Where are you from?
I grew up in Dublin, New Hampshire. I currently live in Brookline Massachusetts.
Where do you/did you attend school? Share with us the city/town, what you
are majoring in, what your academic interests are?
I received a BA in History from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2018. I then received an MS in Nonprofit Management from Northeastern University in 2020. I am currently a PhD Student at Boston University in the American & New England Studies Program. I am mostly interested in urban history, historic perseveration, and the history of Boston in the twentieth century. My dissertation will focus on the North End of Boston, specifically how preservationists in the early twentieth century argued for the conservation of Old North Church and the Paul Revere House at the expense of the nineteenth century tenements.
What are your career goals?
Once I complete my PhD, I hope to combine my passion for preservation and public service with my love of teaching. I would be interested in continuing my career in academia, but I would also love to work for municipal or the federal government. If I decide to work in public service, I would be especially interested in combining historic preservation with housing solutions, through methods such as adaptive reuse.
Outside of school and work what are your hobbies and/or interests?
Outside of school, I enjoy reading and yoga. I also love to travel, and I am excited to visit my husband’s family and friends in Ireland this summer!
What is your internship project focus? Explain what you will be doing, which
parks/partners will you be working with? Who is your mentor at the Olmsted Center?
This summer, my project focuses on the historic structures at Saratoga National Historical Park. My internship started with field assessment at the park, including condition assessment, impact assessment, and photo documentation. Mentored by Lauren Laham, I will research secondary sources such as the National Register of Historic Places nominations and cultural planning documents, and I will add and update records to the Cultural Resources Inventory System – Historic Structures (CRIS-HS). I will also assist with field assessment at Lowell National Historical Park.
Why did you choose to participate in a Designing the Parks Internship? How is your internship hosted?
My internship is hosted by the National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE). I chose to participate in this opportunity because I wanted to learn more about the federal government’s role in historic preservation. My PhD research involves analyzing and referencing National Register of Historic Places nominations and federal policies about preservation in the twentieth century. The Designing the Parks Internship offers an opportunity for me to gain hands on experience in maintaining historic structures, and also encourages me to use these sources in a different context. I am excited to continue to work with Lauren and the rest of the OCLP staff not only on updating and adding records of historic structures, but also to learn about how the federal government stewards American history.
What are you looking forward to learning or exploring during your internship?
I am looking forward to learning more about each historic structure at SARA. Each structure has a significant background and story that influenced its historic status. Through my project of updating and adding records, I will get to dig into each structure closely! I am also excited to be working on creating records for structures that were recently added to SARA. For example, we documented four structures at the Sword Surrender site that were recent additions to the Park Service. I will learn not only how to update existing records, but also how to craft an argument for new records such as these structures this summer.
What types of opportunities will Designing the Parks provide you with?
The Designing the Parks Internship offers me the opportunity to apply my academic interests to ongoing projects. I feel very lucky to be able to contribute to ongoing preservation efforts in National Parks. This internship has already provided me with many valuable experiences. I enjoyed our trip to SARA and ROVA significantly. Not only have I gotten significant hands-on experience in the field in the first few weeks of my internship, but I also got the opportunity to visit National Parks and meet with the park staff. This internship will also provide broader knowledge about the NPS and will also offer networking opportunities that will be valuable for my career. I am also excited to learn about technology such as GIS that the OCLP uses!
Designing the Parks 