ACHP and Forest Service Offer Educational Program to HBCU Students Nationwide
CASE STUDY
Over that summer, students spent two weeks at the Wayne National Forest in Ohio and Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia, learning the USFS’s stewardship responsibilities from Heritage Program staff. During their week at Wayne National Forest, participants conducted stewardship projects at sites associated with the Underground Railroad, including headstone cleaning at Paynes Crossing Cemetery and archaeological investigation of Poke Patch. Both Paynes Crossing and Poke Patch were African American settlements that existed primarily from the 1820s to the 1880s and most likely served as “stations” on the Underground Railroad. While there, students also assisted in maintenance of Vesuvius Iron Furnace in the Forest’s recreation area built by the
Black Civilian Conservation Corps as part of the New Deal.
At the Monongahela National Forest, participants worked with the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex cleaning artifacts during a collections workshop. They conducted conditions assessments and mapping at historic properties for adaptive reuse near Sites Homestead, a log structure built in the 1830s. Students also learned about local African American history, including West Virginia’s first African American lawyer J.R. Clifford, and saw firsthand how the USFS meets its trust responsibilities with Tribes. The students then traveled to Washington, D.C., where the ACHP provided perspective about the national historic preservation program. The ACHP gave students opportunities to connect with agency leadership, who shared their career trajectories and asked for input from students on their thoughts and suggestions toward diversifying historic preservation and related fields and telling the full story of American history. The students also participated in a resume workshop and learned how to navigate the federal job application process. Students who participated in CHIF in 2023 studied history, architecture, and other related subjects from six different universities: Howard University, Hampton University, Lincoln University, Claflin University, Elizabeth City State University, and University of Central Missouri. For many students, it was their first time connecting with the USFS and the ACHP, as well as sites of significance to African American heritage on public lands. Following completion of their time in the program, students have expressed an interest in applying to positions at both the USFS and the ACHP and furthering their interest in historic preservation. The partnership between the USFS and the ACHP continues, and plans are underway to implement the program for a third year in the summer of 2024. The Forest Service recently announced it is honoring the ACHP with the 2023 Chief’s Award for Outstanding Efforts Toward Developing Tribal and Equity- Centered Partnerships.
CHIF students participate in [top] the restoration project at the Vesuvius Iron Furnace in Wayne National Forest, OH, and [right] the Rorhbaugh Cabin restoration project in Monongahela National Forest, WV. (ACHP)
In 2021, the ACHP, in partnership with the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), entered an interagency agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) Heritage Program to design and implement the Cultural Heritage in the Forest (CHIF) program. The CHIF program is an experiential education program designed to bring HBCU students into historic preservation and the federal workforce, consistent with the goals outlined in EO 14041,“White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity Through Historically Black Colleges and Universities.”
The CHIF program brings HBCU undergraduate students majoring in history, preservation, or related fields to national forests and Washington, D.C. for a four- week program in which students learn about historic preservation and the federal government’s commitment to historic places and careers in cultural resources management. Through hands-on learning, participants get a chance to experience what a career in preservation, archaeology, anthropology, or curation is like from the USFS’s perspective. Along the way, students have the chance to network with professionals including federal agency leadership and experts in many fields. In 2023, USFS and the ACHP hosted students from HBCUs throughout the country with a variety of career interests.
CHIF students at the entrance to the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia (Kelly Miller/USFS)
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IN A SPIRIT OF STEWARDSHIP: A Report on Federal Historic Properties • 2024 | 89
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