Dear Colleague,

Thank you for your interest in the 2006 NEH Landmarks summer workshop for community college faculty hosted by the Western Kentucky University and Mammoth Cave National Park. The workshop, entitled "Mammoth Cave: People, Place and History," will be offered twice, July 16-21 and 23-28, 2006. Participants in the six-day workshop will visit landmark sites in and around Mammoth Cave National Park near Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The Mammoth Cave region of west-central Kentucky bears the imprint of 11,000 years of human occupation. Prehistoric American Indians lived in the area's rock shelters, exploited the caves' mineral resources, and explored deep underground with reed torches for a light source. Euro-Americans started settling the region in the late 18th century and created a subsistence-oriented community typical of the upland South. African Americans were brought to the region as slaves. Many labored in the Mammoth Cave salt peter works and later became integral to the development of the cave as a major, privately owned tourist attraction. In the early twentieth century, emerging national ideas of conservation and preservation dramatically altered the trajectory of the region. A national park was carved out of 52,830 acres of the cave region, including Mammoth Cave. More than 600 families and thirty communities were displaced in the process. In 1981 Mammoth Cave National Park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in recognition of the global significance of its cultural and natural landscapes. The diversity of groups who have occupied the Mammoth Cave region and depended on its resources for their livelihoods, along with the region's role in shaping American identity through tourism and the national park movement, make Mammoth Cave National Park an ideal site for the study of place-based history.

The workshop has dual foci on the culture history of the Mammoth Cave region and on analytical methods used to understand culture history. Participants will not only learn about the Mammoth Cave region and its connections to larger historical movements, but they will also gain an understanding of techniques that can be applied to learning and teaching about the culture history of their own regions. Each day of the workshop highlights a different theme in the culture history of Mammoth Cave and one or two research methodologies. Each theme will be taught by recognized content experts through a mixture of lectures, hands-on exercises in which workshop participants will gain experience in using a research method, and field trips during which participants will put skills into practice. Afternoon activities will take place at selected sites in Mammoth Cave region, including Mammoth Cave, Diamond Caverns, relict settlements and family cemeteries within the national park, architecturally significant buildings, and gateway communities. ParticipantsÕ learning experiences will be enhanced by these opportunities to visit sites significant to the culture history of the Mammoth Cave region, where they will apply techniques and perspectives presented during morning lectures.

Day One will focus on the early American Indian occupation of the area and on techniques used to understand past lifeways. Archaeological evidence from over one thousand sites demonstrates that American Indians have occupied the Mammoth Cave region for 11,000 years. Some of the earliest evidence of plant domestication, cave exploration, and mineral mining in eastern North America derives from these sites. Workshop participants will learn about native prehistory and cultural resource preservation from archaeologists and American Indians. They will practice archaeological lab methods using artifact collections and field methods at actual sites in the park. Curriculum resources for teaching archaeology and American Indian history and culture will be presented. Day One will be led by Dr. Darlene Applegate (Associate Professor of Anthropology, Western Kentucky University), Dr. Patty Jo Watson (Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, emerita, Washington University in St. Louis), Russell Townsend, M.A. (Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, member of the Cherokee Nation, and archaeologist), and Dr. Gwynn Henderson (Education Coordinator, Kentucky Archaeological Survey).

Day Two will focus on the folklife of the Mammoth Cave region. In the morning participants will get an overview of the many oral and customary traditions of central Kentucky, including legends (historical and supernatural), songs, and oral history. They will also receive a brief overview of the traditional architecture and folk art of the region. In the afternoon, they will visit the Gardner House, believed to be the oldest house in Hart County, and discuss what can be learned from examining architecture closely. En route, they will also view a traditional log house. They will then meet a maker of white oak baskets, one of the most significant folk art traditions in the cave region, and watch a demonstration of this art. Day Two will be led by Dr. Michael Ann Williams (Professor of Folk Studies, Western Kentucky University) and Dr. Lynwood Montell (Professor of Folk Studies, emeritus, Western Kentucky University), the "dean" of Kentucky folklore.

Day Three will focus on African Americans in the Mammoth Cave Region. This session will start by providing participants with a broad historical context for the African American experience in the South, highlighting life, labor, and social conditions during the antebellum and post-Civil War periods. That background will serve as the basis for participants to explore the site-specific African American story at Mammoth Cave, both before and after the creation of the national park. Participants will utilize genealogical methods to illustrate the challenges of researching any family lineage, but especially the generational lineage of African American families. They will also demonstrate [this verb seems odd] the obstacles met and overcome in two case studies site-specific to Mammoth Cave. One study traces the movement and descendents of slave guide Mat Bransford and four successive generations of his family. The other advances genealogical research through innovative use of signatures and other graffiti left on Mammoth Cave's walls and through place names memorializing individuals that have been given to portions of the cave. Day Three will be led by Ms. Joy Lyons (Chief, Program Services, Mammoth Cave National Park), Mr. Charles DeCroix (Park Ranger, Mammoth Cave National Park), Dr. Michael E. Crutcher, Jr., (Assistant Professor of Geography, University of Kentucky) and Mr. J. Mark Lowe (Professional Genealogist).

Day Four will focus on tourism development in the area and its effect on local communities. Mammoth Cave rose to prominence as a tourist destination in the 1800s. Its subsequent development, and that of the surrounding region, has reflected distinctive eras of changing American tastes and patterns of travel. Workshop participants will learn about the history of North American tourism, its European antecedents, and its expression in the Mammoth Cave region. They will explore how literary analysis can be applied to travel writing and guide books to uncover key elements in the history of tourism, including who traveled, how they traveled, and the attitudes of tourists to the places visited and people encountered. The impacts of tourism on place will be highlighted through the changing built environment, and participants will visit sites significant to the history of tourism in the Mammoth Cave region. Day Four will be led by Dr. Katie Algeo (Associate Professor of Geography, Western Kentucky University) and Dr. John Jakle, (Professor of XXX, emeritus, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).

Day Five will focus on the creation of Mammoth Cave National Park in the early twentieth century. While it was not the first national park in the eastern United States (Maine's Arcadia National Park was established in 1919), it was among a group of three Eastern parks (along with Great Smokies and Shenandoah) that were the first authorized after the creation of the National Park Service. The boundaries of the proposed Mammoth Cave National Park included 52,830 acres of privately owned land including farms, churches, cemeteries, stores, schools, and post offices of more than 30 communities on the north and south sides of the Green River. With more than 600 families subject to having their lands acquired to establish the park, the situation in the Mammoth Cave region was very different from that of earlier national parks, such as Yellowstone. This day introduces participants to ideas of wilderness that were prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and that influenced the National Park movement. They will explore the sometimes complementary, sometimes competing ideologies of preservation and conservation to understand their impacts on wilderness areas and national parks. Participants will explore the subsequent impacts of removing people from their land and displacing them to other areas and the philosophies that governed this process. Participants will learn how to use documentary photographs, oral histories, and other archival material as primary resources to uncover forgotten histories of the parkÕs vanished communities. Day Five will be led by Mr. Robert Ward (Cultural Resource Specialist, Mammoth Cave National Park), Bruce Noble (xxx), and Dr. Lynwood Montell (Professor of Folk Studies, emeritus, Western Kentucky University).

Each session of "Mammoth Cave: People, Place, and History" will serve twenty-five community college faculty members. Full-time, part-time, and adjunct faculty are eligible to apply. The workshops are available to interested faculty from any relevant discipline, including (but not limited to) history, English, American studies, anthropology, geography, folk studies, political science, government/civics, environmental studies, economics, and regional studies. For complete eligibility and application guidelines please see the application information and instructions (enclosed, attached, or on-line). The selection committee will give priority to those applicants who seem most likely to benefit professionally and personally from the workshop experience. Among part-time faculty preference will be given to those who have at least three years of affiliation with their institution.

Mammoth Cave National Park is located in south-central Kentucky approximately halfway between Louisville, Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee. The nearest towns to the park are Brownsville, Cave City, and Park City, Kentucky. The nearest city is Bowling Green, Kentucky, the home of Western Kentucky University. It is located about 30 miles south of the park.

Mammoth Cave National Park encompasses 52,830 acres. The Green River roughly divides the park into northern and southern halves, while Nolin River flows north to south near the park's western border. In addition to the numerous sinkholes found throughout the park's karst topography, steep ridges, deep valleys, sinking streams, and springs characterize the terrain. Over 70 miles of trails provide access to the more scenic areas on the surface, while the cave is accessible by way of several different ranger-led tours. Underlying the park's forested acreage is the worldÕs longest cave. Mammoth Cave passageways are currently mapped to a distance of 365 miles, but exploration is on going and several thousand feet of new passage is mapped on a monthly basis. The park is open year round; the Visitor Center is closed only on Christmas Day.

The area's climate varies from hot, humid summers to cool, damp winters. Annual precipitation is approximately 50 inches. Temperatures during the summer months typically range from 90 ± 5°F for daytime highs with nights cooling down to 70 ± 5°F. Normal July precipitation is about 4.5 inches.

The workshops will be based at the Cave Research Foundation's Hamilton Valley Research Station. This facility is a combined research station, residential facility, and conference center on the edge of Mammoth Cave National Park. The facility has a large classroom/common area, a kitchen, men and women's restroom/showers, and two bunkhouses. It has two miles of wooded hiking trails.

The Mammoth Cave area is served by the Nashville (TN) International Airport (BNA) and Louisville (KY) International Airport (SDF). Each of these airports is approximately 100 miles from Mammoth Cave. We will arrange an airport shuttle from one or both of these airports from workshop participants (depending on the need). Cave City is also served by Greyhound Lines. Via automobile the area is easily reached from Interstate-65.

Housing will be available at the Cave Research Foundation's Hamilton Valley Center (dorm-style housing). The facility has two bunkhouses each with five bunkrooms. Each bunkroom has separately controlled heat/air conditioning units. The bunks at the Hamilton Valley Facility will be available for participants. Bunks will cost participants $12/night. For those who prefer less spartan accommodations, hotels are available nearby in Cave City, Kentucky.

The workshop is free to participants, and it carries a $500 stipend to help defray travel, lodging, and subsistence expenses. Some additional funding for travel will be available on a case-by-case basis.

Participants are expected to be present for all six days of the workshop, to master required readings, and to participate in all workshop activities. Participants will incorporate materials from the workshop into lessons that they will be able to use in their classrooms.

Application materials are available on this website. Please note the required online cover sheet available on the NEH website. Pay special attention to the brief essay that is part of the application. Remember to send three hard copies of your application (collated) to us at Western Kentucky University.

If you have questions or would like more information call 270-745-5132, email neh-landmark@wku.edu, or explore this site. We encourage you to consider joining us for one of these exciting workshops.

Sincerely

Rickard S. Toomey