Fall 2022 Class and Workshop Offerings*

*Class and workshop details subject to change.

We are currently serving you  primarily online due to COVID-19. Please note: online offerings usually fill within 24 hours.

Mid-Atlantic (and Beyond) Historic Preservation Showcase: Interiors

4-week workshop (over 7 weeks)

About: There are many ways to go about preserving historic interiors. In this workshop, we’ll bring diverse historic preservation stories–with a focus on interiors–from around the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond right to you. You’ll learn about three historic preservation projects, some of which are on-going, from the people who are working on them. From developing gallery spaces inside historic buildings to researching historically accurate interior decoration, we’ll talk about ways to tackle a range of preservation projects where you work, live, or volunteer. Each showcase session includes time for discussion with the presenters, and the workshop concludes with an intensive final discussion session. 

Objectives: 

• Learn about diverse historic preservation projects in the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond.
• Learn about funding, advocacy, and research strategies for historic preservation projects.
• Gather and share historic preservation advocacy, funding resources, and research tools with other workshop participants.

Who Should Register: Anyone who wants to hear about preservation projects from throughout the Mid-Atlantic and beyond and share resources with others.

Workshop Leader: Nicole Belolan, PhD

Schedule: Four Wednesdays in October and November 2022, variable time

Wednesday, October 5, 6:30-8:30PM EST, online via Zoom
Wednesday, October 12, 7:00-8:30PM EST, online via Zoom
Wednesday, October 26, 7:00-8:30PM EST, online via Zoom
Wednesday, November 9, 6:30:0-8:30PM EST, online via Zoom

Location: Online via Zoom

Cost: $75

Credits: 0.7 CEUs, Pass/Fail

CEU Note: Participants wishing to earn CEUs toward the continuing education certificate must attend all sessions and complete homework. At the discretion of the workshop leader, a participant may miss a session and complete makeup work to pass and receive CEUs.

Individuals pursuing the certificate may count up to two Preservation Showcases (1.4 CEUs) toward their certificate requirements.

Course Number: HP-124-F22-Online 

Accessibility:  If you need ASL interpretation, live captioning, or other accommodations, please let us know about two weeks before the start of workshop. You can make this request by emailing nicole.belolan@rutgers.edu. Or, you can call 856-225-6878.

Registration: This workshop has started, and registration is no longer available.

Speaker Information: 

Stevens & Smith Center at Lancaster History with Robin Sarratt, Vice President, LancasterHistory

LancasterHistory is undertaking a major project to create a museum and learning center from a preserved historic site in the City of Lancaster, PA, to honor the legacies of two extraordinary Americans: Congressman Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith. The major components of the Stevens & Smith Center will be the restoration of the law office of Congressman Stevens and the home he shared with Lydia Smith; interpretive galleries exploring the Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania; exhibitions illuminating Stevens’ role in amending the US Constitution and securing free public education; and an exploration of Lydia Hamilton Smith’s path-breaking life and twenty-year partnership with Stevens. Efforts to develop the historic properties began two decades ago when the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County exercised an easement to ensure their survival during the construction of the Lancaster County Convention Center. Under the supervision of the Historic Preservation Trust, the Stevens & Smith Site and the adjacent Kleiss Tavern underwent thorough rehabilitation of all exterior features of the buildings, a full archaeological dig, and rough completion of the underground space below and behind the Stevens and Kleiss buildings for exhibits and interpretive displays. This important work laid the foundation for a successful enterprise that will be carried out by LancasterHistory.

A Preservation Philosophy Exemplified: Restoration and Re-creation in Stenton’s Yellow Lodging Room with Laura C. Keim, Curator, Stenton Museum; Lecturer in Historic Preservation, University of Pennsylvania

What does it mean when there are hooks in the ceiling in an eighteenth-century bedchamber? How do we determine the “right” yellows when restoring textiles and paint? How do we generate historical context for lost materials to inform our understanding of mid-eighteenth-century interior decoration? This richly illustrated talk will take you through the process of restoring architectural color, recreating “worsted damask” textile furnishings, and reproducing a flying tester bedstead in the c. 1750 best chamber at Stenton, the country house of Pennsylvania Colonial Secretary James Logan near Philadelphia.

Modernizing a Historic Home Without Sacrificing Its History with Alex Santantonio, Serial DIYer and Amateur Restorer, Old Town Home

In 2003 Alex Santantonio, along with his wife, Wendy, undertook the renovation of their 1886 row house in the historic district of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. In 2014 they also began working to restore a 1908 Foursquare in the country that was once a hotel. What followed has been a nearly 20-year journey of learning how to preserve and retain the historic fabric that represents the soul of their homes while adding technological conveniences traditionally found in new-build smart homes. The self-taught journey has built a skillset, knowledge base, and appreciation for tried and true techniques and building materials that are often overlooked in today’s building industry. Alex will share some of his project details and why he’s interested in helping many in the old house online communities when it comes to trying their hand at restoration.

Introduction to Historic Preservation- Online only

10-week class | pass/fail

About: This course is an introduction to the preservation of the built environment, examining the history and philosophy of historic preservation and how the discipline is practiced today. It will provide the historic framework of how preservation has emerged as a field of specialization and a foundation for understanding preservation issues, terminology, and public policy. Through discussions on the history and guiding principles of historic preservation, the class will explore the secretary of the interior’s standards, national and state register programs, preservation techniques, and the overall benefits of historic preservation. This is a continuing education class taught on a pass/fail basis.

Instructor: Cory Kegerise, AICP

Objectives:

•  Explore the history of historic preservation practice and theory in the United States.
• Summarize the specific concepts, terms, and programs that people in the United States use to pursue historic preservation.
• Recognize historic preservation’s complexity as a multi-disciplinary field of professionals and community members who have unique perspectives that shape preservation outcomes, including the preservation of the built environment associated with marginalized groups.
• Compare contemporary historic preservation practice in the United States to historic preservation practice in other parts of the world.

Who should register?: This course is a required course for the certificate in historic preservation. This course will be useful for anyone looking to broaden their understanding of current issues in historic preservation.

Credits: 2 CEUs. This is a continuing education class taught on a pass/fail basis.

Course Number: HP-101-F22-Online 

Accessibility: If you need ASL interpretation, live captioning, or other accommodations, please let us know about two weeks before the start of the reading group. You can make this request by emailing nicole.belolan@rutgers.edu. Or, you can call 856-225-6878.

Cost: $275

Date and Time: Thursdays, September 15-November 17 , 2022,  6:30PM-8:00PM EST, and independent work on your own time. Optional 8:00-8:30PM session.

Class size: Class limit 20.

Location: Online via Zoom.

Required technology: Computer with webcam and microphone and a reliable internet connection.

Required book: Norman Tyler, Historic Preservation: An Introduction to its History, Principles, and Practice, 3rd ed. (New York: WW Norton Company, 2018), available here: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393712971. 

Optional book: An architectural style guide such as, Virginia Savage McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses (Revised): The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America’s Domestic Architecture (New York, Alfred Knopf, 2015), available here: http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/110000/a-field-guide-to-american-houses/.

Register: Click here to register: https://ce-catalog.rutgers.edu/coursedisplay.cfm?schID=86728. If the class is full, you will be added to the waiting list. If a spot opens on the waiting list, we will let you know. As of 3:23PM on September 12, we have 7 spots open.

Note: Individuals who would like to register with a Purchase Order (PO) must contact nicole.belolan@rutgers.edu to reserve a spot.

About Cory Kegerise, AICP: Cory Kegerise, AICP, is a Supervisory Grants Management Specialist at the National Park Service where he manages a number of Federal grant programs for historic preservation activities undertaken by states, tribes, local governments and nonprofit organizations across the country. Immediately prior to joining NPS, Cory was the Community Preservation Coordinator for Eastern Pennsylvania at the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office. Cory’s career has also included working as the Administrator of Local Programs at the Maryland Historical Trust, Executive Director of the Elfreth’s Alley Association, preservation consulting, and as a grants manager for a National & State Heritage Area. Cory holds a Master’s Degree in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor’s Degree in Historic Preservation from the University of Mary Washington. He lives in Philadelphia and has taught Introduction to Historic Preservation in the Rutgers certificate program since 2018.

Reading Group: Smell Detectives: An Olfactory History of Nineteenth-Century Urban America, By Melanie A. Kiechle – Full. Registration for waiting list only.

5-week reading group | pass/fail

About: (Still!) Spending more time at home but still want to read and talk about historic and contemporary issues in historic preservation? Join us as we read and discuss historian Melanie A. Kiechle’s Smell Detectives: An Olfactory History of Nineteenth-Century Urban America (2019). Weekly readings will be accompanied by digitized primary sources. In the final meeting, we will be joined by the author for an informal discussion.

Who should register: Anyone who would like to read and discuss this book with a small group at the appointed times should register. Please assess your interest in the book, book availability and cost, and your equipment (computer with webcam [if you want] and microphone as well as a reliable internet connection) before registering. If you do not have computer capabilities, phone-only is also OK.

How to Access this Book:
-Check your local library to see if they offer the book. 
-Purchase through a bookstore of your choice.
-Acquire a hardcopy or ebook through the publisher or an online retailer. 

Instructor: Nicole Belolan, PhD

Guest Speaker (November 15): Melanie A. Kiechle, PhD, author of Smell Detectives: An Olfactory History of Nineteenth-Century Urban America

Dates and Times: Five Tuesdays, October 18 and 25 and November 1, 8, and 15, 7:00PM – 8:00PM EST

Location: Online via Zoom.

Cost: $0, but participants must have access to the book and meet tech requirements (see above)

Credits: 0.5 CEUs, Pass/Fail. Participants pursuing the certificate may apply up to four reading groups (2 CEUs) toward the certificate. 

Course Number: HP-121-F22-Online

Accessibility: If you need ASL interpretation, live captioning, or other accommodations, please let us know about two weeks before the start of the reading group. You can make this request by emailing nicole.belolan@rutgers.edu. Or, you can call 856-225-6878.

Registration: Click here to register: https://ce-catalog.rutgers.edu/coursedisplay.cfm?schID=87083. Full. Registration for waiting list only. 

Nicole Belolan, PhD, is Public Historian at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH) at Rutgers University-Camden, where she directs the Continuing Education Program in Historic Preservation. In that capacity, she also serves as Co-Editor of The Public Historian and as Digital Media Editor for the National Council on Public History. Belolan is a historian of the material culture of everyday life in early America and specializes in disability history. She has been working in the region’s small museums and historic sites for over ten years, particularly in the areas of collections management, interpretation, and accessibility. She earned an MA from the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture and in History as well as a PhD in History, all from the University of Delaware. 

Melanie A. Kiechle, PhD, is an Associate Professor of History at Virginia Tech. As a historian of the nineteenth century, Melanie’s research focuses on culture, environment, cities, health, science, and smells. Lots of smells. Her first book, Smell Detectives: An Olfactory History of Nineteenth-Century Urban America, uncovers how city residents used their noses to understand, adjust to, and fight against the environmental changes caused by rapid urban growth and industrialization. It also recounts a time when Americans understood that the air they breathed affected their health, an understanding that has particular resonance in our current pandemic.

Melanie’s scholarship has been supported by grants from the American Antiquarian Society, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Science History Institute, and Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library. In addition to her book, you can find her writing in the Journal of Social History, the Journal of Urban History, Rethinking History, Science as Culture, and the Washington Post.

Melanie is currently working on two projects—one that explores buried waterways in American cities, and another considering how ideas about sensitivity were embedded in early public health and urban planning.

Additional fall offerings coming soon!

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Please note: online offerings usually fill within 24 hours.