In this Issue

	First Lady Designates Communities and Stewards
	Of the Student, By the Student, For the Student Wins
	Panel Discusses Service Learning
	Network at the Preserve America Forum
	Community Spotlight: Santa Paula, California
	Historic Cemetery Tours Make History Come Alive
	NOAA Preserve America Grant Aids Beach Survey
	Heritage Travel, Inc. Announces Gozaic.com

Links

Preserve America News |August  2009

First Lady Designates Communities and Stewards

Mrs. Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States, has designated the first 26 Preserve America Communities and first two Preserve America Steward programs recognized under the Obama Administration. The 26 community designations bring the total number of designations since the program's inception in 2003 to 762. The two stewardship designations bring the national total of recognized efforts under Preserve America to 13. Read more.

The Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, Calif., is among the recently designated Preserve America Communities.

Of the Student, By the Student, For the Student Wins

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation presented its Award for Federal Preserve America Accomplishment to the National Park Service for its integral role in the service learning project Of the Student, By the Student, For the Student at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership and Harpers Ferry Middle School also received awards for their strong partnership efforts. Read more.

From left, Will Shafroth and Robert Stanton (DOI), Catherine Bragaw and Dennis Frye (Harpers Ferry National Historical Park), and ACHP Chairman John L. Nau, III

Panel Discusses Service Learning

The Preserve America Service Learning Project has started its course with an engaging project at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park developed by students from Harpers Ferry Middle School (WVa). The concept is reaching broader audiences now, and during the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's Aug. 19 business meeting, council members discussed how to improve federal youth involvement and education strategies and what federal agencies can do to start partnering with local educational outlets.

Service learning panelists are (from left) Cate Magennis Wyatt, president of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership; Dennis Frye, chief historian, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park; Scott Richardson, K-12 program coordinator for Learn and Serve America (Corporation for National and Community Service), and Robert Stanton, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget, Department of the Interior.

Network at the Preserve America Forum

Representatives of Preserve America Communities, Neighborhoods, Stewards, Grant Recipients and Award winners are invited to attend a Preserve America Forum in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 14 from 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm. Come share successes and best practices and discuss future directions of the program with Preserve America participants from across the country. ACHP staff will be on hand to answer questions and update participants about new developments in the Preserve America program.

This affinity session is offered in conjunction with the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s National Preservation Conference (www.nthpconference.org). Although you are encouraged to register for the entire conference, general registration is NOT required to attend this session, which is free to attendees.

If you wish to participate in the Preserve America Forum, please RSVP no later than close of business on Sept. 1. Contact Judy Rodenstein by e-mail or 202-606-8584. Please provide your name; title; Preserve America Community, Steward or Awardee affiliation; e-mail address and phone number. We look forward to seeing you in Nashville!

Community Spotlight: Santa Paula, California

Included in the recently designated batch of Preserve America Communities is the city of Santa Paula, Calif. The region included a significant presence of Native Americans prior to the arrival of the Spanish in 1769, both influencing the history and development of the community. Oil production and agriculture contributed to the growth of Santa Paula in the 19th century, allowing for the construction of many of the historic and cultural attractions that remain today. Santa Paula features several sites on the National Register of Historic Places, including California’s first oil well from 1867. Read more about the city's mark on citrus farming and its famous murals.

Visitors view one of the city's famous murals. 

Historic Cemetery Tours Make History Come Alive

Cemeteries provide an excellent opportunity to share the history of your community with current residents and visitors. Several Preserve America Communities are drawing on the life stories of noteworthy individuals buried in their local cemeteries to educate the public about their area’s history. Cemetery tours can take place in the daytime or at night, any time of the year, and are often offered in the fall in conjunction with the celebration of Halloween. Researching, preparing, and offering these tours gets local citizens involved in learning about and sharing the story of the community. Another benefit is that volunteers become engaged in the preservation and ongoing care of these historic burial grounds. Read more about student historians in Mississippi, ghosts in North Carolina, and special cemetery events in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

If you have a good idea about how to interest visitors in your historic cemetery and the lives of those interred there, please e-mail Judy Rodenstein at the ACHP.

"Tales from the Crypt" Columbus, Miss. 

NOAA Preserve America Grant Aids Beach Survey

With funding from a NOAA Preserve America Initiative Grant of $10,350, University of Hawai`i students, local schoolchildren and NOAA maritime staffers completed the 2009 Return to Shipwreck Beach maritime heritage survey on the north shore of the island of Lana`i, Hawai`i. The project documented the wreck site of an inter island steamship lost on Lana`i's famous Shipwreck Beach. Read more.

Shipwreck Beach

Heritage Travel, Inc. Announces Gozaic.com

Gozaic (gō-‘zā-ik). Noun. 1) The name of a Web site, www.Gozaic.com. 2) The mosaic of human civilization, heritage and culture. 3) The mosaic of images to illustrate the dimensions of a featured heritage or cultural destination.

The wait is over! Gozaic.com, the Web site of Heritage Travel, Inc., a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is now available for people seeking heritage- and culture-rich travel experiences. At www.Gozaic.com, people can research destinations, create trip itineraries, review sites and destinations, share photos and connect through topics of interest. Read more about traveling and the Preserve America Communities already part of this Web resource.