave Narratives,”

Wilberforce Ohio, will be held October

11–13,2001. This conference will cover

slave narrative (authors, works, genres,

the slave family, theories, themes,history, pedagogy, slavery in contemporary

Africa and the diaspora; slavery in the

21st century, etc).

For more information, contact Olabisi Gwamna,

convenuer, Wilberforce International confernece

on Slave Narratives, Wilberforce University,

P.O. Box 1001, Wilberforce, OH 45384,

937/708-5615; ogwamna@wilberforce.edu. 

History

The University of Memphis De

of History and the Graduate H

Association announced the Th

Annual Graduate Student Con

African American History, Oct

19–20,2001. Graduate student

to present a paper on original 

on any topic in African Americ

ry are invited to submit a curr

vitae and a one-page abstract,

discusses the paper’s thesis,so

and conclusions. Abstracts sho

directed to: Graduate Student

Conference in African America

History, Program Committee,1

Mitchell Hall, University of Me

Memphis,TN 38152.

E-mail inquiries to: Program committ

UMGradConf@aol.com. Additional i

will be available at http://www.people

phis.edu/~history.

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JUNE 2001

JUNE 2001

page 1

National Park Service Activities

The Tuskegee Airmen Oral History Project

Ft. Sumter Ferry Facility Offers New

Interpretation for Visitors

Anacostia Park Brochure

Applied Anthropology’s Unique Role in the

National Park Service

Hope and Glory: The Story of the Fifty-Fourth

Massachusetts Regiment

page 4

Tribal Preservation

Fort Lewis College Starts Undergraduate

Heritage Preservation Program

Assumption of SHPO Duties by Five Tribes

page 6

Community Initiatives

National Center for the Preservation of

Democracy Established at Japanese American

National Museum

Engaging a Descendent Community in

Interpreting the Past

The Sapelo Preservation Project

Zion Poplars Baptist Church, Rooted in 135 of

History and Culture

The Spanish Caribbean Colonies as Stepping

Stones In the North American Colonization

Sites of Conflict and Collaboration: New

Developments from the West

Bohemian Hall added to the National Register 

page 9

State News

Colorado Annual Conference Emphasizes

Diverse Cultural Heritage

Your Town: Mississippi Delta focuses on African

American Community Planning

page 10

Private Sector Initiatives

Scholarship Funds Offered for 2001 National

Preservation Conference

Formation of AASLH Diversity Task Force

The Wheel Reinvented 

in Spanish

page 11

Research, Reports, Publications

Asian American Comparative Collection Seeks

to Interpret Asian Material Culture Piece-byPiece

Call for Information and Papers: 

Biographical Dictionary of African American

Architects

Photographic Histories of African American

Communities

Conference on Slave Narratives

Conference on African American History

National Park Service

1849 C Street, NW, Suite NC 350

Washington, DC 20240

FIRST CLASS MAIL

Postage & Fees Paid

U.S. Department of the Int

G-83

Katherine H. Stevenson

Associate Director,

Cultural Resource

Stewardship and

Partnerships

John Robbins 

Assistant Director,

Cultural Resources

Antoinette J. Lee

Special Projects Manager

Brian D. Joyner

Heritage Matters Editor

Moriba N. McDonald

Historian

Mission of the 

National Park Service

The National Park Service is d

to conserving unimpaired the n

and cultural resources and the 

the National Park System for th

ment, education and inspiration 

and future generations. The Se

cooperates with partners to ext

benefits of natural and cultural 

conservation and outdoor recre

throughout this country and the 

Heritage Matters, sponsored b

Cultural Resources Programs o

National Park Service, is publis

twice-a-year and is free of char

Readers are invited to submit s

cles and notices for inclusion. (

submissions to fewer than 400 

and include author’s name and 

tion. Black and white photograp

slides are welcome. Photocopi

images will not be accepted.) 

submit newsletter items in writi

electronically to: Brian D. Joyn

Heritage Matters, DOI/Nationa

Service, 1849 C Street, NW, S

NC 350, Washington, DC 202

Phone: 202/343-1000, e-m

Brian_ Joyner@ nps.gov.

Visit the Web site for the 

Cultural Resources DIver

Initiative: www.cr.nps.go