ACHP, USDA Forest Service Partner in Cultural Resources Management Internship for HBCU Students

WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), USDA Forest Service, Wayne National Forest in Ohio, and Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia joined together for the third year for the Cultural Heritage in the Forest (CHIF) HBCU Internship Program. The internship for nine students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) from around the country featured hands-on training in cultural resources management, historic preservation, and conservation.

The CHIF program aims to encourage and prepare HBCU students to enter the field of historic preservation, which does not necessarily reflect the diversity of the nation, and to expose them to the work of the ACHP and the Forest Service's Heritage Program. The program is consistent with the ACHP's mission to encourage the next generation of preservationists and to build a more inclusive preservation program.

"Cultural Heritage in the Forest immerses students in a multi-disciplinary experience that provides connections to policymakers, practitioners, and public servants and exposes key issues and challenges of preservation practice," ACHP Chair Sara Bronin said. "After meeting this year's class of interns, I'm confident every one of them has the potential to become our field's future leaders, and I'm grateful they spent part of their summer with us."

The students participating in CHIF were the following: Shafantae Desinord, Howard University; Elijah Godette, Morgan State University; Jazmone Holmes, Tuskegee University; Morgan Joiner, Howard University; Zharia Lankford, Stillman College; Diondra McClendon, Norfolk State University; Dena Miles, Prairie View A&M University; Azariah Walker, Southern University A&M College; and, Christal Wilson, Howard University.

CHIF began on June 3 with a week of virtual orientation programming. The students and their two faculty advisors spent one week (June 10-15) in Wayne National Forest, where they met with Forest leadership, heritage program staff, and the Miami Indian Tribe Tribal Historic Preservation Officer. They visited various historic sites in the Forest, including Lake Vesuvius Recreation Area, Civilian Conservation Corps-era Black history sites, Vesuvius Cemetery, Poke Patch, Payne Cemetery, and Payne's Crossing Farmstead. Activities included archaeological testing, stewardship projects, and archaeological surveys.

The students traveled to the Monongahela National Forest and spent the second week (June 17-21) meeting with Forest leadership, preservation partners, Seneca Nation representatives, and curators from Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex. They visited Pleasant Green church, school, and cemetery; Seneca Rocks Discovery Center; Sites Homestead; and Spruce Knob. Activities included an artifact workshop with staff from Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex, and conditions assessments and mapping at historic properties for adaptive reuse.

On the final leg of their trip (June 24-27), the students spent time in Washington, D.C. meeting with Forest Service and ACHP leadership, attending career workshops, doing stewardship work at Mt. Zion Cemetery in Georgetown, and learning more about why historic places are preserved.

The two faculty advisors were DeWayne Moore, Prairie View A&M University, Texas; and Latif Tarik, Elizabeth City State University, North Carolina.

Over the course of the four-week program, both fieldwork and coursework exposed students to the different facets of historic preservation and the critical work of the Forest Service's Heritage Program. The students also networked with historic preservation professionals. The Forest Service manages 193 million acres of forest land across the nation. Students will be able to pursue career tracks through the USDA Forest Service Pathways Programand other opportunities.

Learn more about the partners in the CHIF program: