This Summer

I have not written in a while because I was just too darn busy with life, finishing up school (I graduated from Kutztown University this May with a BA in history) and planning for the future (I am starting an MA program at the University of Vermont this fall). This summer I am starting work at Grey Towers National Historic Site, which is administered by the National Forestry Service, as a seasonal interpretive intern. It's pretty much the same thing I did at Boone. Grey Towers was the summer home of Gifford Pinchot, the father of the forestry movement in the United States, and a Governor of Pennsylvania. I will not bore you with more details about Pinchot, the times he was living in, or the site, because in the coming weeks you will learn all you need to know.

So this summer's mission is similar to last summer's. I want to better understand the ways that history is presented to the public. I also am curious about how the public interacts with history. As you all probably know, the state of Pennsylvania is shutting down six historic sites this summer in order to cut costs. Everyone keeps saying that this is a bad thing, but why? What do historic sites provide to the American Public. My own personal view on this is that they educate people about history. For many people historic sites are one of the few ways they expand their knowledge about history after they graduate from high school. This summer I want to explore this topic and see what else historic sites do.