[Heritage] Oregon Heritage News 2007-09-13

[Heritage Info]

In this issue:
1.  Sutton to lead NPS history efforts
2.  Youth involvement workshop set for Coos Bay
3.  Heritage Tree dedication Saturday in Yachats
4.  Covered bridge festival slated for Stayton


SUTTON TO LEAD NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORY EFFORTS

Robert K. Sutton, who previously worked for the Oregon Historical
Society and the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, has been
selected as chief historian of the National Park Service. The Chief
Historian position is one of the most prestigious historian positions in
the federal government. The Chief Historian provides guidance and
direction to the national parks as well as nationwide to the American
people on the importance of verifying historical events and interpreting
the significance of America's historic places. The position provides
national leadership in setting and implementing NPS standards and
guidelines relating to the documentation of historically significant
properties. Dr. Sutton will begin his new position on Oct. 1.

Sutton has been superintendent of the Manassas National Battlefield
Park since 1995, which has an annual visitation of 800,000. While at
Manassas, he initiated a major symposium on the Civil War that attracted
renowned scholars and developed an interpretive institute for Civil War
park rangers on creating new ways to interpret the Civil War. He oversaw
the restoration of a 100-acre area of the park through a creative
partnership with the Smithsonian Institution, where the loss of wetlands
at the new Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport was mitigated through
the restoration of the Manassas land. 

Sutton earned his Ph.D. degree in history from Washington State
University. Sutton began his career as a park ranger with Fort Vancouver
National Historic Site. Since 1991, he has served as adjunct professor
of history at George Mason University. In 2000, he received the
Department of the Interior's Meritorious Service Award.

"We are very pleased that Dr. Sutton has joined the Washington, DC
office of the National Park Service as chief historian," said Janet
Snyder Matthews, associate director for NPS Cultural Resources. "We look
forward to working with him on a wide range of history projects,
including those that develop from the centennial of the National Park
Service through 2016."

Sutton is editor of Rally on the High Ground: National Park Service
Symposium on the Interpretation of the Civil War; co-author of Majestic
in His Wrath: The Life of Frederick Douglass; and author of Americans
Interpret the Parthenon: Greek Revival Architecture and the Westward
Movement.


YOUTH INVOLVEMENT WORKSHOP SET FOR COOS BAY

An Oregon historic cemeteries program workshop focused on involving
youth in cemetery preservation will highlight a model Coos Bay effort
Oct. 6.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department's Heritage Programs division
will offer the workshop at Southwestern Oregon Community College in Coos
Bay from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The session will be in room SITK 1. 

Historic Cemeteries Program Coordinator Kuri Gill said the leadership
of Marshfield High School students in the care of the Marshfield Pioneer
Cemetery led to the selection of Coos Bay as the site of the workshop.
"People often neglect to invite young people to participate in
historical organizations, assuming they won't be interested," said Gill.
"I've found that many young people who are exposed to history and
welcomed to join in preservation projects become inspired historic
preservation leaders. They also can be quite inspiring to folks who have
been involved a long time."

Workshop topics will include education programming at historic
cemeteries, how to encourage youth volunteer activities in small
communities, the presentation of an Oregon SOLV service learning model
and a teacher's perspective on using cemeteries as learning
environments for students.

Registration is required through Gill for the workshop, which will
coincide with an Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries public meeting
in Coos Bay Oct. 5. Gill can be contacted at 503-986-0685, or
kuri.gill at state.or.us. 

More information about the commission and the historic cemeteries
program is posted online at www.oregonheritage.org (click on "Historic
Cemeteries" under menu). 


HERITAGE TREE DEDICATION SATURDAY IN YACHATS

The Giant Spruce of Cape Perpetua will be dedicated into the Oregon
Heritage Tree Program at 1 p.m. on Sept. 15.  The ceremony, which is
free and open to the public, will be at the Yachats Commons building on
US 101 in downtown Yachats. 

The Giant Spruce is estimated to be 550 years old, has a circumference
of 40 feet and is 185 feet tall.  It is located one mile from the Cape
Perpetua Visitor Center at the end of the Giant Spruce Trail.  Guided
hikes to the tree will be offered throughout the day.

Doors open at the Yachats Commons at 12:30 p.m. to feature a special
slide show of the Giant Spruce followed by guest speakers and a special
appearance by Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the Forest Service. 
The heritage tree ceremony will also serve as the kickoff event for the
100th anniversary celebration of the Siuslaw National Forest.

The Oregon Heritage Tree Program is sponsored by the Oregon Travel
Information Council and is the first state-sponsored program of its kind
in the nation.  It was established to help increase public awareness of
the important contribution of trees to Oregon's history and heritage. 
Oregon has a total of 41 heritage trees located across the state.


COVERED BRIDGE FESTIVAL SLATED FOR STAYTON

The Oregon Covered Bridge Festival Sept. 15-16 at Stayton*s Pioneer
Park will spotlight this year Larwood Bridge, which spans the confluence
of Crabtree Creek and Roaring River in Scio.  A commemorative
cancellation stamp was made from a drawing of the bridge by Caleb Taylor
of Scio and will be used by the US Postal Service to commemorate the
event.

Caleb Taylor, 12, recently won the drawing contest sponsored by the
Oregon Covered Bridge Society to design the cancellation stamp for this
year*s festival.  He is the third Scio student to win the contest,
which is open to local elementary students each spring.

Taylor will assist a representative of the Postal Service in
hand-stamping envelopes with the commemorative marking from 11 a.m.-1
p.m. Sept. 15 at Pioneer Park. Both days will include displays,
exhibits, and demonstrations related to Oregon covered bridges, as well
as covered bridge tours and a food court.

For more information, visit http://www.covered-bridges.org/events.htm 
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Oregon Heritage News is a service of the Oregon Heritage Commission,
which can be contacted at heritage.info at state.or.us