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HP 206 Researching Historic Structures and Sites

FALL 2009

Tuesdays, 8:30-11:15 AM, Wheeler 101
Prof. Thomas D. Visser, 207 Wheeler House, UVM 656-0577 e-mail: thomas.visser@.uvm.edu
Course web site http://www.uvm.edu/histpres/206/hp206syl2009.html

Course Goals

HP 206 Researching Historic Structures and Sites is designed to provide students with an introduction to the historic preservation research methods and documentation techniques used by professional historic preservationists to identify and to record historic structures and heritage sites using archival and physical evidence. The course introduces techniques for heritage site research and documentation, including the development of building descriptions, historical narratives, and skills in digital photography, GIS, CAD measured drawings and publishing on the web. The reading assignments are intended to provide incoming preservation students a broad overview of the field of preservation and to help students develop knowledge and skills in historic sites research methodologies. Another goal of this course is to help students develop skills in working on collaborative preservation research projects. The results of this research project will be shared as a public service through a web site on the internet.

Expectations

All students are expected to attend all classes unless for illness or for reasons beyond a student's control or if excused in advance. Written assignments should be submitted at the beginning of class. These written assignments should be done on a computer and printed with double-spaced text. Multiple page submissions should be stapled or bound well together. Those enrolled in this course have priority use of the HP Computer Lab in Wheeler 103. Students are responsible for supplying appropriate paper for the printouts and the pay the "pig" for printer ink at the rates displayed. Everyone must be sure to save drafts to their UVM zoo accounts. The final digital product is to be saved to the hp206 project account. (These procedures will be reviewed in class.)

It is expected that all assignments will be submitted on time. Late work may be penalized unless arrangements are made in advance. Extensions may only granted for illness or for serious reasons beyond the control of a student. It is also expected that all work will be produced in a professional manner and will be thoroughly proof-read and checked for spelling and grammatical errors. The Chicago Manual of Style is the preferred style guide for citations in the history/historic preservation field. It is available for consultation in the reference section of the UVM Library or is available for purchase locally. All writing must be authored directly by each student. All sources of information and ideas that are not common knowledge must be identified through attributions in the text or by citations using footnotes or endnotes (rather than parenthetical citations). Plagiarism is not tolerated at the University of Vermont. For guidance, see Plagiarism: What It Is and How to Recognize and Avoid It at http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml

Research Project

The class project this semester will build on the sequence of research projects (see http://www.uvm.edu/~hp206/) completed by previous students in this course. Our project this year will be to identify and record historic barns and farm buildings in various towns in Vermont. Based on a research plan developed in class, each student will be responsible for documenting as many historic barns as possible in a Vermont town. Fieldwork will be done working in teams of two or three.

Our goal will be to assist with the Vermont Barn Census by documenting as many historic barns as possible in the towns that will be identified in class. In order to complete the town-wide barn surveys in reasonable amounts of time, the first priority for each team should be to record images of the structures from a public way. It is not necessary to access private property, but be sure to be courteous with the public. Information on surveying and letters of introduction are available at the Vermont Barn Census web site. As with all field research, safety always should be your first priority. Be sure to always park in a safe spot and watch for traffic. Mileage expenses associated with conducting field research for the Vermont barn census part of this year's course project will be reimbursable. This funding is made possible by a Preserve America grant through the National Park Service to the State of Vermont Division for Historic Preservation. Procedures for recording mileage and submitting invoices will be discussed in class. Ideally the field research should be conducted as early in the semester as possible. The Vermont Division for Historic Preservation will be promoting a statewide Barn Census Week from October 2 to October 12.

Assignment 1 - Recording memories

Write a short paper (2 to 5 pages) from memory that describes a building or place that you remember fondly from long ago. Try to be as accurate and detailed as possible. Consider the specific qualities of the character of the place that impressed you most strongly. Identify and discuss the appearance of physical materials and how the place made you feel then, but avoid conjecture. A sample that has been developed into a web site is posted at http://www.uvm.edu/histpres/memories/centerharbor/index.htm

Assignment 2 - Identification, documentation and recordation of historic sites

A. Conduct preliminary research on your project town using archival sources and such online resources as Google Maps, Google Earth, Mapquest, etc. Assemble reference collection of maps and aerial imagery including:

• maps from a recent atlas that shows all roads in the town
• recent and older USGS maps - see Historic USGS Maps of Vermont (UNH Dimond Library) and paper copies at UVM Library Map Room
• 19th century county maps (Walling's, Beers, etc.)
• a state road map

B. From the maps, identify routes and potential sites and develop a research plan for surveying the town.

C. Scan historic maps and save as jpg files at 300 dpi at 100% scale.

D. Convert scans for web publishing; (72 dpi, 800 x 600 pixels or smaller, jpg format). Save as jpgs in folders with file names that meet web (UNIX) standards. Large maps should be sliced to smaller sections that provide sufficient detail to read the names associated with sites when posted on the web. (The 72 dpi jpg images will be used for the class on October 13 and for the PowerPoint presentation. The 300 dpi images will be used for the printed report and as a digital archive.)

Assignment 3 - Historical research

Develop a narrative that documents the agricultural history your assigned town, drawing on both archival sources and the findings of your field research. Archival research on the agricultural history of the towns and documented sites will be conducted mainly using the rich collection of primary source archival materials available at the University of Vermont Library. These primary source materials include agricultural census records, historic maps, historic photographs, directories, aerial imagery, and newspapers. Also such secondary source materials as the Vermont historic sites and structures surveys (available at UVM Library Special Collections) and National Register nominations may be used for critical review, however the goal of this project is not to reiterate information from such secondary sources. Rely first on primary sources and physical evidence. Compare your research findings with a critical review of secondary sources. Always be skeptical of the research of others! Note where your conclusions differ from those of others.

The report should be produced in a professional, archival stable manner on paper (approximately three to five pages of text) with proper recognition of all sources (end notes as described in the Chicago Manual of Style) and bound. An edited digital version of the paper and census records will be used for the web site.

Supplement your narrative with representative illustrations taken in on site, as well as historic (and other older) images, drawings, and maps, especially historic maps (Wallings, Beers, et cetera) from circa 1860 and circa 1880. Each illustration should have a figure number and a detailed caption that identifies the subject, direction of view, original photographer if known, archive obtained. For images obtained from the UVM Library or UVM Archives, you will need to obtain permission for use for this project.

In the appendix of your report, include transcriptions of the U.S. Vermont Agricultural Census records for your town from the years, 1860 and 1880. These records are available at the UVM Library Microforms area on microfilm.

Assignment 4 - Map - GIS / CAD / GoogleMap

Using on-site measurements and photographs, produce digital maps that show the location of all sites that you have documented in your project town.

Product: Submit your map digitally as a jpg or pdf file as an attachment to Thomas.Visser@uvm.edu . Limit the file sizes to 1 MB.

Assignment 5 - Digital photography

Photograph with a digital camera each farm building being documented. Be sure the camera is set to take the images at 1024 pixels wide or higher and in the "fine" or highest quality (least compression) jpg mode.

For each image, record:

• Image sequence number
• Location (street address)
• Subject
• Direction of view
• Date and time of photo
• Photographer

This information may be recorded digitally in a spreadsheet or on paper and converted to a digital spreadsheet.

Product: Upload an image of each barn documented to the Vermont Barn Census web site and submit survey information online. Send email to Prof. Visser when complete.

Assignment 6. Digital Presentation

Organize your research findings into a condensed 10 minute (no longer) digital presentation using Powerpoint. Briefly introduce yourself and the project and summarize the history of farming in the town illustrated with representative images from your research. Submit your presentation in a folder with your name on a USB flash drive or CD-ROM.

Assignment 7 - Web Publishing

We will develop a template format for our project web site together. Based on this template, convert your historical research and images into a web pages. These pages should have an introduction with a table of contents directory, a summary of the agricultural history of the town, maps that identify the location of each surviving barn surveyed with links to images of each documented barn, historical maps and agricultural census information. Jpg files must be uploaded for each image. Post the files in proper folders to our hp206 project zoo account 2009 folder, accessible to everyone on the world wide web. When finished, e-mail the URL for your section of the web site to Thomas.Visser@uvm.edu.

Grading

Grades on assignments will reflect the quality of the work and its professional appearance and organization.

• Grades in the "A" range will reflect work that has achieved a professional level of expectations in the preservation field.
• Grades in the "B" range will reflect work that would require additional work to be well received by a client or supervisor.
• Grades below "B" will reflect work that would not be accepted by a client or supervisor or that could diminish one's professional reputation.

Assignment and examination grades will be weighed as follows:

Assignment 1	10%
Assignment 2	10%
Assignment 3	20%
Assignment 4	20%
Assignment 5	20%
Assignment 6	20%

Required texts

Garvin, James. A Building History of Northern New England. Hanover: University Press of New England. 2001.
Burns, John, Ed. Recording Historic Structures. Washington: AIA. 1989. (Several copies are on reserve in Wheeler 103.)
Visser, Thomas. Field Guide to New England Barns & Farm Buildings. Hanover: University Press of New England. 1996.

Recommended texts

Fitch, James Marston. Historic Preservation. Charlottesville: Univ. of Virginia Press. 1992.
McAlester, Virginia & Lee. Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Knopf. 1983.
Howard S. Russell, A Long, Deep Furrow: Three Centuries of Farming in New England. Hanover: University Press of New England. 1982.

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© UVM Historic Preservation Program
August 14, 2010
histpres@zoo.uvm.edu