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Third Annual ReportCenter for Heritage Resource Studies
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Executive Summary
Founded in December 2000, the Center for Heritage Resource Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park was formed to bring scholars and practitioners together to support a comprehensive approach to the study of heritage. The Center's mission is to provide leadership and encourage research in applied activities that stress the relationship between cultural heritage and the environment. This report summarizes the activities and accomplishments of the Center during its third year, from January to December 2003.
The first section presents the staff and faculty of the Center, together with our partners and affiliates whose work enhances all the Center’s programs. The second section details the four major program categories of the Center: research, education, outreach and debate forum. Summaries of the Center projects and activities are presented under each program area. The third section presents Center highlights in 2003, and gives full descriptions of a number of new and ongoing projects undertaken by Center faculty and Center sponsored programs.
Center for Heritage Resource Studies
Letter from the Director
back to contents]January 2004
Greetings,
We have had some exciting developments as well as changes in the Center for Heritage Resource Studies over the past year. In 2003 we were all sorry to see Don Jones leave the Center for a position with USICOMOS. Because of Don’s hard work the Center became increasingly recognized in the heritage discipline over the past 2 years. I am sure he will be a tremendous asset to USICOMOS. Lena Mortensen who will be receiving her PH.D in 2004 from Indiana University is our new Assistant Director for the Center. Her research interests are on the social context of the archaeological site of Copán, Honduras, as well as the development of regional heritage tourism. Lena has picked up where Don left off by helping develop a course for an archaeology and interpretation competency curriculum for the NPS. She is ready to do ethnographic research on the Eastern Shore, and help develop new partnerships with regional, national, and international organizations. Please feel free to contact her at any time with any ideas that you may have for the Center (lmortensen@anth.umd.edu 301-405-0085)
In the past year the Center has supported projects in the local Hispanic community, as well as helped with the development of the New Philadelphia archeology project in Illinois. We also have a strong foothold on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Chambers continues his studies of tourism and heritage representation. Paolisso is developing his research that examines how various stakeholders view heritage on the Eastern Shore. Leone continues his archaeological research efforts on Wye Island and he will continue his efforts with the annual field school in Flanders, Belgium. I am working with the NPS as co-PI on several projects at Monocacy National Battlefield and I was just awarded a three year grant from the National Science Foundation to expand my research at New Philadelphia, Illinois and to train students who are underrepresented in the sciences. A new connection to the Labor Heritage Foundation is also an exciting development.
We recently partnered with the Office of Continuing Education, SRI Foundation, the Louis Berger Group, Inc., and we are now a vendor for the Federal Highways Administrations for a 5-year multi-million dollar contract for a wide variety of cultural and environmental training programs. This new development will help bolster our profile as a leader in heritage education in a different federal agency.
The work performed over the past year has created a new enthusiasm for the Center and I appreciate all of the support from our affiliates. We look forward to our continued cooperation with you and our partnering organizations as we develop new and exciting partnerships over the next year. We are all pleased about what we have accomplished in a short time and we are even more excited about the future.
I thank you all for your past support and we look forward to working with you in the coming years. Best wishes for a wonderful and prosperous new year.
Paul Shackel
Professor
Director, Center for Heritage Resource Studies
Center Organization
Founded in December 2000, the Center for Heritage Resource Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park was formed to bring scholars and practitioners together to support a comprehensive approach to the study of heritage. The Center provides a forum for exchanging ideas, provides educational and professional training opportunities, conducts research projects associated with all aspects of heritage resource studies, and is developing various public outreach efforts. This report summarizes the activities and accomplishments of the Center during 2003.
The establishment of the Center for Heritage Resource Studies recognizes that the sustainability of our cultural and environmental resources is dependent upon understanding the ways in which heritage is defined, expressed, and used to further economic development and political activity. Furthermore, it is critical that research and educational efforts conducted and sponsored by the Center be formulated in a way that can be readily applied by those who are responsible for the management of our historic, cultural, and environmental resources. In this manner, the activities of the Center for Heritage Resource Studies will contribute substantially to an increased awareness of the need for responsible heritage development.
Director
Paul A. Shackel, Professor of Anthropology
Assistant Director Lena Mortensen, Faculty Research Assistant Faculty Members Erve J. Chambers, Professor of Anthropology Mark P. Leone, Professor of Anthropology Michael Paolisso, Associate Professor of Anthropology
The Center expands its reach locally and globally through partnerships with state and regional organizations, national and international organizations, and within the University of Maryland system. Center partners represent a wide range of disciplines, including cultural anthropology, archaeology, historic preservation, community development, environmental sciences, and others. The Center continues to develop partnerships with organizations and individuals dedicated to leadership in the field of heritage resources.
State and Regional Partners
Catoctin Center for Regional Studies (Maryland)
National Partners
International Partners
University of Maryland Partners
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The Center is pleased to have the following individuals as Center Affiliates. Our Center Affiliates represent the diversity of approaches to heritage and complement the core faculty in the Center’s many initiatives. Please note affiliation extends only to the individual, unless the Center has a partnership agreement with the affiliate's institution. The home institution of each affiliate is provided for informational purposes only.
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Affiliate |
Home Institution |
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William Bechhoefer |
School of Architecture, University of Maryland |
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Ben Blount |
Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia |
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Peter Brosius |
Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia |
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Suheil Bushrui |
Baha’i Chair for World Peace |
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Dirk Callebaut |
Executive Director, Ename Center for Public Archaeology and Heritage Presentation, Belgium |
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Wayne E. Clark |
Executive Director, Office of Museum Services, Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum |
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Elaine Eff |
Director, Cultural Conservation Program, Maryland Historical Trust |
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Barbara Franco |
Executive Director, The Historical Society of Washington, D.C. |
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Charles Hall |
State Terrestrial Archeologist, Maryland Historical Trust |
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Dean Herrin |
Catoctin Center for Regional Studies, Maryland |
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Walter Arby Holland |
President, Deal Island-Chance Lion's Club |
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Mary Hufford |
Director, Center for Folklore and Ethnography, University of Pennsylvania |
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Barbara J. Little |
Archeology and Ethnography Program, National Park Service |
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Randall Mason |
Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, School of Design, University of Pennsylvania |
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Francis P. McManamon |
Archeology and Ethnography Program, National Park Service |
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Fred Peak |
Deal Island-Chance Lion’s Club |
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Joanna Wheeler Peak |
Somerset County Arts Council |
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Stephen R. Potter |
Regional Archeologist, National Capital Region, National Park Service |
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Stephen Prince |
Director, Mid-Atlantic Regional Earth Sciences Applications Center, University of Maryland |
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Peter Stone |
International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies, University of Newcastle upon Tyne |
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Jack Sullivan |
Landscape Architecture Program, University of Maryland |
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Edvard Thorsett |
Shenandoah Center for Heritage and the Environment |
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Vibert L. White |
Department of History, University of Central Florida |
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Eldon Willing, Jr. |
Retired Skipjack Captain, Chance, Maryland |
The Center conducts and supports activities in four broad program areas:
Research
Education
Debate forum
Public
outreach
These programs are designed to incorporate a wide range of disciplines, including cultural anthropology, archaeology, historic preservation, community development, environmental sciences, and others. Through activities in these program areas the Center is able to reach diverse communities and continue playing a central role in the comprehensive study of heritage resources.
Center research efforts are extensive and varied, investigating heritage issues at the local-regional level as well as the international level (see accompanying chapters in this report highlighting various projects). From archaeology of the first known town incorporated by an African American to collaborative research with communities of Watermen on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Center faculty are working together with partner organizations and affiliates to address important aspects of heritage. Projects like the archaeology of Monocacy National Battlefield and the Archaeology of Annapolis program highlight the engagement of contemporary communities with the colonial past. Research on the development of heritage tourism in the Delmarva Peninsula and the recovery of heritage for communities on Maryland’s Eastern Shore demonstrate the importance of heritage in everyday life. A recent grant application to the Library of Congress to preserve digital data on heritage would provide permanent access to the rich resources of all the Center’s research projects.
The Center holds two annual summer field schools – one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Belgium. This year, under the sponsorship of the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program, the Center will add a new field school at New Philadelphia, Illinois. The Center also continues to provide educational opportunities for professionals, at both the national and international level. For example, the Center continues to work with the National Park Service and has produced a guide for the upcoming training program in archaeology and interpretation. Also, Erve Chambers continues to teach a module on the social and cultural consequences of tourism in the International Tourism Management Program for the Associazione per I’Istituzione Libera Universita Nuorese (AILUN) in Sardinia, Italy.
The Center reaches a broad community by sponsoring and participating in workshops, conferences and seminars, promoting debate and dialogue on heritage issues. In 2003 the Center played an important role in the 5th World Archaeological Congress, held in Washington D.C., highlighting the scope of the Center’s activities to an international forum. Former Assistant Director Don Jones chaired a panel on heritage tourism at a pre-conference workshop, and numerous faculty members and affiliates gave presentations at the Congress itself. Erve Chambers was recently selected as Program Chair for the 2005 Society for Applied Anthropology meetings for which the general theme will be “Heritage, Environment, and Tourism.” The Center will be participating in the organization of this national conference.
An important part of the Center’s mission is public outreach, with the goal of educating and advising on the development of sustainable heritage resources. To this end the Center works with partner organizations and others on the full range of heritage issues. Specific outreach efforts this past year include two workshops held at the Wye Research and Education Center for watermen, scientists, and resource managers to address the management and future of blue crab fishery. Paul Shackel recently consulted with cultural resource manager Paul Deminco, of NASA Goddard Space Agency to avoid the destruction of historic resources in the planning of a new road. The Annapolis project continued its leadership in outreach by opening its urban archaeology excavations to the public and facilitating a field school for local African American children, directed by Ms. Maisha Washington of the Banneker Douglass Museum. Members of the Monocacy National Battlefield project gave numerous presentations on their ongoing work throughout 2003 at a variety of venues. In addition, the Center continues to work in an advisory capacity with many local heritage organizations, including the New Philadelphia Association (Illinois), the Shenandoah Center (Virginia), and the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
The work of the Center has gained increasing attention in the past year. Center projects were featured in a host of media including Chesapeake Quarterly, The Baltimore Sun, Frederick Magazine, The Washington Post, and others. Please visit the Center’s website for links to these and other recent news articles or for more information on all the Center’s work: www.heritage.umd.edu (see also Appendix A).
Center Faculty are internationally recognized leaders in heritage and natural resource management. Research conducted by faculty cover a broad spectrum of heritage issues with particular focus on local and national heritage.
Faculty Research Areas
Current research projects being conducted by or through the Center describe the breadth of issues being investigated.
Erve Chambers continues his studies of tourism and heritage representation
on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Donald Jones assisted the Historical Society of Washington D.C. and the
DC Preservation Office, among other agencies, in developing an exhibit for the
new DC City Museum.
Mark Leone continues his work with the Archaeology of Annapolis program and
has expanded this project to include excavations at Wye Island. His project
will undertake several excavations in the Annapolis Historic District in
2004.
Lena Mortensen continues her research on the social context of the
archaeological site of
Copán,
Honduras, and the development of regional heritage tourism.
Michael Paolisso continues his research on the Chesapeake Bay focused on
differing views of heritage held by various stakeholder groups affected by
changes in natural resources and policy and management responses.
Paul Shackel continues his research at Monocacy National Battlefield and at
New Philadelphia, Illinois, site of the earliest known antebellum town
incorporated by an African American.
Grant- and Contract-Funded Research
Recently funded faculty research includes the following projects:
Development and implementation of an “archaeology and interpretation”
curriculum for the National Park Service, Archeology and Ethnography Program
(Shackel and Jones/Mortensen)
Continuation of Maryland Sea Grant to complete monographs related to
Chesapeake Bay heritage and environmentalism (Chambers and Paolisso)
Continuation of Maryland Sea Grant to use collaborative learning, cultural
models, and dialogue to advance co-management planning of the Chesapeake Bay
Blue Crab Fishery (Paolisso and Chambers)
Development of regional library and backlog cataloging at the Museum
Resource Center, National Capital Region (Shackel)
Continuation of research grants from the National Park Service, National
Capital Region for archaeological investigations, analysis, and publication
of research (Shackel)
Continuing archaeological investigations at Wye Hall in Queen’s County and
in the Historic District of Annapolis (Leone)
Grant Proposal Assistance
The Center grants limited financial assistance to researchers to assist in the development of research projects related to various aspects of heritage.
In 2003 these projects included:
Proposal development related to heritage research in the Chance/Deal Island
communities on Maryland’s Eastern Shore (Chambers and Paolisso)
Proposal development related to the
New Philadelphia
project in Illinois (Shackel)
Grant Assistance awards and other forms of project assistance have led to important heritage initiatives beyond those undertaken by the Center’s core faculty. For instance, building on a Grant Proposal Assistance award in 2001, Dr. Judith Freidenberg of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Maryland has continued her research on the “The Anthropology of the Immigrant Life-Course.” As part of this project, Dr. Freidenberg is focusing on Hispanic immigrant communities in Montgomery and Prince Georges counties in Maryland. With financial assistance from the Center, Freidenberg and her collaborators held a “Community Museum” workshop in Langley Park, Maryland that explored such broad issues as heritage awareness, validating U.S. citizen’s interest in learning about heritage, and identifying methods to share Latino heritage. In addition, the workshop elicited more specific discussion on the proposed museum, selecting artifacts to share, heritage and curation, and program planning.
In 2003 the Center began providing support and assistance to "The Archaeological Heritage of Labor in Maryland,” a joint project with the Labor Heritage Foundation, coordinated by University of Maryland Masters of Applied Anthropology graduate student, Robert Chidester. This project builds on Chidester’s internship with the Labor Heritage Foundation, during which he prepared a multiple-property submission of archaeological sites related to industrial laborers in Maryland to the National Register of Historic Places. Chidester is currently preparing a survey of the organized labor community in Maryland to identify and prepare additional site nominations that recognize this important and under-represented facet of Maryland’s heritage.
The Center develops and implements innovative education and training programs in heritage and heritage-related fields. Currently the Center offers opportunities for both students and professionals through intensive field schools and short training courses. Upcoming and ongoing educational programs include the following:
Archaeology and Heritage in
Flanders,
Belgium, with the Ename Center for Public Archaeology and
Heritage,
Belgium (held annually in the summer)
Archaeology and Interpretation, Shared Competency Curriculum with the
National Park Service (through OCEE) (Fall 2004 through Summer 2005)
New
Philadelphia Field School, sponsored by the National Science Foundation
Research Experiences for Undergraduates program (Summer 2004 - 2006)
International Tourism Management Training Program with the Associazione per
l’Instituzione Libera Universita Nudrese (AILUN), Sardinia, Italy (ongoing)
Additionally, Shackel’s work with the Museum Resource Center of the National Park Service-National Capital Region provides opportunities for students from the University of Maryland to learn collections management skills under the direction of the National Park Service Collections Manager. Participating students are busy cataloguing collections from several parks within the National Capital Region, in turn assisting the parks in fulfilling their obligation to protect and conserve the museum properties under their stewardship.
In July of 2003 the Center (together with the University of Maryland’s Office of Continuing Education, SRI Foundation, The Louis Berger Group, Inc., and other consultants) became a new vendor on a 5-year, multi-million dollar contract with the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) to develop and implement a wide variety of cultural and environmental training programs. Under this contract OCEE and the Center (as the principals) have already been asked to submit 6 proposals to the FHA. We are looking forward to numerous opportunities in 2004 through this new partnership.
Outreach and Debate Forum
The Center reaches out to the community through advising and participating in heritage initiatives. Additionally, the Center’s work is featured in a variety of media, including popular and academic publications, community workshops, streaming video, and conference presentations. Through these channels the Center provides access to and stimulates debate on the many dimensions of heritage resources. Highlights of our outreach efforts for the past year include:
New Philadelphia, Illinois (Shackel)
Working with the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office, the
Illinois State Museum, Illinois College and Hanibal LaGrange College to
involve other students, faculty, and preservationists in the study of
the site
Working with the Archaeological Conservancy to save and protect the land
that contains the New Philadelphia site
Frederick County, Maryland
Delivering numerous presentations on the ongoing excavations at Monocacy
National Battlefield to local historical societies and other public fora
(Monocacy Staff)
Serving
on the African American Resources – Culture and History committee (AARCH)
to promote African-American history in Frederick County (Shackel)
Maryland’s Eastern Shore (Paolisso and Chambers)
Writing a life history book on a well-known skipjack captain to
illustrate the social and cultural contexts of the
Chesapeake Bay
oyster fishery when it was dependent on skipjack vessels and dredging
under sail
Held workshops on February 25, and March 25, 2003 for watermen,
scientists, and resource managers to address the blue crab fishery (held
at the Wye Research and
Education
Center)
In collaboration with
Rockcreek
Methodist Church in Chance, Maryland completed digital map of the church
cemetery with accompanying database for community kinship information
(accessible on CHRS website)
Shenandoah Center (Chambers)
Advising Dr. Edvard Thorsett (Center Affiliate) with public outreach and
tourism development of this new heritage center in Front Royal, Virginia
Washington, DC (Jones)
Collaborated with affiliate Barbara Little and numerous local and national agencies to produce
“Washington Underground: Archaeology in Downtown Washington, DC, a
walking and metro guide to the past...”
Chaired a panel on Heritage Tourism in the workshop “Working Together:
Archaeology in Global Perspective,” held in conjunction with the 5th
World Archaeological Congress
Heritage and the Chesapeake Bay
Erve Chambers was recently commissioned by the Maryland Sea Grant College to write a monograph on heritage, based on his continuing work in the Chesapeake Bay region. The following is an excerpt from this upcoming monograph, Heritage Matters: Culture, History and Chesapeake Bay Musings, due out in 2004
The
Ambiguity
of
Heritage
Like virtually every other interest-rich place on earth, the Chesapeake Bay is becoming reconfigured in the shapes and musings of a vigorously imagined and sometimes deeply contested heritage. What is involved here is much greater than a simple increase in our appreciation for the region’s varied histories, traditions and natural places. What we have before us are the elements of a major transformation in our thinking about what the Bay is and what it represents–a transformation just as sure and considerably quicker than the glacial retreats that initially formed the Bay, and as profound and far-reaching as the early 17th century entrance of the Chesapeake Bay populace into a burgeoning world market economy. The effects of the re-invention of the Chesapeake Bay region into the terms and shapes of modern heritage representations are perhaps as difficult to discern as it would have been to try to predict the outcomes of these earlier transformations. And it is equally difficult to believe from our present vantage point that such effects could be anywhere near as profound, although they certainly are. Heritage is no longer merely embodied in faint memories and nostalgias. It has become a major conceptual tool in the imagining and construction of our futures, serving in multiple ways to define our places and reshape our environments.
…
“Heritage” has become a vital addition to the modern places we all inhabit. It is a major industry of the mind as well as of the pocketbook, and has become an increasingly important part of the imagery through which we try to secure ourselves in a somewhat outrageous new world. Compared to the places in which most of us over the age forty or so grew up, this burgeoning new world seems rootless and transient. It is a landscape that could well be more like the one humans lived in a few thousand years ago, before we all became “civilized” and settled in our ways. That was when we were all more less hunters and gatherers on this fine earth, with a past that I imagine we carried along quite as easily as we packed and conveyed our shelter from one place to another. The more recent and self conscious ideas of heritage that we now entertain can be thought of as a way to try to slow things down and keep ourselves still settled if not civilized, and since actually slowing things down is not really an option, what we seem left with is the invention of particular “heritages” that permit us to properly respect and try to situate ourselves within a past without having to hold up the future.
Now in its 23rd year, the Archaeology in Annapolis program, directed by Mark Leone, continued its long term success and developed new outreach initiatives. In addition to the ongoing excavations in Eastport, the oldest suburb of Annapolis, the 2003 summer field school in urban archaeology was open to the public. A major excavation was begun in the 18th century customs house on the Annapolis waterfront, in preparation for the building’s becoming a visitor’s center and museum for Historic Annapolis Foundation.
Field
School
on
African
American
Archaeology
Ms. Maisha Washington, of the Banneker-Douglass Museum, the State of Maryland’s Center for Afro-American History and Culture, teaches African American school children about archaeology through model excavations. Her archaeology course, developed with support from the Maryland Historic Trust, includes instruction in stratigraphic excavation, recording, and artifact identification and reconstruction. Ms. Washington teaches elements of an Afro-centric approach to archaeology both to her class and on streaming video sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. Access to the streaming video is available online through the website of the Smithsonian Institution’s Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture at www.anacostia.si.edu.
The University of Maryland and Historic Annapolis Foundation sponsored the placement of Ms. Washington’s field program in the Archaeology in Annapolis laboratory adjacent to the William Paca Garden. The field school included 20 Annapolis children of African American background from 6-12 years of age. Archaeology in Annapolis supplied the equipment, as it has for three years. Jason Shellenhamer, an MAA candidate at the University of Maryland, gave the young students tours of the William Paca Garden and introduced them to the archaeology and the interpretations of the garden based on historic excavations.
Public Teaching through Archaeology
Six newspaper articles on the work of Archaeology in Annapolis appeared during the summer and fall of 2003. Science articles appeared in the Annapolis Evening Capitol, the Baltimore Sun, and the Washington Post. The articles on archaeology featured Jason Shellenhamer’s free tours of the William Paca garden which were supported by the Maryland Historical Trust. The Washington Post featured Maisha Washington’s model excavation for Annapolis children. “Researching Maryland,” produced by University of Maryland TV, showed a fifteen minute presentation featuring the work done by Matthew Palus on Eastport archaeology, as a part of the Archaeology in Annapolis project.
The first of a planned set of symposia provided an overview of all Maryland archaeology on November 8 at the University of Maryland, College Park. This day-long meeting of professionals and avocational archaeologists gathered to listen to summaries of some of the most important excavations in the state. The symposium was organized by Dr. James Gibb and was supported by the Archaeological Society of Maryland, The Council for Maryland Archaeology, and the Maryland Historical Trust.
