My Summer: Elizabeth Elliott

My summer started out at the Poplar Forest Field School in Lynchburg Virgina.  For those of you that do not know Poplar Forest was the personal retreat of Thomas Jefferson, who also designed the structure.  It is a fascinating place to visit and even more interesting to study with Travis McDonald the Director of Architectural Restoration who teaches the field school!  The field school is the perfect mix of lecture, field work, and site visits and in two short weeks participants take away an enormous amount of knowledge.  I was exposed to and able to practice architectural investigation and documentation of a building, restoration carpentry, paint analysis, and mortar analysis.  As a group we visited Monticello, University of Virgina, Montpelier, and several other wonderful places.  At each sight we met with the directors of each site and were given a "behind the scenes" tours focused on the preservation/ restoration/ reconstruction of these sites.  It was  a truly once in a life time opportunity and I will not quickly forget the information I learned. 

www.poplarforest.org/programs/restoration-field-school 

The rest of the summer I will be working with Archway on a preservation plan for the old Mount Airy School in Habersham County.  Archway is "a University of Georgia outreach platform...to deliver a full range of higher education resources to address economic and community development."  (www.archwaypartnership.uga.edu/)  The school was build in 1921 and was in use as a school till 1955.... that is all I have so far, I have a lot of work to do!  I will try to send updates about the plans progress!

I will also be working with FindIt!  It is a state wide historic resources survey that documents historic resources throughout the state to aid in their preservation.  More on the this when details are ironed out!

findit.uga.edu

-Elizabeth

My Summer: Kit Candler

This summer I am doing lots of little things :) For 2 weeks in June I have been on Cumberland Island staying at my family's house on the north end of the island. I plan to write my thesis on this area, High Point, and its preservation, where it's headed, etc. As a life estate the property is leased from the park service. At one point, my family owned the land and houses there, but now the park service owns the land and leases it back to us. The lease runs out when those who were alive for the sale of the land to the park service have passed away. I'm planning to explore life estates as part of my thesis as well, examining how the park service handles the property, land and structures, once control and management reverts back to them. This means taking lots and lots of pictures on the island, documenting what is currently located within the property. My dog, Gracie, keeps me company while I'm down here!! I will return in July after my field school, which I'll get to in a minute, for another two weeks. 

I'm also volunteering with the Park Service this summer at Plum Orchard, a beautiful Georgian Revival Mansion that's located on the island toward the south end. Plum Orchard was built in 1898 by Lucy Carnegie as a wedding gift to her son George and his new wife Margaret - talk about a great wedding present!! The Carnegies built many homes on the island, and their descendants still retain property rights in deals similar to the one like my family has at High Point. Right now I'm learning all the information about the house and I may start giving tours there this week, but will definitely do so when I come back in July.

My Summer also includes some travel! I'm headed to Italy on June 26 to take part in Willowbank's Canova Field School in Domodosolla, Italy near the Swiss border. I'm so excited about this opportunity to learn about preservation in other countries, as well as get some hands on experience learning about masonry and medieval construction. I'll be sure to send another update once I'm there with more details about what I'm doing!

-Kit

My Summer: Adam Martin

My summer plans consist of work, travel, and maybe thesis. I am continuing to work for the Construction Division of the Georgia State Financing & Investment Commission. I am still reviewing certified payroll reports for several projects (paperwork and red-tap), but I am also working on two construction projects around Athens. One is a dam project (pun intended) near Colbert, and another here in Athens at the UGA Veterinary Medical Center project at the end of College Station Rd. I am assisting the Contract Compliance Specialist who reviews the work of the contractor to ensure it is constructed per the plans and specifications. So thankfully I am getting out of the office and interacting with real construction. 

Since I am not working in preservation I am settling for travel to see many of the places we have learned about in the last year. I have been to the Georgia Coast and to New Orleans, Dallas/Fort Worth area, and Vicksburg. I got to see some cool architecture and eat really good food. Next, I hope to get to Williamsburg, Charlottesville, Monticello, Shenandoah, and parts of Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. 

Other than that I am anticipating fresh vegetables from the garden in a few weeks. 

-Adam

My Summer: Jonathan Cassiday

I have been picking strawberries, tending blueberries, repairing the irrigation system,incurring major expenses on my car (can not drive in GA without an AC you know) housesitting for friends and family, working on our family's shop and buying things to resell, and repairing small electrics for friends and myself. I have been spending a lot of time repairing desk and table fans, but I did also get an opportunity to repair a slave clock for a friend as well as rewire some lamps for her. 

You may or may not know what a slave clock is, so a simple explanation is that it is simply a indicator of time and has no clock movement itself, it receives a impulse from a master clock. This system was widely used in schools and government buildings so that all the clocks were in harmony with each other. These systems are not used as much anymore, and this particular clock may have been used in a classroom or train station at the turn of the century. While working on this clock I found that the proprietor of the local clock shop had just received a master clock that would have worked with the slave clock from a  school in Virginia, also appearing to have been form the turn of the century. I am hoping to see how her repair of that timepiece progresses. 

I have started some research on thesis, but nothing major yet. I talked to some folks at the Walton county historic society and they are indeed interested in my services, so I may be re-writing/organizing a brochure of their historic homes and some other things, I will meet with them sometime next week. So things are looking up right now.

-Jonathan

My Summer: Alana Saul

Hello all and happy summer!

I've been spending my days working full time at my home away from home UberPrints.com. This is my third year working for the company and I live to make your custom t-shirt dreams come true :) When I'm not at work I try to enjoy as much free time as possible. I've already taken a few little trips and have a few more planned before it's time to hit the books again. Can't wait to see you all again in August!

-Alana

My Summer: Leeann Dickerson

I am working with the Preservation Society of Charleston as an intern for their Seven to Save Program. Each year the Society highlights seven endangered sites or projects in order to help diversify preservation initiatives in the Charleston community. Through my internship I have been working primarily with Charleston Sweet Shops, which were included on the 2012 Seven to Save list. Sweet Shops are vernacular commercial buildings built throughout residential neighborhoods in the early twentieth century. Characterized primarily by their small size and neighborhood-centric businesses, Sweet Shops are an abundant, yet previously unrecognized resource in Charleston’s history. The Preservation Society’s intensive surveying and research initiative will begin to define the Sweet Shop’s value for future generations (for more information, visit http://www.preservationsociety.org). When I'm not scouring the city for sweet shops I'm busy trying to take in as many of Charleston's fun sites and sounds as I can!

-Leeann

My Summer: Annie Barnes

Hello all! 

This summer I am a Historic Preservation Intern for the City of Madison, Georgia. Currently, I am surveying mid-century modern homes within the city limits and potentially creating a National Register Historic District.  I am also taking a summer MEPD class that is focusing on the Athens 2030 Downtown Master Plan. More information about the DT Athens Master Plan can be seen online at http://downtownathensmasterplan.wordpress.com/.  I hope to create a “cookbook” plan for three historic homes that are in need of restoration on UGA property located on Waddell Street. In my spare time, I've been going on outdoor adventures with my dog Eva and horse showing with my horse Wall-E. 

-Annie

My Summer: Daniel Weldon

Hey Guys,

I’m Daniel Weldon and I’m currently working at Stratford Hall, on the Northern Neck of Virginia as the Cultural Landscape Lab Summer 2013 Intern. My responsibilities include conducting archival research and field documentation.  The goal of the internship is to determine what historic agricultural and forestry practices occurred on the site in an effort to inform future land management goals. I’ve had my fair share of encounters with ticks, logs, swamps, cliffs and beaches while doing research on the property.  But, it’s not without its perks, such as the mandatory research at local wineries or the close proximity to the nation’s capital and historic sites. 

-Daniel