NATIONAL PARK SERVICE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR HERITAGE MATTERS

NEWS OF THE NATION’S DIVERSE CULTURAL HERITAGE

Historic Preservation in the Aftermath of Katrina

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Brian D. Joyner affected most, often diverse was destroyed. Other Mississippi National Park Service Conferences communities, are often the least towns such as Pass Christian and upcoming, p. 10 able to afford it. Bay St. Louis were devastated, with Internships, p. 4 Natural disasters take a heavy toll New Orleans, a city already 6 homes moved off of their piers and on a community. Human casualties feet below sea level, was overrun supports damaged to the point of National Historic Landmark and damage to property are the by the category-5 Hurricane collapse. Add to it the cumulative designations, p. 4 most obvious. The economic Katrina. Homes in low-lying, damage inflicted by Rita, and the National Register impact usually comes to mind and primarily African American, need for expertise on the best way nominations, p. 6 afterward. The loss of buildings, neighborhoods such as historic to preserve and protect resources Tribal Preservation sites, or districts due to the event the Lower Ninth Ward were caked became apparent. Officer list, p. 9 seldom receives a great deal of in mud and received massive Many preservation-related consideration. However, in the case water damage. However, Biloxi, agencies and organizations of the 2005 hurricane season, the Mississippi, was nearly washed pooled their resources during impact on the southeast’s cultural off of the map, losing landmarks the hurricane season to assist heritage was immense. With 26 such as the Pleasant Reed Home, storm victims. The American storms and 13 hurricanes this the house of a prominent African Institute of Architects (AIA), the season, the states along the Gulf American in Biloxi during the late Federal Emergency Management Coast, which include Alabama, 1800s through early 1900s, and Agency’s (FEMA) Environmental, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Beauvoir, the home of Confederate Historic Preservation, and Texas, were battered repeatedly President Jefferson Davis, where Cultural Resources Programs, over the six-month period. Those more than half of the property See KATRINA, page 11

Vann House, connected to the Cherokee Trail of Tears in Georgia, was recently listed in the National Register. See page 7.

HERITAGE MATTERS This historic commercial building at the corner of Jackson Avenue and Magazine Street in the New Orleans Garden MARCH 2006 District illustrates the severe damage caused by both wind and water during Katrina. African American-owned proper- ties were particularly hard hit throughout the Gulf Coast. Photo courtesy of Carlos Sanchez, Quinn Evans/Architects, Washington, DC. HERITAGE MATTERS MARCH 2006

primarily in Isle Brevelle in lower NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Natchitoches Parish by the end of the 18th century. ACTIVITIES In Isle Brevelle, free people of color financed and built St. Creole Focus: HABS returned to Natchitoches Augustine Catholic Church in 1803, HABS Photographs at the behest of the Cane River although the current building dates National Heritage Area Commission to the 20th century. St. Charles in Natchitoches, to augment the documentation Chapel, on the other hand, is Louisiana produced during the initial HABS notable for its role as a “chapel effort. of ease” for area residents (a Virginia Price In 2002 and 2004, HABS chapel of ease is a church built National Park Service photographed public and private within the bounds of a parish buildings used for religious, for the attendance of those who In the 1930s, the nascent Historic commercial, and domestic cannot reach the parish church American Buildings Survey purposes. Many of these are Creole conveniently). As a mission of (HABS) arrived in Natchitoches, in character, proportionate to the St. Augustine, the chapel was Louisiana, and recorded examples sampling of architectural styles erected by people of color for a of the parish’s distinctive Creole seen throughout the parish and to predominantly white congregation. architecture for what would become the numbers of extant structures St. Augustine Historical Society the HABS collection at the Library associated with the Cane River now owns the Badin Roque House, of Congress. The sites selected by Creole community. The Cane River which briefly served as a Catholic HABS were located in town and Creoles are the descendants of the school from 1857 to 1859. This along the Cane River. One of those gens de couleur libre (free people house is a rare survivor of those places, Oakland, is now part of of color) who shared a mix of buildings erected with poteaux en the Cane River Creole National French, Spanish, Native American, terre (posts in the ground) and Historical Park. Seventy years later, and African ancestry, and settled

Roubieu-Jones House, also known as the Carroll Jones House for the man (a free person of color) who bought it in the 1860s, is the oldest extant, fully raised Creole house in Natchitoches. Courtesy of Jack E. Boucher, HABS.

page 2 (Left) St. Charles Chapel, in Natchez, Natchitoches Parish, sits just across from Beau Fort Plantation and served the Bermuda community after its dedication in 1910. Courtesy of James Rosenthal, HABS. (Right) Stunning in its appearance, the Africa House at Melrose Plantation reflects the cultural continuity between enslaved African Americans and their West African antecedents. Courtesy of Jack E. Boucher, HABS. bousillage (a mixture of moss and and her association with these raised Creole house, expresses mud). places lends the architecturally this overlay of Anglo-American Secular places, along with the significant structures a cultural traditions through a large, spiritual, weave a communal fabric credence. Research related to the central staircase leading up to through Isle Brevelle and beyond. property she owned between 1786 the gallery. The location of the Examples are the two juke joints and 1816 is ongoing. Preservation staircase suggests a central hall photographed by HABS. Juke work at Melrose continues as plan, common in British North joints, such as Woods Hall and well. One building on the Melrose America by the second quarter Bubba’s, were places of leisure for grounds is Africa House. This is of the 18th century, rather than the Creoles, offering music, games, a masonry and cypress structure the Creole vernacular. Yet, at the racing, and gathering spots in a remarkable for its appearance top of the central stair, multiple segregated era. as well as the murals within that portals of a traditional Creole In recognition of the parish’s were painted by the folk artist house confront the visitor. Fully predominantly agricultural Clementine Hunter over the course developed, national architectural character, the HABS photography of 50 years, from the 1930s through trends did make their appearance assignment covered piece-sur- the 1980s. The murals themselves in Natchitoches, but the Creole piece cabins, plantation stores, record the rhythms of life in Cane buildings are what provide a outbuildings, a cotton gin, the River—ceremonies, entertainment, focus for photographers intent former slave and tenant farmer and cotton agriculture—whereas on capturing the essence of a quarters at Magnolia Plantation, the image of Africa House, with culturally diverse place for the and Creole houses along the Cane its ties to West African building archive of American architecture. River. The sample also included traditions, was quickly seized by For more information on HABS documentation National Historic Landmarks such those anxious to find evidence of work at Cane River, contact Virginia Price at as Melrose, a plantation created Africanisms surviving slavery within [email protected]. by Louis Metoyer in the first half the African Diaspora. of the 19th century. Metoyer was The significance attached to the a free person of color born to a form of Africa House is, in part, the Frenchman, Claude T.P. Metoyer, legacy of the Louisiana Purchase, and an enslaved woman, Marie after which Anglo preferences Therese. infiltrated Natchitoches, and spilled Marie Therese is considered the over on the parish’s vernacular matriarch of the Cane River Creoles architecture. One dwelling, a fully

page 3 HERITAGE MATTERS MARCH 2006

A 2005 CRDIP intern stands at a • Tule Lake in Modoc County, gravesite honoring William Anderson California, was the largest and with her intern coordinator and Army officers at Fort Drum, NY. longest-lived of the 10 camps Courtesy of Laurie Rush. built by the War Relocation Authority to house the nearly resources and historic preservation. 120,000 Japanese Americans This is part of a larger effort by the relocated from the West Coast during World War II, pursuant to National Park Service to diversify Executive Order 9066. In 1943, the cultural resources field. With the facility was converted to a the cooperation and generous maximum security segregation support of partners, the program center for evacuees deemed by continues to grow and succeed in the WRA to be “disloyal.” providing interns with rewarding experiences. The program will • The Hitchcock House is the cosponsor 10 to 14 interns during home of the militant anti-slavery the summer 2006 and 2 to 4 interns leader of the Congregational Church mission in western Iowa, during the semesters 2006–2007. Reverend George Hitchcock. He For more information, visit the website http:// www.cr.nps.gov/crdi and click “Internships.” used his home to assist in the safe passage of fugitive slaves through Cultural Resources southwestern Iowa on their NHL Designations way east and north to freedom Diversity Internship during the mid-19th century. The Program Recently, 19 new sites were Hitchcock House, a part of the designated National Historic NPS’s National Underground Michèle Gates Moresi Landmarks. Four of the sites have Railroad Network to Freedom, National Park Service particular significance to diverse illustrates the geographic reach of communities: the Granada and the Underground Railroad and its During the summer of 2005, the Tule Lake Relocation Centers, expansion westward. Cultural Resources Diversity the Hitchcock House, and the • Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Internship Program cosponsored Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. in Birmingham, Alabama, was the 13 interns who worked at National National Historic Landmarks are site of a Ku Klux Klan attack on Park Service (NPS) park units exceptional, nationally significant September 15, 1963, that killed and offices, state museums and places designated by the Secretary four African American girls. The historic preservation offices, and of the Interior. Fewer than 2,500 bombing of the church shocked private nonprofit institutions across historic places carry the title of the nation and galvanized the the country. All of the interns National Historic Landmark. civil rights movement. Nearly participated in the annual Career 8,000 black and white citizens of • The Granada Relocation Workshop, held in Washington, DC, Birmingham attended the funeral. Center, also known as the where they met one another, spoke The public outcry in the days and Amache Relocation Camp, was with cultural resource managers, weeks to follow was recognized as the smallest of 10 camps that and met with former NPS Director, a catalyst to the eventual passage housed Japanese Americans Robert Stanton, and current of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. relocated from the West Coast Associate Director for Cultural For more information on the National Historic by the War Relocation Authority Resources, Janet Snyder Matthews. Landmark Survey Program and designation, visit (WRA). Construction work on http://www.cr.nps.gov/nhl. Also during the workshop, interns Amache began in June 1942. The learned about careers in the field internment camp was only half from professionals working with complete when the first evacuees NPS, the National Trust for Historic began arriving from assembly Preservation, and the Smithsonian centers in August 1942. Located Institution. near the town of Granada, The Diversity Internship Colorado, Amache housed 7,597 Program is entering its 8th year of evacuees, two-thirds of whom cosponsoring unique opportunities were U.S. citizens. for students of diverse background to work in the field of cultural page 4 presenting the results of the survey PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVES will be completed by the fall. The final reports will be available through the Social Science Program and the Cultural Resources Diversity Program, Presenting Race and how the presented information both of the National Park Service. Slavery at Historic compared to what they already Professor Horton will contribute an Sites Research Project understood about the topic; and article to CRM Journal synthesizing allow people to express their the information gathered from all opinions. The purpose of these Michèle Gates Moresi three surveys. surveys is to obtain substantive For more information, visit http://www.cr.nps.gov/ National Park Service responses from visitors in order crdi/research.htm Slavery and race relations are to learn about their expectations topics that must be addressed in and reception to how slavery and numerous historic parks within race relations are presented at the National Park System. In a particular site. The results of recent year, many historic places the surveys will provide valuable have expanded and improved information for historians and their interpretive programs to historical interpreters who are incorporate current scholarship studying the impact of this complex and convey to visitors the historic history. It will also present an context of a park or historic site opportunity for dialogue among in all its complexity—economic NPS historians, cultural resources and political issues, social personnel, and George Washington relations, and community life. University’s James O. Horton and An important factor for parks to the research team on ways to consider while they are planning enhance historical presentations. and implementing new interpretive The Presenting Race and programs is how visitors perceive Slavery project builds on previous the information presented to them. independent surveys conducted Basic visitor surveys traditionally by Professor Horton and a team evaluate how the visitors enjoyed of graduate students that revealed their experience at a park, the ease competing ideas about the of locating and using facilities, and content of interpretive material at the quality of customer service Monticello, the home of Thomas at the park. But what about their Jefferson; at Colonial Williamsburg; learning experience? and at Gettysburg National To this end, a cooperative Military Park. The team conducted agreement between the National surveys interviewing visitors and Park Service (NPS) and the Center interpreters about the content of for the Study of Public Culture self-guided and guided tours. and Public History of The George The current project conducts Washington University supports surveys at three National Park the research project, Presenting Service sites. Surveys and reports Race and Slavery at Historic Sites. have been completed at Arlington It focuses on visitor and staff House (Robert E. Lee Memorial, perceptions of the interpretation of George Washington Memorial slavery and race relations. Survey Parkway) and Manassas National questions are designed to elicit Battlefield Park. The third site is basic information about what a Harpers Ferry National Historical visitor saw, heard, or read at the Park. A graduate student will site; what visitors thought about conduct interviews with staff and the things they saw, heard, or read; visitors at Harpers Ferry during the spring of 2006 and a report page 5 HERITAGE MATTERS MARCH 2006

is significant for reflecting the STATE INITIATIVES cultural diversity of Cleveland. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Cleveland attracted groups from central, southern, and eastern Europe. The city’s cultural National Register large urban park designed in the make-up is displayed through the Nominations Victorian Picturesque style, is garden’s design elements as they located in Cleveland, Ohio, and represent the traditional arts and Caridad de la Vega, Rustin Quaide sits in a residential area located in architecture of the culture being National Conference of State Historic the eastern section of the city. The showcased. Sculptures by world- Preservation Officers park contains such resources as a renowned sculptor Alexander lagoon, rock outcroppings, varying Archipenko and Cleveland-born Rockefeller Park and Cleveland ornamental plantings, and concrete Czech-American sculptor Frank Cultural Gardens Historic District as well as masonry bridges. Part of Jirouch ornament the Cleveland the recreation and parks movement Cultural Gardens. The park’s The Rockefeller Park and that swept the United States period of significance spans from Cleveland Cultural Gardens during the turn of the century, 1894 to 1954, encompassing the City Historic District was listed in Rockefeller Park comprises part of Beautiful Movement, era of the the National Register of Historic an unbroken chain of parklands New Deal, as well as other themes Places for its significance in that span from Lake Erie to Shaker and periods. the areas of entertainment and Heights, a suburban community recreation, community planning located south of the park. The Hungarian Garden is one of many and development, and ethnic The Cleveland Cultural resources found at the Rockefeller heritage. Rockefeller Park, a Park and Cultural Gardens located in Gardens, located within the park, Cleveland, Ohio. Courtesy of Roy Hampton.

page 6 University of Maryland Eastern Shore

In 1886, the Delaware Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church established a school on Maryland’s eastern shore to offer higher education to African American students. The Delaware Conference Academy, later known as the Princess Anne Academy, opened with an enrollment of 9 students, rising to 37 over the course of the year. In 1948, after changing from a junior college to a four-year school, it was renamed Maryland State College, and in 1970, became the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. During that time, the school served students throughout the Middle Atlantic region with a program in agricultural sciences. The University of Maryland Eastern Shore was listed in the National Register of Historic Places for its association with higher education and ethnic heritage.

The Spring Place Historic District (Top) J.T. Williams Hall, named for a most Cherokee chiefs were former chief executive officer, serves educated by the Moravians and as the main administration build- The Spring Place Historic District the chiefs consulted with the ing for the University of Maryland in Murray County, Georgia, is Eastern Shore. Courtesy of the Maryland missionaries on critical matters. State Historic Preservation Office. a small crossroads community Vann’s son, Joseph, inherited encompassing historic residential the family home and plantation and commercial resources that after Chief Vann’s death in 1809. association with the community’s developed around the holdings of The Vann House hosted President African American heritage, and James Vann, a Cherokee chief, and James Monroe during his 1819 tour in the areas of social history and the establishment of a Moravian of the Southeast and the Cherokee education. Cameron’s period of mission. Vann and the Cherokee Nation. The discovery of gold in significance spans from 1939, when had been trading in the area since the Northern Georgia Mountains segregated education in the United the 1770s, and the Vann family led to an increase in European States was the norm, up to 1954. became prosperous as a result. It settlement and call for the removal Built in a modified Late Gothic was Chief Vann’s concern for the of the Cherokee and other Native Revival style by the Public Works educational and spiritual well- American groups from the area, Administration (PWA) for African being of the area’s Cherokees culminating in the Trail of Tears. Americans in Nashville, the school that prompted him to offer the provided a community gathering Moravian missionaries a site in the Cameron School place, and offered neighborhood area. Vann provided financial and outreach programs. logistical support for the mission Cameron School is located The school is named after upon its establishment in what in Nashville, Tennessee, in a Nashville native Henry Alvin is now Murray County, Georgia, predominantly African American Cameron, a science teacher who around 1801. The Moravian Mission community known as Trimble taught at another local segregated provided a school for the Cherokee Bottom, located approximately four school, known as the Pearl School, in Murray County. The mission miles southeast of the State Capitol. from 1897 until 1917, at which time became known for its influence in The school is significant for its he volunteered for World War I Native American communities— page 7 HERITAGE MATTERS MARCH 2006

(Above) The Renaga-Headley-Edgerton House located on Second Street, is one of 84 contributing resources to the Rio Grande City Downtown Historic District, Texas. Courtesy of Terri Myers. (Left) Odd Fellows Hall once served as a meeting hall for the African American community, Blacksburg, Virginia, during the first half of the 19th century. Courtesy of Michael J. Pulice. (Below) Cameron is one of two African American schools built in Nashville, Tennessee, as part of Roosevelt’s New Deal Era programs. Courtesy of Carroll Van West.

ethnic heritage. Located in Rio and died in service to his country. Grande City, Texas, a town on the It stands as one of the first schools United States-Mexican border, the in Nashville to honor of an African district consists of 84 contributing American and served as one of the resources, a large majority of which central social institutions for the are commercial and domestic African American community. structures. The district’s buildings are Rio Grande City Downtown mainly examples of vernacular Historic District types particular to the region of South Texas from the latter part Rio Grande City Downtown of the 19th century, showcasing Historic District was listed in architectural influences from the National Register of Historic Mexico, but also characteristics Places for its significance in the germane to the other ethnic groups areas of architecture, community that settled the area, notably planning and development, and French, Spanish and Germans. Rio Grande City boasts one of the TRIBAL INITIATIVES best concentrations of vernacular architecture in the South Texas corridor that extends from Laredo to Brownsville. Although the town Tribal Historic • Lummi Nation (Washington) was not officially platted until 1848 Preservation Officers • Makah Tribe (Washington) by founder Henry Clay Davis, the • Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin district’s period of significance As of November 28, 2005, the (Wisconsin) spans from 1840 to 1940, just prior Native American tribes with • Mescalero Apache Tribe (New Mexico) to U.S. involvement in World War II. officially recognized Tribal Historic • Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians Preservation Offices include: (Minnesota) Odd Fellows Hall • Absentee Shawnee Tribe (Oklahoma) • Narragansett Indian Tribe (Rhode Island) • Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Odd Fellows Hall, located in (California) • Navajo Nation (Arizona) the community of New Town, is • Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens • Northern Cheyenne Tribe (Montana) situated in the southwest section Valley (California) • Onieda Nation of Wisconsin of the downtown commercial • Bishop Paiute Tribe (California) (Wisconsin) area of Blacksburg, Virginia. The • Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe of Indians • Passamaquoddy Tribe (Maine) hall was listed in the National (California) • Penobscot Nation (Maine) Register of Historic Places for its • Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma (Oklahoma) • Poarch Band of Creek Indians association with the community’s • Catawba Indian Nation (South (Alabama) African American ethnic heritage. Carolina) • Pueblo of Zuni (New Mexico) Built of wooden construction, • Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (South • Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior the hall is designed in a simple Dakota) Chippewas (Wisconsin) vernacular style. The hall’s period • Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky • Seneca Nation of Indians (New York) of significance spans from 1905 Boy’s Reservation (Montana) • Sisseton-Wahpenton Oyate (South to 1955, when it was used by the • Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Dakota) local African American community (Oklahoma) • Skokomish Indian Tribe (Washington) as a gathering place for social • Confederated Salish and Kootenai • Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians functions at a time in American Tribes of the Flathead Nation (Utah) (Montana) history when public facilities • Smith River Rancheria (California) • Confederated Tribes of the Colville were racially segregated. The first • Spokane Tribe of Indians (Washington) floor of the hall was utilized on a Reservation (Washington) • Squaxin Island Tribe (Washington) weekly basis for social gatherings, • Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation (Oregon) • Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (North including church suppers, dances, Dakota) and community meetings, while • Confederated Tribes of the Warm • Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band the second floor was reserved Springs Reservation in Oregon (Oregon) of Mohican Indians (Wisconsin) as meeting space for members • Table Bluff Reservation-Wiyot Tribe of the society. Odd Fellows Hall • Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (North Carolina) (California) stands as one of the few remaining • The Ho-Chunk Nation (Wisconsin) • Timbisha Shoshone Tribe (California) structures in New Town, once • Hualapai Tribe (Arizona) • Tunica-Biloxi Indians of Louisiana the social center of the local (Louisiana) African American community. • Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (Michigan) • Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Once desegregation took place (North Dakota) throughout the South in the 1960s, • Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of • Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head the hall ceased to serve as a social Wisconsin (Wisconsin) (Massachusetts) and fraternal organization for the • Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake • White Earth Band of Minnesota community. Superior Chippewa Indians Chippewa (Minnesota) (Wisconsin) • White Mountain Apache Tribe • Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake (Arizona) Superior Chippewa Indians • Yurok Tribe (California) (Michigan) For more information on THPOs, contact James • Leech Lake Band of Chippewa Indians Bird at 202/354-1837, e-mail: [email protected]. (Minnesota) page 9 HERITAGE MATTERS MARCH 2006

the standard for architectural ANNOUNCEMENTS, CONFERENCES, fieldwork in America. AND EVENTS Projects completed in 2004 and 2005 are eligible for consideration and may include, but are not limited to architectural Institute of Architects/ Maryland Announcements recording projects (including state chapter (AIA Maryland). The HABS/HAER), historic structures prestigious award was presented Supporting a Year of the Museum reports, cultural resource surveys, at AIA Maryland’s Annual 2005 Resolution in Your Community historic designation studies, and Design Awards program held preservation plans. September 28, 2005, at the Music In conjunction with its centennial The award will be announced Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, anniversary, the American at the 2006 VAF Conference in Maryland. Led by Phil Freelon Association of Museums (AAM) New York City. Winner of the and Gary Bowden, the partnership has declared 2006 the Year of 2005 Buchanan Award was (The had previously received the 2001 Museum. It is a time to celebrate corporation for) Jefferson’s Isosceles Award for architectural the many ways museums enrich Poplar Forest, for its path- design excellence. our lives and our communities. It breaking research, restoration, AIA Maryland celebrates represents the beginning of a major and interpretation of Thomas the design accomplishment of national effort to encourage all Jefferson’s Villa Retreat, and architects in Maryland with this Americans to experience, celebrate, associated field school. annual event. The competition and support the museums in their For more information, please contact Mark communities. Communities can is open to individual members Reinberger, University of Georgia, reinberg@uga. highlight these local efforts and and firms whose principals are edu. participate by working with state members of AIA Maryland. The and local officials to propose 2005 AIA Maryland Design Awards resolutions to recognize the Year of aim to encourage and recognize Conferences the Museum. distinguished architectural Year of the Museum resolutions achievement and focus public March 2006 are significant gestures by local attention on the architect’s role in Museums and the Web 2006 officials to convey the importance shaping the quality of life through of museums to the public. The design excellence. Archives and Museums Infomatics resolutions were crafted to include To learn more about the Reginald F. Lewis will host “Museums and the Web a broad spectrum of museums Museum or to obtain visitor information, please 2006” on March 22-25, 2006, in visit the Museum’s website at http://www. Albuquerque, New Mexico. The of all disciplines and sizes. They AfricanAmericanCulture.org or call 443/263-1800. should celebrate and make the conference will address the social, case for museums—as places of cultural, design, technological, discovery, community, and life-long Vernacular Architecture Forum economic, and organizational Solicits Nominations for the learning. issues of culture and heritage Paul E. Buchanan Award for online. Taking an international For more information about the Year of the Excellence in Field Work and Museum, to register your museum, and to find Interpretation perspective, senior speakers with resources for creating a resolution and getting it extensive experience in Web passed, visit www.aam-us.org/yom. The Vernacular Architecture Forum development will review and (VAF) seeks nominations for the analyze the issues and impacts of African American Architects Paul E. Buchanan Award for 2006. networked cultural and natural Receive Prestigious Award for Initiated by VAF in 1993, the award heritage. Excellence in Design recognizes excellence in field MW2006 will feature plenary work and interpretative projects sessions, parallel sessions, The Freelon Group Architects and that contribute significantly to museum project demonstrations, RTKL partnership, which designed our knowledge of vernacular commercial exhibits, mini- the newly opened Reginald F. architecture and landscape studies. workshops, professional fora, a Lewis Museum of African American Paul E. Buchanan served for usability lab, a design “Crit Room,” History and Culture, has won the over 30 years as the Director of and the Best of the Web awards. “2005 Public Building of the Year Architectural Research at Colonial Presentations will include “Linking Award” presented by the American Williamsburg Foundation, setting Minority Communities Through the

page 10 Web” and “The Online and Onsite Holocaust Museum Exhibition as an Informational Resource.” For more information, visit http://www.archimuse. com/mw2006/index.html.

April 2006 OAH/NCPH Joint Conference

The 99th annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians (OAH) and the 28th annual Meeting of the National Council on Public History (NCPH) will be held jointly at the Hilton Washington Hotel in Washington, DC, April 19-22, 2006. The program theme, “Our America/Nuestra An aerial view of the flooded historic St. Louis Cemetery one week after América” is meant to explore the hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. The post-hurricane flooding resulted many meanings of “America” for from breaches in the levees surrounding the city. Courtesy of Chris Usher for TIME. people living in North America and beyond. Touching on the concept From KATRINA, page 1 Association, AIA presented the of Nuestra Ameríca as articulated and Gulf Coast states’ historic Louisiana Recovery and Rebuilding by 19th-century Cuban poet and preservation offices (SHPOs), Conference in New Orleans on patriot José Martí, this year’s sent teams to assist in condition November 10-12, 2005, to address program committee has designed assessments, rehabilitation and pressing needs and explore a meeting which expands the restoration efforts, and the work strategies needed to facilitate definition of “America” beyond of determining the viability of the recovery efforts. The conference borders and across bodies of water, remaining cultural and historic was cosponsored by other and will engage us in debates about fabric. The American Association organizations, such as the National the place of the United States in the of Museums (AAM) created “First Trust for Historic Preservation, Western hemisphere and the world. Reports” webpages to report on the American Society of Civil museums and cultural resources Engineers, and the Louisiana Events in the wake of both hurricanes Recovery Authority. Katrina and Rita. The National Natural disasters affecting historic properties are not new nor Preservation-related Park Service detailed professionals Commemorations to other agencies to assist in are they limited to the Gulf Coast. the documentation process, as Tornados rip through the Plains • African American Heritage well as emergency stabilization and Midwest annually and forest Month (February) of structures and protection of fires destroy acres of woodlands in archeological sites. the West, while ruining lives. FEMA • Asian American/Pacific Islander deals with disasters regularly—on Heritage Month (May) FEMA provided much of the technical assistance in the average 49 disasters a year since • Historic Preservation Month aftermath of the hurricanes. 1991—but nothing comparable (May) Strategic planning with the SHPOs to last hurricane season. As the • 100th Anniversary of the about historic preservation needs estimates begin to come in, the cost Antiquities Act of 1906 (June 8) and hazard mitigation occupy much to our nation’s cultural heritage, • Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month of its operations. The AIA Disaster from grand buildings to vernacular (September 15–October 15) Response and Recovery Program’s neighborhoods, will be calculated primary mission was assisting small not only in dollars, but in absences • 40th Anniversary of the National and memories. Historic Preservation Act property owners with condition assessments and member architects For more information, visit http://www.aia.org/ (October 15) about_katrina_aid; http://www.fema.gov/ehp/; and with support. In conjunction • American Indian Heritage http://www.ncshpo.org. with the American Planning Month (November) page 11 HERITAGE FIRST CLASS MAIL MATTERS Postage & Fees Paid MARCH 2006 U.S. Department of the Interior

National Park Service 1849 C Street, NW (2280) Washington, DC 20240

Fran P. Mainella Director Janet Snyder Matthews Associate Director Cultural Resources Antoinette J. Lee Assistant Associate Director, Historical Documentation Programs John W. Roberts Acting Chief, National Register/National Historic Hurricane Katrina’s wreckage in Landmarks Programs Gulfport, Mississippi, illustrates the heavy toll on lives, property, heritage, Brian D. Joyner and wildlife. See page 1. Photo courtesy Heritage Matters Editor of Chris Usher for Time. HERITAGE MATTERS Mission of the National Park Service CONTENTS NPS ACTIVITIES, pages 2-4 TRIBAL INITIATIVES, page 9 Creole Focus: HABS photographs in Natchitoches, Tribal Historic Preservation Officers list, p. 9 The National Park Service is dedicated Louisiana, p. 2 to conserving unimpaired the natural Cultural Resources Diversity Internship Program, ANNOUNCEMENTS, CONFERENCES, AND EVENTS, and cultural resources and the values of p. 4 pages 10-11 National Historic Landmarks designated, p. 4 the National Park System for the enjoy- Announcements, p. 10 ment, education, and inspiration of this AAM’s “Year of the Museum” Resolution, p. 10 PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVES, pages 1, 5 and future generations. The Service also Public Building of the Year Award for Reginald F. Historic Preservation and the Aftermath of Lewis Museum of African American History and cooperates with partners to extend the Hurricane Katrina, p. 1 Culture in Baltimore, p. 10 benefits of natural and cultural resource Presenting Race and Slavery at Historic Sites Nominations Open for Paul E. Buchanan Award conservation and outdoor recreation Research Project, p. 5 for Excellence in Field Work and Interpretation, p. 10 throughout this country and the world.

STATE INITIATIVES, pages 6-9 Conferences, p. 10 Heritage Matters, sponsored by the National Register Nominations, p. 6 Museums and the Web 2006, March 2006, Albuquerque, New Mexico, p. 10 • Rockefeller Park and Cleveland Cultural Cultural Resources Programs of the Gardens Historic District, Cleveland, Ohio Organization of American Historians/ National National Park Service, is published twice- Council on Public History Joint Conference, April • University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess a-year and is free of charge. Readers are Anne, Maryland 2006, Washington, DC, p. 11 invited to submit short articles and notices • The Spring Place Historic District, Murray Events, p. 11 County, Georgia Preservation-related Commemorations, p. 11 for inclusion. (Limit submissions to fewer • Cameron School, Nashville, Tennessee than 600 words and include author’s name • Rio Grande City Downtown Historic District, Rio Grande City, Texas and affiliation. Photographs or slides • Odd Fellows Hall, Blacksburg, Virginia are welcome.) Please submit newslet- ter items in writing or electronically to: Brian D. Joyner, Editor, Heritage Matters, DOI/National Park Service, 1849 C Street, NW (2280), Washington, DC 20240. Phone: 202/354-2276, email: [email protected]. This material is based upon work conducted under a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers. Views and conclusions in this material are those of the authors and should not be Visit the website for the NPS Cultural interpreted as representing the opinions or policies of the U.S. Government. Mention of trade names or Resources Diversity Program: www. commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by the U.S. Government. cr.nps.gov/crdi

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