View Profile [125931]
![]() |
Beth M. Boland <beth_boland@nps.gov> I am a public historian working in the field of historic preservation, for most of my career in the areas of identification, research, evaluation, documentation, and registration of historic places. For the past several years, I have specialized in the area of heritage education and I manage a program entitled Teaching with Historic Places, which produces a series of online lesson plans, now numbering 132, but growing. I am particularly interested in helping educators and subject-matter specialists (primarily historians and historic site specialists) work together for their mutual benefit and the benefit of the public. |
| Primary Phone: | 202-354-2238 |
| Fax Number: | 202-371-1616 |
| Web Page: | http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/index.htm |
| List Affiliations: | Advisory Board Member for H-FedHist |
| Interests: | American History / Studies Archaeology Intellectual History Local History Research and Methodology |
|
Bio: Beth Michele Boland: Heritage Education Services, National Park Service, 1849 C Street, NW (2258), Washington, DC 20240. Tel.: 202-354-2238; Fax: 202-371-1616 or 2229; beth_boland@nps.gov EMPLOYMENT Historian, Heritage Education Services, National Park Service (NPS), May 2005—present Major Responsibilities: Plan, conduct, evaluate, and promote educational activities relating to the National Park Service’s Cultural Resources Programs; develop, evaluate, and carry out education policies; manage Teaching with Historic Places program; administer education partnerships, grants, and contracts Historian, National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), NPS: 1974--2005 Major Responsibilities: Evaluated historic significance of and documentation for historic places and listed qualified properties in the National Register; developed historic preservation standards and guidance; served as National Register reviewer, liaison, and advisor for 10-14 states; managed the Teaching with Historic Places program; administered education partnerships, grants, contracts, and internships. Major Accomplishments, Awards, and Honors: # Listed thousands of places in the NRHP, qualifying them for protective and other benefits # Developed a new heritage education program into the nationally-respected, award-winning Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) program. # Have written extensively on preservation issues and education in a variety of professional publications # Have conducted more than 60 preservation and education workshops from ½ day to one week in length # Have made more than 40 professional conference presentations # Served on NPS team that designed, wrote, and field-tested a series of nationwide program evaluations of preservation activities in State Historic Preservation Offices # Wrote testing chapters for evaluating state preservation program Survey and National Register activities # Coordinated a major external peer evaluation of the NRHP Criteria for Evaluation # Coordinated the first systematic national review of state nomination programs and designed a tiered “sampling” nomination review system based on the results # Served as a professional delegate to two International Education Conferences: Beijing, China, 2005 and Hong Kong, China, 1997 # Appointed by Director as a charter member of the NPS National Education Council, 2004—2006 # Received National Park Service performance awards: 2003, 2001, 1999, 1997, 1995, 1992, 1989, 1984 # Received American Association for State and Local History Award of Merit, 1997 # Received National Endowment for the Arts Federal Design Achievement Award, 1995 SAMPLE ARTICLES # “Give the People What They Want: Using the Internet to Inform the Public,” The Federalist (Newsletter of the Society for History in the Federal Government), Second Series, Number 11 (Fall 2006). # Teaching with Historic Places, 15-minute instructional video, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2002 (NPS Supervising Producer). # AHistoric Places: Common Ground for Teachers and Historians,@ Magazine of History 16, no. 2 (Winter 2002). # ANational Register of Historic Places,@ Encyclopedia of Local History, Carol Kammen and Norma Prendergast, eds. American Association for State and Local History Book Series. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2000. # AKeeping Women in Their Historic Places: Bringing Women=s Stories to the Classroom,@ CRM: Placing Women in the Past, Vol. 20, no. 3 (1997); Magazine of History12, no. 1 (Fall 1997). # How To Apply National Register Criteria to Post Offices (National Register Bulletin 13). Washington, DC, National Park Service, 1984. Revised and reprinted, 1994. # How To Evaluate and Nominate Cemeteries and Burial Places (National Register Bulletin 41), Washington, DC: National Park Service, 1992. # "The National Register of Historic Places After 25 Years," National Register of Historic Places, 1966--1991. Nashville, TN: American Assoc. for State and Local History, 1991. # Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Properties Associated with Significant Persons (National Register Bulletin 32). Washington, DC: National Park Service, 1989. SAMPLE PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS # “Teaching with Historic Places,” in Teaching with Historic Places and Things: National Park Service Online Resources session, National Council for the Social Studies annual meeting, Washington, DC, 12/1/06. # “Teaching with Historic Places,” in Agency as Educator: Online, Through Exhibits, and in Learning Centers session, Society for History in the Federal Government annual meeting, Washington, DC, 3/2/06. # “Teaching with Historic Places: Civil Rights and Other Topics,” Core Knowledge 15th Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX, 2/24/06. # “Research in the National Park Service,” in Doing Research on the History of the Federal Government session, American Historical Association annual meeting, Seattle, WA, 1/7/05. # ACan THAT Be Historic?!@ at Sampling the Twentieth Century, the Seventh Annual Conference of Preservation Delaware, Inc., Wilmington, DE, 10/22/04; and at The Recent Past session, National Trust for Historic Preservation annual meeting, Denver, CO, 10/4/03. # AIssues of Preservation and Interpretation in the Southwest,@ Organization of American Historians (OAH) annual meeting, Memphis, TN, 4/4/03. # ALaw and Policy Pertaining to the Identification and Evaluation of Resources" at the NPS Stewardship Career Field course, "Cultural Resources Law and Policy for Managers," Washington, DC, 10/29/02. # APromoting Heritage Education and Tourism Through the National Register of Historic Places,@ # AKeeping Women in Their Historic Places: Bringing Women=s Stories to the Classroom,@ American Studies Association annual meeting, Washington, DC, 11/8/01. # AThe Power of Place in Education,@ National Council on Public History (NCPH) annual meeting: ABelonging-Public Historians and Place,@ Ottawa, Canada, 4/20/01. # ASources, Sites, and Standards,@ Virginia Social Studies Educators Conference, Reston, VA, 11/5/99; and National Social Studies Supervisors Association, Anaheim, CA, 11/20/98. # AEvaluation of Cemeteries and Burial Places,@ Association of Gravestone Studies Annual Meeting, George Mason University., Fairfax, VA, 6/26/99. # AThe U.S. Teaching with Historic Places Program,@ International Conference on Heritage and Education, Hong Kong, China, 12/17/97. SAMPLE WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES # “Issues in Historic Preservation,” guest lecturer/discussion leader, Public History Graduate classes: 1) George Washington University, Washington, DC, 3/7/07, 3/9/06, 3/9/05 and 10/15/04; 2) Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 3/20/07 and 11/22/02. # Instructor for “Save Our History” teacher institute sponsored by the National Council for the Social Studies, the National Archives and Records Administration, the National Park Service, and The History Channel, Washington, DC, 7/28-29/06. # Learning Specialist for “Telling Lives, Teaching Lives,” a four-day Teaching American History Grant teacher colloquium sponsored by the National Council for History Education, Montana State University, and Bozeman Public Schools, Bozeman, MT, 6/13-16/06. # "Teaching with Historic Places:" Sixteen 2—2-day field studies, National Trust for Historic Preservation & National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) annual meetings, 1991--2005. # AThe National Register of Historic Places:@ Ten 2-day workshops, National Trust for Historic Preservation annual meetings, 1992--2004. # Learning Specialist for AHistory Matters: Telling America=s Story from Different Perspectives@ one-week National Council on History Education teacher colloquium for a Teaching American History Grant, Southeast Oklahoma State University, Durant, OK, 6/2-6/03. # "Teaching with Historic Places:" Nine 1-week workshops on writing place-based lesson plans, for preservationists and educators, 1992--1998. # "Teaching with Historic Places:" two 3-credit courses, George Mason University Graduate School of Education, Fairfax, VA, 1993 and 1994 (assisted course professor and lectured). # "Historic Preservation:" 15-hour, 1-credit Semester Break Short Course, Public History Program, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 3/18--22/91. PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES # American Historical Association (AHA): Editorial Advisory Board, Perspectives, 2003--2005 # National Council on Public History (NCPH): Pre-Collegiate Education Committee, 1994-2004; Awards Committee, 1996-2000; Nomination Committee, 1996-1999; Publications Committee, 1988-1993; CRM Committee, 1984-1990; Exec. Committee, 1985-1988; Board of Directors, 1984-1988 # National History Day: Board of Trustees, 1994-present; Advisory Council, 2005-present (chair, 2007); judge at national contest, 1983-present # Organization of American Historians (OAH): Public History Committee, 1991-1993 # Society for History in the Federal Government (SHFG): Executive Council, 2006-present; Awards Committee, 2005-present; CRM Committee, 1989-1993; Historic Preservation and Display Committee, 1985-1989 #Memberships: American Association for State and Local History, AHA, National Council for History Education, NCPH, National Trust for Historic Preservation Forum, OAH, SHFG EDUCATION: Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts: B.A., 1971; George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Smithsonian Institution/George Washington University Pre-Doctoral Fellowship in American Studies, 1972-1973. |
|

