Mona Brittingham Brigitte Eubank History 6693 3 June 2010 The Creation of an MTSU/STRI Field School Students in the

graduate public history program at Middle Tennessee State University embarked on a two-week long field school at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (FOVA), located in Vancouver, Washington, during mid-May. Dr. Rebecca Conard, a professor of history at Middle Tennessee State University, and Dr. Stephanie Toothman, Chief of the Cultural Resource Programs for the Pacific West Region of the National Park Service, served jointly as leaders for the class. The field school was conducted as a series of discussion-driven lectures led by FOVA staff or staffers from Pacific West Region of the National Park Service (NPS). The overall subject of the field school was cultural resource management, and the major emphasis was on how to create and maintain successful partnerships. MTSU students spent the first week of the CRM field school at Fort Vancouver getting an inside view of how the Pacific West Region of the NPS works, particularly at FOVA. Our daily schedule included both classroom instruction and park tours conducted by the various NPS staffers who oversee operations at FOVA. Through a combination of behind-the-scenes lectures and guided tours, our class was able to gain insight and awareness concerning the parks biggest achievements, problems, and debates. Rather than providing a detailed summary of our experience in the May 2010 field school at Fort Vancouver, we have instead identified four major themes which were heavily emphasized

during many of the lectures. We want to address these themes as we think each could also be implemented in our proposed 2011 MTSU/STRI field school. One guiding theme of FOVA management is the importance of creating and maintaining strong partnerships. During her 10-year role as FOVA superintendent, Park Superintendent Tracy Fortman developed strategic partnerships as a means by which the park increased overall productivity and visitation numbers. Partners range from the city of Vancouver to other local and national parks and historic agencies. One of the largest problems facing STRI management is a lack of partnerships. FOVA can serve as a model for STRI to use when developing its own unique partnerships. Furthermore, the existing partnership between STRI and MTSU can be expanded and strengthened by including other departments not currently involved in study at the site. Other Tennessee state university partnerships can be developed. A second theme is the technique of telling stories through time. Due to Fort Vancouvers vast and diverse history, many stories are taught on site. The Fort Vancouver area has been home to Native Americans, the Hudsons Bay Company, the United States Army Reserve, and, most recently, the National Park Service. Though the primary story told at FOVA is that of the Hudsons Bay Company fur trade operations, park management also has to make sure that interpretation is provided, at least to some extent, for each of the other historic periods. Likewise, STRI is a site filled with many past groups and stories and is thus an area that needs new methods of interpretation to tell the stories of each associated group of people. For instance, more interpretation needs to be developed for the Native Americans who passed through Murfreesboro on the Trail of Tears and for the African-Americans

who lived in the former community of Cemetery, an area which has direct ties to the battlefield. A third theme is the creative use of park assets. By conducting cultural landscape inventories and cultural landscape planning, FOVA has maximized usage of its various assets. Examples of interpretations that have resulted from a cultural landscape inventory are the reconstruction of the Hudsons Bay Fort and the Kanaka Village, the historically accurate restoration of the herb garden, agricultural fields and the orchards, the new construction of a land bridge which serves to literally and symbolically reconnect the fort to the Columbia River waterfront, the historic preservation of the McGloughlin House, and the aesthetically appealing adaptive reuse of the barracks, the historic Officers Row house, and 1980s vintage building 405. The current focus of Stones River National Battlefield is the battlefield itself. However this is not the only story of the site through time. One of the suggestions that emerged during the field school is a study for possible interpretation of the Cemetery community. This might be done through an interpretive reconstruction of a small house, similar to the reconstruction currently underway of parts of the Kanaka Village at FOVA. A fourth theme is how FOVA deals with problems caused by urban growth. The management at FOVA recognizes the problems associated with being an urban park. A primary example is the pressure of encroachment and development, as in the current proposals to create additional lighted soccer fields adjacent to the park. At the same time, however, the management also views their urban location as an opportunity to reach out to higher numbers of people and to serve as a place of recreation and community on the outskirts of the Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon metropolitan areas.

STRI is facing many of the same problems of being an urban park. In recent years, the management at STRI has begun addressing the need to reach out to the recreational visitors of the park and the surrounding Greenway system. A more extensive outreach plan is possible by means of developing an interpretation of the Cedar Glades as a natural and historic landscape that existed before the Civil War period. This can be done in a way that does not exclude the traditional Civil War battlefield visitors, but instead broadens the potential visitors to the park to include those who appreciate the natural and ecological features of the park. It is important to note that the CRN field school was taught both by the professional staff at Fort Vancouver and by qualified partners of the park. FOVA offers both a Public History field school and an Archeology field school on an annual basis. These programs use partner arrangements with surrounding universities and NPS staff to provide a quality experience for students. Both of these programs are more hands-on and project-based than our CRM field school. The STRI field school will look to the FOVA models when planning its 2011 field school. Fort Vancouver began its Public History field school program in 2006, in conjunction with Portland State University. FOVA has continued the program nearly every year to the present. In past years, the field school has been offered as a graduate-level course taught by Greg Shine, Chief Ranger and Historian at FOVA. During the last Public History field school of 2008, the class met for six sessions on Saturday afternoons during the months of April through June. Field school participants worked directly with most employees at FOVA, including park rangers, curators, archaeologists, and other professionals in the field or in the NPS.

Fort Vancouver also offers an Archaeology field school to both undergraduate and graduate students, in conjunction with Portland State University, Washington State University-Vancouver, Northwest Cultural Resources Institute, and the Fort Vancouver National Trust. The program began in 2005 and, like the Public History field school, has continued nearly every year to the present. Because of its vast amount of archaeological resources, Fort Vancouver is a perfect location for an archaeological field school, serving as what FOVA refers to as, an unparalleled archaeological laboratory. 1 FOVA describes this field school as a two-part program composed of the methods and theories of fieldwork in historical archaeology and all aspects of field and lab work: layout out units, excavation by shovel and trowel, mapping, drawing, photography, and cleaning, identifying, and analyzing artifacts.2 The 2010 Archaeology field school will be held June 15 through July 31 with its focus being Exploring Diversity, Conflict, and Science. This years archaeological studies will be conducted at the site of the mid-nineteenth century Kanaka Village in Fort Vancouver National and the Modoc Indian War fortifications at Captain Jacks Stronghold in northern California. In 2007 and 2008, the work sites included the U.S. Army component of the fort, and in 2005 and 2006 the work focused on the Fort Vancouver garden. Upon completion of a two-week stay at Fort Vancouver, students in the May 2010 CRM field school began work on their final projects. The final project contained two parts: a PowerPoint presentation and a written paper. The goal of the CRM field school, as outlined in the History 6993 syllabus, was to [analyze] one or more aspects of cultural
1

http://www.nps.gov/fova/historyculture/2010-public-archaeology-field-school.htm http://www.nps.gov/fova/historyculture/public-archaeology-field-school.htm

resources management at Fort Vancouver, evaluate its potential for application at Stones River National Battlefield, and formulate specific recommendations for a CRM pilot project that fits within the purposes of the STRI/MTSU-Public History Program General Agreement. With these objectives in mind, this team recommends a Cultural Resource Management field school for 2011 at STRI. We believe that STRI and Murfreesboro are similar to FOVA and Vancouver, Washington because both parks are located within growing cities with access to a partnership with a large state university. Strong partnerships between MTSU and STRI have already been developed, and the foundation for a field school has been laid by previous class projects led by history professor, Dr. Rebecca Conard, and biology professor Dr. Kim Sadler. The FOVA field schools will serve as the primary models for a practical hands-on curriculum. We are proposing the following objectives for a 2011 field school, led jointly by STRI and MTSU: 1.) To expand partnerships between STRI and various academic departments at MTSU and/or other educational institutions. The following is a list of potential partners for STRI: NPS Southeast Region, NPS Pacific West Region, MTSU History Department (Public History), MTSU Biology Department, MTSU Anthropology Department, MTSU Geology Department, Tennessee State Historical Preservation Office, City of Murfreesboro, Rutherford County Heritage Center, Rutherford County Archives, Oaklands Historic House Museum, Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, Center for Cedar Glade Studies at MTSU, Couchville Cedar Glade Scientific State Natural Area, Tennessee colleges and universities, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, and Tennessee State Parks.

2.) To facilitate cooperation between STRI and partners, especially MTSU, as the park strives to meet the needs outlined in the parks most recent Cultural Landscape Report and General Management Plan. Due to the strong similarity in objectives of both the National Park Service and educational institutions such as MTSU, the two institutions have a complementary partnership. Previous classes from MTSU have helped increase the available information and interpretation at STRI. A field school will draw from previous studies and contribute to the knowledge base. A field school shall be structured so as to meet the goals and objectives described in the management plans produced by STRI and the NPS. 3.) To provide a variety of directed cross-curriculum, hands-on learning opportunities for MTSU students. By connecting with the various departments at MTSU and structuring classes as project, rather than lecture oriented, the field school will provide meaningful and enriching activities. One example might be to engage in curatorial exercises with STRI artifacts within curatorial standards. Another example could be to develop a general management plan for the cedar glade by combining a biological study of the glade by Dr. Kim Sadler of MTSU along with the Center for Cedar Glades, with an historical examination of the glade as a part of the cultural landscape, using images from the Digital History Project, extant maps, aerial surveys and photographs, scale drawings and historical sources. 4.) To provide opportunity for visiting professionals to teach at the field school. The current model of partnership between STRI, the Public History Department, and the Pacific Northwest Regional Director of Cultural Resources should be used as the model for maintaining the high quality of instructors for the field school(s). It would be ideal, in the

near future, for professionals from STRI and FOVA to swap places for instance, Greg Shine could teach a summer course at the STRI/MTSU field school and, the next summer, one of MTSUs history professors could teach at the FOVA field school. 5.) To provide a working model for future field schools. Unforeseen partnerships will be explored and welcomed within the scope and objectives of the field school. Our hope is that other departments at MTSU will join the field school and become active participants. Ideally, perpetual relationships at STRI and MTSU will be formed so that the field school will continue after the current proponents retire or move on to other positions or locations. 6.) To provide various skill sets to students within a condensed format. Cultural resource management skills are not only essential for careers with the National Park Service, but for almost all CRM-related jobs. Scholarship will inform the field school development and implementation by identification of specific skill sets needed for students to become effective practicing professionals. These might include mapping with Geographic Information Systems, working to develop a Cultural Resource Management Plan following NPS guidelines for the cedar glad and Cemetery community, developing curriculum for teachers who bring their students to the park, or providing research toward the development of park literature and brochures. 7.) To raise the public profile of both STRI and MTSU, particularly the Anthropology, Biology, Geology, and History departments. While both STRI and MTSU are both reputable, well-known institutions, both locally and, to an extent, nationally, we suggest that each institution should strive to make itself better known, especially in the Rutherford County community. A successful field school plan and implementation will

yield tangible results for both STRI in the form of increased park attendance and public awareness of the parks mission. MTSU will join the ranks of the small number of universities in our country which offer a field school opportunity in Public History. Our proposal for a field school deals with expansion of interpretation of the Cedar Glades at STRI. The Cedar Glade pre-dates the establishment of STRI and is a natural resource of STRI. A field study of the glade as cultural resource within the cultural landscape of the park will broaden understanding, appreciation and preservation of the glade. Effective management of a cultural landscape is often achieved by use of a variety of professional disciplines that might include landscape archeology, pollen analysis, forestry, horticulture, engineering, wildlife ecology, and landscape maintenance and management.3 These disciplines could enhance current biological studies being conducted in the glade and ultimately may serve to restore and improve the glade. Additionally, such studies will serve as a record of the extant glade features that will inform future studies. The Trail of Tears event and the establishment of Cemetery community have been identified as cultural resources of STRI. Studies of the STRI site as a continuum of many stories in time is recommended to be the subject of future field school studies. The MTSU public history program will continue to conduct studies of Cemetery community. It is recommended that STRI make an active search for partnerships that will result in effective interpretation of these ethnographic components of the sites story.

http://www.nps.gov/hps/tps/briefs/brief36.htm