“For me, historic preservation is about honoring the lives behind the walls as much as the walls themselves.”
Training throughout my Ph.D. program allowed me to conduct fieldwork on key preservation projects, including the West Gaines School Heritage Development Plan in Lawrenceburg, TN, where I focused on adaptive reuse and funding strategies, and the Twin Forks Trail at Old Jefferson nomination to the National Historic Trails, where I co-led survey documentation and analysis. These experiences strengthened my expertise in preservation planning, community engagement, and federal nomination processes
Adaptive Reuse and Historic Preservation Grants
West Gaines School, Lawrenceburg, TN
I worked on a team to develop a Heritage Development Plan for the historic West Gaines School, a Rosenwald-era building central to African American education in Lawrence County. My section of the report focused on adaptive reuse strategies and funding opportunities for preservation projects, ensuring the community had actionable pathways to safeguard and repurpose the building as a cultural hub
National Nominations
Twin Forks Trail at Old Jefferson, Smyrna, TN
As part of a field survey and nomination effort, I co-compiled the National Historic Trails High Potential Site Nomination Package for the Twin Forks Trail, a segment of the Trail of Tears at Old Jefferson. My contributions focused on survey documentation, historical analysis, and co-developing the nomination package that connected the site’s landscape and cultural memory to national preservation frameworks