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DHR Register Program Updates
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*Nominations approved at the June DHR quarterly meeting *DHR's One Virginia Plan
*Register-Listed Sites in the News *News Around Virginia *Grant & Training Opportunities
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We hope you are having a safe and enjoyable summer. Here is a wrap up of recent news from around Virginia including the new nominations approved during DHR's June quarterly board meeting.
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--Lena McDonald, Historian, DHR Register Program.
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*Consultants, CLG staff, university faculty, students, and anyone interested in Virginia's landmark register programs and history. (Please share this newsletter with others!)
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Nominations Approved, June 2021 Joint Board Meeting
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The Virginia Board of Historic Resources and State Review Board convened in an online joint meeting on June 17, 2021. The following nominations were approved at the meeting.
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- Colonial Beach Commercial Historic District, Town of Colonial Beach, Westmoreland County, DHR No. 199-5037, Criteria A and C
- Dromgoole House, Brunswick County, DHR No. 012-0004, Criteria A, B, and C
- Browntown Historic District, Warren County, DHR No. 093-5032, Criteria A and C
- Hough, Bernard, House, Loudoun County, DHR No. 053-676, Criteria
- Bedford Training School, Town of Bedford, Bedford County, DHR No. 141-5019, Criteria A and C
- Claremont Elementary School, Town of Pulaski, Pulaski County, DHR No. 125-5013, Criterion A
- Susie G. Gibson High School, Town of Bedford, Bedford County, DHR No. 141-5017, Criteria A and C
- The Grove, Campbell County, DHR No. 015-0020, Criterion C
- Taylor-Kinnear Farm, Rockbridge County, DHR No. 081-0324, Criterion C
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PIFs Approved at the June 2021 State Review Board Meeting
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The Virginia State Review Board convened in an online meeting on June 17, 2021 and greenlighted the following PIFs to proceed toward a formal nomination:
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- Brown Grove Residential Community Historic District, Hanover County, DHR No.042-5802, Criteria A and D
- Bush Hill, Charles City County, DHR No. 018-0049, Criteria A and C
- Chatham, Northampton County, DHR No. 065-0005, Criteria A and C
- Clovelly, City of Richmond, DHR No. 127-7767, Criterion C
- Julius Rosenwald High School, Northumberland County, DHR No. 066-0075, Criteria A and C
- Key Road Rosenwald School, City of Portsmouth, DHR No. 124-5268, Criteria A and C
- La Fourche Tavern, Albemarle County, DHR No. 002-0300, Criterion C
- Wachapreague Historic District, Town of Wachapreague, Accomack County, DHR No. 319-5002, Criteria A and C
- Wingfield, Hanover County, DHR No. 042-0005, Criterion C
- Hottel-Gilkerson House, Augusta County, DHR No. 007-0830, Criterion C
- River Bank, Rockingham County, DHR No. 082-0062, Criteria A and C
- James Baptist Church and Cemetery, Fauquier County, DHR No. 030-5898, Criterion A and Criteria Consideration A
- Skyline Center Historic District, Fairfax County, DHR No. 029-6845, Criterion A and C and Criteria Consideration G
- Warrenton Railroad Rural Historic District, Fauquier County, DHR No. 030-5916, Criteria A and C
- Green Pastures/ Longdale Recreation Area, Alleghany County, DHR No. 003-5109, Criteria A and C
- Masonic Lodge #120, City of Salem, DHR No. 129-5164, Criteria A and C
- Quarles-Walker Farm, Bedford County, DHR No. 009-5466
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One Virginia: Planning for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
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Governor Northam’s Executive Order One requires that Virginia’s executive branch agencies take affirmative measures to enable and encourage the recruitment of a diverse staff. In addition, as part of the Special 2021 Session of the Virginia General Assembly, Chapter 168 of the Virginia Acts of Assembly mandates that agencies create a complete diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) plan in coordination with the Governor’s Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. “One Virginia: Many Virginians, One Commonwealth,” published by the Office of
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DE&I, provides the overarching goals for which agencies are tasked with achieving. DHR’s plan, therefore, has been developed in accordance with these guiding documents and sets forth the objectives and strategies by which we plan to achieve those important goals. Because this is a four-year strategic plan, there are four main objectives for each goal. The plan also contains strategies, metrics, and anticipated results for each of the established objectives. It is our intention that this plan for DE&I fosters equitable opportunities, promotes inclusiveness both internally and externally, and works to establish a culture of Inclusive Excellence. DHR’s plan has been published online.
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DHR Debuts a New Newsletter
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DHR staff are collaborating to produce another regular newsletter, this one focused on Virginia’s historic cemeteries of all kinds. Interested persons can subscribe to the newsletter here. Scroll down the page to the Grave Matters: Cemeteries in Virginia heading to enter your contact information. You may unsubscribe and re-subscribe to the newsletter anytime. Links to past copies of all of DHR’s newsletters are available at the bottom of this page.
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Register Program & NPS Related Updates
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National Park Service Announces Withdrawal of NRHP Rule Changes
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In response to more than 3,200 comments received from the public and preservation partners, the National Park Service (NPS) announced on June 7 that it is withdrawing its March 2019 proposal to revise regulations governing the listing of properties in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The overwhelming majority of comments opposed the changes. DHR also voiced its opposition for several reasons, including elimination of opportunities for tribes to nominate historically significant places on federal lands, creation of a new property owner category (based on ownership of the most land area) that would have permitted a single owner to stop a historic district nomination, and placement of ability to nominate any federally- owned property in the hands of federal preservation officers instead of allowing anyone to nominate such public property. Nomination processes and procedures will continue as they have been implemented since the regulations were adopted in 1981.
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Permanent Authorization of the Historic Preservation Fund May Be Coming Soon
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The House of Representatives recently passed a transportation and water infrastructure bill called the INVEST in America Act (H.R. 3684). The five-year, $715 billion bill includes an amendment submitted by Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) that permanently authorizes the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) at $300 million. The HPF’s current authorization expires in 2023. Created in 1976 to support the initiatives mandated by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the HPF is modeled after the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Both receive funding through offshore oil and gas lease revenue from the outer-continental shelf (OCS), not taxpayer dollars. (The LWCF was permanently authorized last year in the Great American Outdoors Act.) In 1980, Congress authorized $150 million to be allocated for the HPF. Despite this, Congress has never directed the full amount of authorized funding to the HPF. For fiscal year 2020, Congress allocated $52.675 million from the HPF for State Historic Preservation Offices and $13.735 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices. Adjusting for inflation, even the full amount of the HPF is far from what it was in 1980; the buying power of $150 million in 1980 is equivalent to over $509 million in 2021. Should Rep. Leger Fernandez’s amendment be included in the final House/Senate legislation, the $300 million authorized will be just under 60 percent of the buying power authorized in 1980. Additional information is available here.
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National Park Service’s New Publication – Civil Rights in America: Racial Discrimination in Housing
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The National Park Service recently issued a new study related to the Civil Rights Movement. The theme study focuses on racially discriminatory policies concerning housing during the early to mid-20th century, with a historic context that begins in 1866 with the origins of residential segregation in the form of “Black Codes.” The study is nationwide in scope as discrimination in housing has been practiced against numerous racial, ethnic, and religious minorities. In Virginia, racial separation was the norm prior to the Civil War, and racial segregation became enshrined in state and local laws and more rigidly enforced starting with Reconstruction and continuing through the Jim Crow era. Discriminatory policies encompassed neighborhoods that predated the early 20th century as well as shaping vast swaths of the mid-20th century built environment. Anyone researching a residential historic district or individual dwelling is strongly encouraged to include this study in their literature review.
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Register-Listed Properties in the News
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Aerial view of Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery
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Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial
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Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial in Alexandria Becomes the First Site in Virginia Recognized by African American Civil Rights Network
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On June 28, Alexandria’s Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery memorial became one of the oldest sites, and the first in Virginia, the National Park Service listed in the African American Civil Rights Network. The African American Civil Rights Network Act of 2017 authorizes the NPS to coordinate and facilitate Federal and non-Federal activities to commemorate, honor and interpret “…the history of the African American Civil Rights movement; the significance of the civil rights movement as a crucial element in the evolution of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and the relevance of the African American Civil Rights movement in fostering the spirit of social justice and national reconciliation.” One of the country’s earliest known civil rights protests occurred at the cemetery when United States Colored Troops demanded that 118 fellow soldiers who had been killed in combat be interred with white U.S. soldiers at the newly created Alexandria National Cemetery instead of at the Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery, which was for civilians. Additional information about the cemetery’s inclusion in the Network is available here.
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Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park
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Remains of Three Civil War Soldiers Planned for Reinternment
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The unidentified remains of three Civil War soldiers discovered in 2015 at the site of the Riverfront Park in Fredericksburg are planned to be reinterred at the Fredericksburg National Cemetery, which is part of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park. A major update to the park’s National Register nomination provides extensive descriptive information about the park’s historic resources as well as a definitive discussion of the significant military events that occurred here during the Civil War. Upon identification of an appropriate reinternment site, information about a public ceremony will be announced. Information about park activities and events is available here.
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Edmonson Sisters Memorial
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Alexandria Walking Tours About Black History Featured
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On July 6, Alexandria Living Magazine published a feature article about places in Alexandria associated with the city’s black history, including places thought to be associated with the Underground Railroad, the roles of local abolitionist Quakers in aiding enslaved person, and how the city’s antebellum slave trade affected enslaved and free persons of color. Manumission Tour Company, operated by fourth-generation Alexandrian John T. Chapman, offers a variety of themed guided tours every weekend from February through December. Many of the tours include places within Old Town Alexandria, for which the City of Alexandria currently is conducting an architectural survey. This historic district was one of the earliest to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register in all of Virginia and to be designated a National Historic Landmark.
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Grants Awarded to Three Virginia Properties
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On July 15, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, through its African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, announced more than $3 million in grants to 40 sites and organizations dedicated to preserving landscapes and buildings imbued with Black life, humanity, and culture. This year’s awards represent the largest single disbursement in the Action Fund’s four-year history.
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In that time, the National Trust has funded 105 historic places and invested more than $7.3 million to help protect sites where Black history happened. Action Fund grants are given across four categories: capacity building, project planning, capital, and programming and interpretation.
In Virginia, recipients were the Fort Monroe Foundation, Hampton University, and the Montpelier Descendants Committee. At Fort Monroe, the grant will fund development of a comprehensive and well-designed interpretive plan to ensure a deeper understanding of the historical 1619 landing of the first Africans, who were enslaved by the Spanish and then taken by English privateers to the British Colonies at Point Comfort. Hampton University's award will go toward installation of a new HVAC system that will help to preserve artist Charles White's 1943 mural “The Contribution of the Negro to Democracy in America” on the second floor of Clarke Hall at Hampton's historic campus. Located at James Madison's Montpelier, the Montpelier Descendants Committee will create a master project plan for their Arc of Enslaved Communities project, a descendant-led framework for the research, interpretation, physical discovery, and promotion of sites and projects centered on the contributions of the enslaved in Virginia during the Founding era.
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James Madison's Montpelier
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Archaeology at James Madison’s Montpelier
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Archaeology programs are an important part of the educational and research programs at James Madison’s Montpelier, the estate of the fourth president of the United States and home to the Madison family as well as dozens of enslaved African Americans.
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Recently, a ceramic fragment from a teacup provided the basis for better understanding the economic activities of enslaved people at the plantation. Although held in bondage to perform unpaid work for the Madisons, enslaved people often also engaged in whatever paid work they could find, such as raising livestock and vegetables for sale and performing skilled work such as sewing. Workers used such income to purchase goods, supplement rations, and even in rare instances to purchase freedom for themselves or a family member. Immersive public archaeology programs are held regularly at Montpelier where participants work side-by-side for an entire week with archaeologists and museum professionals.
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News From Around Virginia
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Memorializing Wise County Lynching Sites
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Members of the Wise County Community Remembrance Project are working with the Alabama-based Equal Justice Initiative to commemorate the three documented early 20th century lynchings of Leonard Woods, Dave Hurst and Wiley Gwynn. Each man was killed by a white mob in violation of their constitutional rights to due process of law. Such extra-judicial murders occurred frequently throughout the American south from the late 19th through mid-20th century. The Wise County commemorative project began more than two years ago with research to identify the location of each lynching as well as all that could be found about the men who were lynched and the actions of the mobs. On July 7, soil from each site was collected for inclusion in the National Lynching Memorial in Birmingham, Alabama, as well as for the University of Virginia’s College at Wise and the Appalachian African American Cultural Center in Jonesville. Additional information about these events is available here. A state historical marker approved for one site is discussed here.
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University of Virginia Library Receives Major Donation on History of Mormonism
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More than 10,000 books and other print materials from the collection of scientist and Latter-day Saint historian Gregory A. Prince are being installed in the UVA Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library collections.
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While the collection covers Mormonism’s entire history, its unique strength is in 20th-century history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The donation, a major collaboration between the UVA Library and the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, makes UVA the leading site for the study of Mormonism outside of Utah. Additional information is available here.
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Preserving USCT Battlefields in Central Virginia
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Civil War battlefields ring the landscape around Richmond. While some were preserved in the early 20th century, many were not. Just east of the city, United States Colored Troops (USCTs) made significant impacts in 1864 at battles in Henrico and Charles City counties. “No battle during the U.S. Civil War saw such a stunning display of heroics and gallantry from black soldiers as that fought the morning of September 29, 1864,” said authors Melvin Claxton and Mark Puls. To help raise awareness of the need to preserve and interpret these places, in 2021, Preservation Virginia included “Civil War Battlefields in which United States Colored Troops Fought” on its 11 most endangered list of places in Virginia. Preservation Virginia also issued a short video about the New Market Heights and St. Mary’s/ Samaria Church’s (or Nance’s Shop) battlefields. In 2020, the American Battlefield Trust donated an easement on 33 acres of the New Market Heights battlefield in Henrico County, marking a major step in preserving the battlefield.
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News From Elsewhere
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National Trust’s Preservation Leadership Forum Survey in Progress
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The National Trust is facilitating development of the National Impact Agenda to help guide the direction of the preservation movement and is meant to encourage collaborative, coordinated action. Among the project’s first steps is an online survey that the Trust will use to help prioritize its goals and objectives. Results of this information-gathering project will be shared at the National Trust’s 2021 Past/Forward Conference (see below for more info about the conference). Anyone with an interest in historic preservation is welcomed and encouraged to complete the survey.
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Become a Citizen Archivist for the National Archives
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The National Archives is seeking citizen archivists to participate in online projects to enhance the archives collection and make materials more accessible to the general public. Citizen archivists provide valuable assistance to this effort by tagging, transcribing and adding comments to historic records, which makes them more accessible and searchable for researchers of all kinds. National Archives staff select groups of related historic records and present them as “missions” for volunteers to work on. Volunteers may select a record group that is of particular interest to them, such as military history, medical and health care history, Black history, naturalization records, lighthouses… and the list goes on. Volunteers are free to spend as much time as they like contributing to this important effort to preserve our nation’s history.
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Celebrating the Semiquincentennial of the United States
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Through support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the input of dozens of museum professionals and historians across the country, this new resource contains guiding themes and ideas for developing inclusive and transformative programs in the lead-up to the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026. The ideas and ideals espoused in the Declaration of Independence in 1776 have shaped the nation’s history and continue to offer inspiration for building a stronger future. History organizations of all types and sizes and history professionals everywhere can take part in this once-in-a-generation opportunity, and use Making History at 250 to inform interpretive planning, guide community conversations, support advocacy efforts, and more over the next five years.
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Training Opportunities
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Historic Richmond Foundation Offers Discussion of Housing for Enslaved People
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On Thursday, July 22, at 6:00 p.m., the Historic Richmond Foundation (HRF) will host an online discussion of the different types of housing that were built for and occupied by enslaved individuals and families prior to the Civil War. Panelists for this event include Elvatrice Belsches, public historian, archival researcher, and author; Jobie Hill, historic architect and founder of Saving Slave Houses; and Douglas Sanford, archaeologist and co-founder of the Virginia Slave Housing Project. The event is free but advance registration is required as part of the Zoom meeting.
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#Dismantle Preservation Online UnConference
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The #Dismantle Preservation UnConference returns for a second year on July 26-30. Organized and managed by young professionals in the preservation field, the unconference works to continue pushing cultural resource conversations in a range of directions beyond those traditionally associated with preservation. Current students and recent graduates from around the world participate. This year’s event will include 5 panel discussions, 20+ lightning talks, a documentary screening, and 10+ poster presentations. Topics range from affordable housing to cats advocating for Brutalism to creating an inclusive museum, and beyond. In lieu of registration fees, participants may contribute to a selection of charities and fundraisers. This event provides a window into the creativity and innovation that are making preservation more relevant than ever to our rapidly changing society.
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Registration is Now Open for the 2021 AASLH Annual Meeting
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The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) has partnered with the Arkansas Museums Association for this year’s Annual Meeting in Little Rock on September 22-25. The in-person conference theme is Doing History/Doing Justice. As the organization’s first onsite conference in two years, this annual meeting will begin an experiment to craft a more personal, retreat-like conference. The preliminary program is available at the Annual Meeting page, along with information about lodging, transportation, keynote speakers, and registration. Diversity Scholarship Opportunity: The Evelyn Scholarship is named in honor of Douglas Evelyn, AASLH president from 1992-1994, and recognizes Evelyn’s strong support of AASLH’s professional development mission. A primary objective of the Douglas Evelyn Scholarship is to increase culturally diverse participation at the AASLH Annual Meeting and in all the association’s programs. Each scholarship includes annual meeting registration fee, a one-year individual membership in AASLH, and $700 toward travel and hotel expenses. The deadline to apply is August 1, 2021
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An Online Conference using the “Doing History, Doing Justice” theme will take place on October 12-15. The online meeting will focus on sessions that allow speakers to share their stories, strategies, and expertise while interacting with participants through the chat function and some breakout rooms. The flexibility of the online format also allows the conference to be more reflective of crucial topics that emerge for the field in the months and weeks immediately before the virtual meeting. The preliminary program for the online meeting is available here.
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Goucher College’s Historic Preservation Program Offers Online Forum
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Registration is now open for Goucher College’s Online Forum, “Preserving Place in a Rapidly Changing World.” The event has a tiered registration fee starting at $20 and takes place on Saturday, July 31, 2021 at 11:00 AM until 6:00 PM. The online forum is part of the 25th anniversary of the college’s master’s degree in historic preservation. Forum speakers will be examining new preservation practices based on non-tangible aspects such as emotional place attachment; losing and finding heritage; supporting place-based identities; expanding the community that knows and keeps places; and incorporating and testing additional effective practices in response to rethinking and criticisms of what has been accomplished by the preservation movement to date.
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National Trust’s Annual PastForward Conference
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The National Trust for Historic Preservation hosts its annual PastForward Conference on November 2-5. In-person and online sessions will be part of the conference. The early-bird registration deadline is October 4 and provides a discount on the regular registration fee. A Diversity Scholarship Program introduces new preservation leaders to the historic preservation community at the annual PastForward conference. The program honors diversity by providing scholarship opportunities to historically underrepresented groups in the historic preservation profession and in its leadership positions, including ethnicity, race, gender and gender identification, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic background. Those who identify with one or more of these groups are eligible for the Diversity Scholarship. The online application form is available at this portal. The deadline to apply is August 12. All diversity scholars and the first 50 mentors will receive complimentary registration for PastForward Online, November 3-5, 2021. Selected scholars and mentors will receive information about their acceptance, mentor/ scholar-cohort pairings, and how to register for the conference by no later than Friday, September 3, 2021.
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