Field School Paper by Mona and Brigitte

7/31/2019 Field School Paper by Mona and Brigitte

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Mona Brittingham

Brigitte Eubank

History 66933 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


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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


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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.


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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.


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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

1http://www.nps.gov/fova/historyculture/2010-public-archaeology-field-school.htm

2http://www.nps.gov/fova/historyculture/public-archaeology-field-school.htm
http://www.nps.gov/fova/historyculture/2010-public-archaeology-field-school.htmhttp://www.nps.gov/fova/historyculture/2010-public-archaeology-field-school.htmhttp://www.nps.gov/fova/historyculture/public-archaeology-field-school.htmhttp://www.nps.gov/fova/historyculture/public-archaeology-field-school.htmhttp://www.nps.gov/fova/historyculture/2010-public-archaeology-field-school.htmhttp://www.nps.gov/fova/historyculture/public-archaeology-field-school.htm


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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.


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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


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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


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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.

3http://www.nps.gov/hps/tps/briefs/brief36.htm
http://www.nps.gov/hps/tps/briefs/brief36.htmhttp://www.nps.gov/hps/tps/briefs/brief36.htm

Field School Paper by Mona and Brigitte

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