Going-to-the-Sun Road 75th Anniversary

In the late fall of 1932, after three decades of construction and more than $2 million, the first automobile passed over the entire 50 miles of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park. The National Park Service formally dedicated the Sun Road on July 15, 1933, with park superintendent Eivind Scoyen calling it “the most beautiful piece of mountain road in the world.” The park and hundreds of revelers – including some who had been there in 1933 – celebrated the road’s 75th anniversary on June 27. The Going-to-the-Sun Road was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997 and is the subject of a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places online lesson plan, Going-to-the-Sun Road: A Model of Landscape Engineering.

U.S. to Provide $1 Million for Cambodian Preservation Work

The U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation will provide $978,705 to the World Monuments Fund for continued preservation and conservation work at Cambodia’s Phnom Bakheng Temple, located within the Angkor Archaeological Zone. The announcement was made in Siem Reap at the 17th Technical Committee Meeting of the International Coordinating Committee for the historic site of Angkor. The funds will be used to conduct a second phase of conservation work on the temple’s primary east elevation, the most visible – and most heavily damaged – part of the site. Created by Congress in 2001, the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation assists less developed countries preserve museum collections, ancient and historic sites, and traditional forms of expression, helping to reinforce cultural identity and community solidarity. The Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation provides an opportunity for U.S. Embassies to directly demonstrate America’s respect for the cultural heritage of host countries, and to play an active role in protecting those heritages. Since its inception, the Fund has awarded 436 preservation grants in 119 countries.

Museum at Eldridge Street Wins AAM Award

The Museum at Eldridge Street won the Gold MUSE Award for Interactive Installation from the American Association of Museums for its interactive exhibit that allows visitors to explore history, art, and architecture through a model of New York's Lower East Side to learn more about sacred Jewish architecture and ritual. The museum, opened last year at the conclusion of major restoration of the 120-year-old Eldridge Street Synagogue. The National Historic Landmark is the first great house of worship built by East European Jews in America.

Sharing Maritime Heritage

New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park celebrated its new Corson Maritime Learning Center in May with an open house for more than 300 people. Senator Edward M. Kennedy offered the keynote address: “What you have all built here will ensure that generations to come will learn about New Bedford’s remarkable history and enduring spirit. Needless to say, we also owe thanks to the National Park Service and its staff who have worked so hard and well with our community to make this new vision a reality.” Housed in two, three-story brick structures built in 1875 and 1884, the Corson building suffered a devastating fire in 1997, was donated by the Piva family to the Waterfront Historic Area LeaguE (WHALE), a nonprofit preservation organization, which raised funds to stabilize it. WHALE, in turn, donated the building to the National Park Service in 2004 which undertook a $6.4 million rehabilitation of the building to install interpretive exhibits, a theater, and education and archival space.

Civil War Trust Photo Contest

The Civil War Preservation Trust has teamed up with The History Channel and the Center for Civil War Photography to sponsor a national photography competition to promote appreciation of America’s Civil War heritage. For the first time, all entries to this long-running contest will be submitted online. More information is on the CWPT website. Deadline for submissions: August 31.

Capture the Heart of America Photo Contest

Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area is accepting entries for its second annual photography contest, Capture the Heart of America. The contest is looking for images that capture the unique culture and heritage of this 37-county region covering over 20,000 square miles in Northeast Iowa. Details are online. Deadline for submissions: August 29.

Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit Approvals in May

The National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Certification review of applications for Federal Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits has three parts: Part 1 determines the eligibility of a property for the tax incentives program; Part 2 determines whether a proposed project meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation; Part 3 determines whether the completed project conforms with the Secretary’s Standards. In May, Technical Preservation Services staff reviewed 93 Part 1 applications, 99 Part 2 applications representing nearly $458 million in estimated preservation investment, and 86 Part 3 applications that resulted in $258 million in private investment. The National Park Service administers this program in cooperation with State Historic Preservation Officers and the Internal Revenue Service.

George Washington Did NOT Sleep Here

After standing vacant for over a decade, the George Washington Hotel in Winchester, Virginia, recently underwent a $21 million rehabilitation using the National Park Service’s Federal Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits. The historic hotel was built in 1924, enlarged in 1929, and operated as a hotel until the 1970s when it was converted to the George Washington Home for Adults. The recent rehabilitation restored the building to its historic use as a hotel. Exterior work included the repair of all historic wood windows, rehabilitation of storefronts according to historic documentation, removal of an incompatible 1950s portico and the addition of a new compatible entrance, cleaning and repair of the masonry façade, and repair of the cornice and marquee. The interior rehabilitation included retention of the existing floor plan wherever possible, repair of the main staircase, new compatible doors for the guest rooms, repair of wood trim, flooring, and historic plaster. A new pool was built in the basement and modern HVAC, electrical, and, plumbing systems were installed. This successful rehabilitation allows the historic building to serve the community in its original function while retaining its historic character.

National Register Statistics for May

In May, 109 listings were added to the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places, including 1,192 buildings, 41 sites, 63 structures, and 62 objects. The nominations to the National Register come from the 50 states, the American Indian Nations, Freely Associated States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, along with the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and various islands under the authority of the United States.

Tybee Island Cottage Named to National Register

During the first half of the 20th century, Tybee Island, Georgia, developed as a popular seaside resort for the middle class. More than 100 raised cottages were built from the early 1920s through the 1940s. A combination of two earlier types of cottages, the raised Tybee cottage differed from the earlier cottages in its full-height ground level, which was raised a full story in order to incorporate space for automobiles. Few intact cottages survive from Tybee’s golden era; many were demolished in recent years, the result of skyrocketing land values and intensive development. James and Julia Johnson bought land on Tybee Island in 1923 and built their cottage in 1931-1932. The Johnson cottage has four bedrooms on the second floor and the kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms on the ground floor. The cottage is now owned by their son James and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on May 21.

UNESCO-ICOMOS Blog

The UNESCO-ICOMOS Documentation Centre has started a blog that will include new documentation and publications, news, links, and bibliographic resources. Users can leave comments, suggestions, and feedback.

HAER Summer Documentation

The National Park Service’s Historic American Engineering Record has several recording projects underway this summer. Students from the University of New Mexico are recording El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro and Route 66 alignments, an area rich in layers of history including prehistoric petroglyphs and stone formations, El Camino Real traces, 19th century wagon trails, National Old Trails Highway switchbacks and early Route 66 rights of way. In Maryland, the historic Morse water filtration plants on Route 29 just north of downtown Silver Spring will be documented as will the NS Savannah, the world’s first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, launched in 1959, decommissioned in 1972, and now docked in Baltimore. Further north, a HAER team will continue work on the Schooner Ernestina in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Commissioned in 1894 as the Effie M. Morrissey, it was a Grand Banks fisher, arctic expeditionary vessel, and WWII survey vessel before a galley fire in 1946. Renamed the Ernestina, the ship served in the trans-Atlantic Cape Verdean packet trade before being gifted back to the United States. The documentation will assist in its restoration. Both the Savannah and the Ernestina are National Historic Landmarks.

Peavey Park Plaza

Comprehensive documentation – measured drawings, written history and large-format photography – of Peavey Park Plaza was donated by Close Landscape Architecture+ to the National Park Service’s Historic American Landscapes Survey. Peavey Park Plaza is significant for its association with a series of post World War II urban renewal projects that began in the late 1950s and continued until the 1970s in Minnesota. The plaza, constructed in 1975 in downtown Minneapolis in an effort to connect the system of parks and boulevards known as the Grand Rounds, is an example of a sunken park plaza, a new urban park aesthetic that departed from previous landscape architecture design. The plaza was designed by noted landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg.

Parkitecture

The National Park Architecture Sourcebook by Harvey H. Kaiser, a guide to more than 200 historic architectural treasures in national parks, was published on May 1.

History Online

More than 1,000 books, studies, and reports are available online courtesy of the National Park Service’s Park History Program. Highlights of the latest additions include –

Archeological Excavations in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, 1950

Second World Conference on National Parks (1972) (pdf)

Excavations at the Pharr Mounds and the Bear Creek Site, Natchez Trace Parkway (1972) (pdf)

Moton Airfield Historic Furnishing Report, Tuskegee Airfield National Historic Site (2006) (pdf)

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Museum Management Plan (2008) (pdf)

Occupied Corinth: The Contraband Camp and the First Alabama Regiment of African Descent, 1862-1865 (1995) (pdf)

Antiquities: Training Bulletin for Field Employees of the National Park Service United States Department of the Interior (1954) (pdf)

Cultural Landscape Report for the Frijole Ranch, Guadalupe Mountains National Park (1994) (pdf)

Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial Column and Plazas, Historic Structure Report (1976) (pdf)

The Women of Fort Vancouver (1977) (pdf)

Conferences

IX International Conference on Urban History; Lyon, France; August 27-30. Convened by the European Association for Urban History.

10th International DOCOMOMO Conference, The Challenge of Change: Dealing with the Legacy of the Modern Movement; Rotterdam, Netherlands; September 13-20.

11th International Congress on the Conservation of Stone; Torin, Poland; September 15-20.

2008 Historic Mortars Conference on Characterization, Diagnosis, Conservation, Repair and Compatibility; Lisbon, Portugal; September 24-27.

16th ICOMOS General Assembly and International Symposium: Finding the Spirit of the Place; Quebec, Canada; September 29 - October 4.

Salt Weathering on Buildings and Stone Sculptures; Copenhagen, Denmark; October 22-24.

Cultural Respect in Preservation and Conservation, 2008 North Carolina Preservation Consortium annual conference; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; November 20.

Documentation and Risk Management of the Cultural Heritage, 6th International Conference on Science and Technology in Archaeological Conservation; Rome, Italy; December 8-14.

Heritage In the News

Editor's Note:

We're having a small glitch with the links in this section. A fix is underway. In the interim, Google the headline and you should find the story!

Work begins on aging sailing ship

Honolulu Advertiser – June 25
Work began yesterday to shore up the hull of the aging and ailing Falls of Clyde — a National Historic Landmark and the only surviving fully...

A new look forthcoming for Timberline Lodge

Daily Journal of Commerce Oregon, Oregon – June 24
“The entry relies on this historic structure to give it a presence, yet it fits in seamlessly,” Meijer said. “I'm very much a fan of it. ...

Restored Beauvoir estate provides Southern comfort

Asbury Park (NJ) Press – June 22
Replacing what Katrina destroyed at the national historic landmark site wasn't an easy endeavor. Slate for repairing the roof was imported from the same...

Harriet Tubman drawing US notice

Syracuse (NY) Post-Standard – June 20
The National Park Service is pushing ahead with a plan to create a national historic site in Auburn honoring Harriet Tubman, the famed Underground Railroad heroine who lived in and is buried there.

National Park Quarters Proposed

Numismatic News – June 19
Congress has a new coin program on its plate. Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del,. legislative founder of the statehood quarter program, joined forces with the ranking Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee to sponsor H.R. 6184, as an omnibus measure that, if passed, will change the way we look at our change.

Tuskegee Airmen to be subject of George Lucas film

Associated Press – June 17
The black airmen whose lives will be the basis of a George Lucas movie know the picture will highlight their record of successfully escorting thousands of U.S. bombers in World War II.

Ceremonial flag-raising for restored, redeveloped Fort Baker

San Francisco (CA) Chronicle – June 13
The National Park Service and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will raise the flag Saturday on the parade ground of Fort Baker, an old U.S. Army post that has been transformed into a public showplace.

Stone circles tell stories

Casper (WY) Star-Tribune – June 12
BILLINGS, Mont. - Looters and collectors got there first in almost every case, but enough evidence may remain in the hundreds of tepee rings that cover Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area to fill information gaps 10,000 years wide.

Sitting Bull's tribe to regain control of southern Badlands

Independent (London, UK) – June 10
Nearly 120 years after the last massacre of Native Americans by the United States cavalry at Wounded Knee, some of the lands confiscated from their descendants are to be returned to the Oglala Sioux.

Hamilton Home Heads to a Greener Address

New York Times – June 7
No matter that Alexander Hamilton's country home, the Grange, is 206 years old. Until now, it had been in a perfectly contemporary Manhattan real estate bind: not enough space. What to do? Move, of course.

Witnessing a House, and History, on the Move

New York Times – June 8
With surpassing dignity and surprising agility – for a 206-year-old – Alexander Hamilton's country home, the Grange, lumbered down the West 141st Street hillside on Saturday morning to its new setting in St. Nicholas Park.

Long-buried story of black America

Chicago Tribune – June 8
BARRY, Ill. – The three archeologists moved deliberately across a soggy Illinois farm field, marking boundaries for a vanished town where blacks determined their destiny on the American frontier well before the Civil War. The town, New Philadelphia, turned out to be bigger than they thought. So, too, scholars believe, is the long-buried story of black Americans during this period.

Plans aplenty for Alcatraz are on table

San Francisco (CA) Chronicle – June 8
Growing up on Alcatraz, Jean Comerford, daughter of a prison guard, was used to spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the East Bay from her bedroom window. Soon, she may get a chance to see that again.

Presidio opening its vistas to the public

San Francisco (CA) Chronicle – June 7
New contemplative spaces, in which to sit and admire the beauty of San Francisco, are going up in the Presidio as part of the rebirth of the historic Army base into a national park.

Heritage tourism gets federal dollars

Natchez (MS) Democrat – June 5
NATCHEZ - Natchez has the William Johnson house, the Forks of the Road or the Rhythm Night Club site, and now, they have the money to market them. The Natchez National Historical Park has received $500,000 through the African American Experience Fund of the National Park Foundation to create a strategic plan for heritage tourism.

Grants

Research Grants for Midcareer Professionals

The James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation will award a research grant up to $25,000 to mid­career professionals who have an advanced or professional degree and at least 10 years experience in historic preservation or related fields, including architecture, landscape architecture, architectural conservation, urban design, environmental planning, archeology, architectural history, and the decorative arts. Additional smaller grants, up to $10,000, are made at the discretion of the Trustees. The grants are intended to support projects of innovative original research or creative design that advance the practice of historic preservation in the U.S. These grants may be partially supported through the generosity of the Kress Foundation. More details are online. Application Deadline: September 19.

On the Hill

New Public Laws

P.L. 110-244 (HR 1195) – to amend the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, to make technical corrections, signed into law by the President on June 6.

Floor Action

June 24 – House suspended the rules and passed H.R. 5687, to amend the Federal Advisory Committee Act to increase the transparency and accountability of Federal advisory committees.

June 9 – House passed the following bills of interest:

H.R. 3022 – to designate the John Krebs Wilderness in California and to add certain lands to the Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park Wilderness.

H.R. 3682 – to designate certain federal lands in Riverside County, California, as wilderness, to designate certain river segments in Riverside County as a wild, scenic, or recreational river, to adjust the boundary of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, and for other purposes.

June 5 – House passed H.R. 5540, Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network Continuing Authorization Act.

Markups

June 25 – House Natural Resources Committee marked up the following bills of interest:

H.R. 415 – to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate segments of the Taunton River in Massachusetts as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

H.R. 1286 – to amend the National Trails System Act to designate the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail.

H.R. 3227 – to direct the Secretary of the Interior to continue stocking fish in certain lakes in North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area.

June 11 – House Natural Resources Committee marked up the following bills of interest:

H.R. 1423 – to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to lease a portion of a visitor center to be constructed outside the boundary of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in Porter County, Indiana, and for other purposes.

H.R. 3981 – to authorize the Preserve America Program and Save America's Treasures Program, and for other purposes.

H.R. 4199 – to amend the Dayton Aviation Heritage Preservation Act of 1992 to add sites to Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, and for other purposes.

Hearings

June 18 – House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, oversight hearing on “Paying to Play: Implementation of Fee Authority on Federal Lands.”

June 17 – Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on National Parks, hearing on the following bills of interest:

S. 1774 and H.R. 3022 – to designate the John Krebs Wilderness in California, to add certain land to Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park Wilderness, and for other purposes.

S. 2255 – to amend the National Trails System Act to provide for studies of the Chisholm Trail and Great Western Trail to determine whether to add the trails to the National Trails System, and for other purposes.

S. 2359 – to establish the St. Augustine 450th Commemoration Commission.

S. 2943 – to amend the National Trails System Act to designate the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, an approximately 1,200-mile route from Olympic National Park to Glacier National Park.

S. 3010 – to reauthorize the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program until 2019.

S. 3017 – to designate the Beaver Basin Wilderness at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan.

S. 3045 – to establish the Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Forest Heritage Area in Alaska, and for other purposes.

S. 3096 – to amend National Cave and Karst Research Institute Act of 1998 to authorize appropriations for the National Cave and Karst Research Institute.

H.R. 1143 – to authorize the Secretary to enter into a lease with the holders of the retained use estate for continued operation of the Caneel Bay Resort on terms and conditions determined by the Secretary.

June 5 – Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, oversight hearing on off-highway vehicle management on public lands.

June 5 – House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, hearing on the following bills of interest:

H.R. 573 – to clarify the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to accept donations of lands that are contiguous to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

H.R. 3809 – to amend the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Act of 1988 regarding the local coordinating entity of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor.

H.R. 4199 – to amend the Dayton Aviation Heritage Preservation Act of 1992 to add sites to Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.

H.R. 4828 – to amend the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site Act of 1991 to expand the boundaries of the historic site.

H.R. 5583 – to withdraw the Tusayan Ranger District and federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in the vicinity of Kanab Creek and in House Rock Valley from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws.

Upcoming Hearings & Markups

July 21 – Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on National Parks, oversight field hearing on the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory of all species within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The hearing will address: (1) How much has been learned up to this point and at what cost? (2) What is left to be done and what is the estimated time and cost to complete the inventory? (3) How has the data been used and are there other ways to use it? (4) What changes, if any, should be made in the program and (5) Should the program be expanded to include other National Parks? The hearing is scheduled at 9:30 a.m.; Destination Center at Blue Ridge Parkway, 195 Hemphill Knob Road, Asheville, NC.

New Bills of Interest

S. 3210 – to establish the Centennial Historic District in the Pennsylvania, introduced by Robert Casey (D-PA) on June 26.

S. 3214 – to provide for a program for circulating quarter dollar coins that are emblematic of a national park or other national site in each state, the District of Columbia, and each territory of the United States, introduced by John Barrasso (R-WY) on June 26.

S. 3191 – to develop and promote a comprehensive plan for a national strategy to address harmful algal blooms and hypoxia through baseline research, forecasting and monitoring, and mitigation and control while helping communities detect, control, and mitigate coastal and Great Lakes harmful algal blooms and hypoxia events, introduced by Olympia Snowe (R-ME) on June 25.

H.R. 6336 – to extend the authority for the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission, introduced by Bill Delahunt (D-MA) on June 20.

H.R. 6305 – to clarify the authorities for the use of certain National Park Service properties within Golden Gate National Parks and San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park, introduced by Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on June 19.

H.R. 6311 – to prevent the introduction and establishment of nonnative wildlife species that negatively impact the economy, environment, or human or animal species' health, introduced by Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU) on June 19.

S. 3158 – to extend the authority for the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission, introduced by Edward Kennedy (D-MA) on June 19.

H.R. 6291 – to adjust the boundary of Oregon Caves National Monument, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain river segments in Oregon as wild or scenic rivers, introduced by Peter DeFazio (D-OR) on June 18.

S. 3148 – to adjust the boundary of Oregon Caves National Monument, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain river segments in Oregon as wild or scenic rivers, introduced by Ron Wyden (D-OR) on June 18.

S. 3113 – to reinstate the Interim Management Strategy governing off-road vehicle use in Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina, pending the issuance of a final rule for off-road vehicle use by the National Park Service, introduced by Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) on June 11.

H.R. 6233 – to reinstate the Interim Management Strategy governing off-road vehicle use in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina, pending the issuance of a final rule for off-road vehicle use by the National Park Service, introduced by Walter Jones, Jr. (R-NC) on June 11.

S. 3096 – to amend the National Cave and Karst Research Institute Act of 1998 to authorize appropriations for the National Cave and Karst Research Institute, introduced by Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) on June 6.

H.R. 6195 – to authorize the Korean War Veterans Association to establish a commemorative work on federal land in the District of Columbia near the Korean War Memorial on the Mall to honor members of the Armed Forces who have served in Korea since July 28, 1953, introduced by Jason Altmire (D-PA) on June 5.

H.R. 6200 – to amend the National Trails System Act to provide for a study of the Long Path Trail, a system of trails and potential trails running from Fort Lee, New Jersey, to the Adirondacks in New York, to determine whether to add the trail to the National Trails System, and for other purposes, introduced by Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) on June 5.

H.R. 6184 – to provide for a program for circulating quarter dollar coins that are emblematic of a national park or other national site in each state, the District of Columbia, and each territory of the United States, and for other purposes, introduced by Michael Castle (R-DE) on June 4.

H.R. 6176 – to authorize the expansion of the Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas, and for other purposes, introduced by Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX) on June 4.

H.R. 6177 – to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to modify the boundary of the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River, introduced by Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX) on June 4.

S. 3094 – to amend the National Trails System Act to provide for a study of the Long Path Trail, a system of trails and potential trails running from Fort Lee, New Jersey, to the Adirondacks in New York, to determine whether to add the trail to the National Trails System, and for other purposes, introduced by Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) on June 4.

Milestones

Passing of George Hartzog

Former National Park Service Director George Hartzog died June 27 at age 87. During his nine-year tenure (1964-1973), Hartzog oversaw the addition of 72 sites to the National Park System, the largest expansion in its history. “George Hartzog was one of the great champions of the National Park Service,” said NPS Director Mary A. Bomar. “His vision of what the national parks should be and should mean to the American people left an indelible mark on the agency he so loved and believed in. His goal of making the National Park Service relevant to people who previously had been overlooked, especially minorities and women, has strengthened our agency.” Hartzog is survived by Helen, his wife of 60 years, and three children, Nancy, George Jr. and Edward.

National Park Service Transitions

Dr. Sherry Hutt has been selected to manage the National Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Program which implements the federal law of the same name – NAGPRA – that provides a process for museums and federal agencies to return certain Native American cultural items – human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony – to lineal descendants, culturally affiliated Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations. Hutt has managed the program since 2004 on an Interagency Personnel Agreement.

Martha Raymond has been selected as the national coordinator for heritage areas, providing budget, legislative, and policy support to the 40 congressionally designated heritage areas. Raymond has over 25 years experience in historic preservation and cultural resource management at both the National Park Service and the Ohio Historic Preservation Office.

Julie Kutruff has been named the new site manager of Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, part of National Capital Parks – East in Washington, DC.

Ed W. Clark, a 21-year NPS veteran, has been named the new superintendent of Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia. Clark will be responsible for the management of the 5,100-acre park, a staff of approximately 28 employees and an annual operating budget of more than $2.7 million. The park includes many historical sites and structures associated with both the First and Second Battles of Manassas (Bull Run).

Vicki J. Snitzler, a 22-year veteran of the National Park Service, is the new superintendent of Oregon Caves National Monument in Oregon.

Lucy Lawliss, a 16-year veteran of the National Park Service, has been selected as the superintendent of George Washington Birthplace National Monument in Virginia and Thomas Stone National Historic Site in Maryland. Lawliss, a landscape architect, has served on the board and been co-chair of the National Association for Olmsted Parks and has also served on the board of Southern Garden History Society.

Reggie Tiller has been named superintendent of William Howard Taft National Historic Site in Ohio.

Joe Finan, a 29-year veteran of the National Park Service, has been selected as the new superintendent of Saratoga National Historical Park in New York.

David Ruth has been selected as superintendent of Richmond National Battlefield Park and Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site in Richmond, Virginia.

Coming Up

The 4th of July!

Celebrate Independence Day in America's national parks.