Summer Field School Offers Hands-on Preservation Experience

Students in this year’s 17th annual UO Pacific Northwest Preservation Field School can learn carpentry and other preservation skills at sites in Olympic National Park in August and September. The field school offers opportunities for both novices and professionals interested in historic preservation to gain experience and fine-tune skills.

The first session runs August 14–26 with subsequent sessions continuing into early September. This year’s locations in Olympic National Park range from the Pacific Ocean coastline to remote mountainous terrain.

“You get a really great chance to work with master craftsman in a smaller, direct group setting,” explains program co-coordinator Carl Williams. “It’s a great learning process where you learn about the historic context of the site while doing preservation work.”

Rotating annually among Washington, Oregon and Idaho, the venue this year offers a two-week wilderness camping experience a mile inland from the Pacific Ocean at the Peter A. Roose Homestead, and two one-week sessions at the Sol Duc Falls Shelter with dorm-style housing. All sessions will allow students to hone their carpentry expertise in preserving historic sites.

Participants in the sessions can earn two undergraduate or graduate credit hours from the University of Oregon for each one-week session. Participants are responsible for their own transportation to and from the park. The sessions cost $900 for one week and $1,350 for two weeks. Cost includes instruction, academic credit (optional), study materials, room and board, and field trips. Program expenses can be deferred through limited scholarship funding by the Pilgrims Progress Fellowship and the Director’s Fellowship.

Applications should be sent to hp.uoregon.edu/fieldschools or by emailing pnwfs@uoregon.edu. Applications received by May 2 will be given preference.

Sponsors for the Field School include: the University of Oregon Historic Preservation Program, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Park Service, Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, Washington State Parks and the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.