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Historic American Landscape Survey (HALS)
Fellow Potomac Chapter members
I am writing to describe the Potomac Chapter’s developing HALS program and invite others to become involved. But first a little background…
The Historic American Landscape Survey (HALS) was established by Congress ten years ago to complement the Historic American Building Survey and the Historic American Engineering Record. Like its siblings, its aim is to record historically important landscapes, especially those with little or no formal documentation. This can be as simple as a few photos and written description, but it also leads to the creation of measured drawings and systematic photo-documentation. Regardless of the level of detail, all materials are filed in the Library of Congress to create an expanding record of significant landscapes.
The National Park Service administers the program, but much of the work of nominating and registering historic landscapes is the responsibility of individual chapters. As Potomac Chapter HALS liaison, I have been gradually developing a HALS program for our chapter (and learning more about the program along the way). With others’ help, thus far I have put together a double-sided info sheet on historic landscapes in our region, lobbied our Congressional representatives for HALS funding, attended national HALS meetings, assisted in the development of a HALS field session at the national convention this past fall, and advised three Virginia Tech graduate students in a documentation of the landscape at Glen Echo Park. (Representing the Potomac Chapter, they won a national HALS competition focused on historic theme parks.)
Having come to a better understanding of the HALS program, I am ready to expand Potomac Chapter’s local initiative. Specifically, I am seeking others who are interested in forming a small cadre of HALS volunteers. Two immediate tasks would include formulating a list of historically important landscapes within our chapter’s region, and documenting a local landscape(s) to be entered in this year’s “Landscapes of Diversity” competition. This doesn’t have to be extensive, but it can be very interesting to learn more about a given landscape.
If you are interested in getting involved, please contact me by email or phone at: pkelsch@vt.edu or 703.706.8139. As we form as a group, we can determine the scope and amount of work that we each wish to pursue. Even small steps are very worthwhile.
Thanks-
Paul Kelsch