BOONE - Professor Kristen Deathridge, Assistant Professor in the Department of History, was recently appointed to the North Carolina State National Registry Advisory Council (NRAC).
The appointment, made by the State Historic Preservation Office of the North Carolina Cultural Resources Department, came as a shock to Dr. Deathridge, when she received the letter at the end of August.
"It's not something that I applied for or sought out in anyway. They called me and asked me! I had met some people in the State Historic Preservation Office before, through the work that I do with students here on campus and also through a Preservation North Carolina conference, so I assume that is how they were aware of me."
It may have been Dr. Deathridge's background in archaeology and historical preservation that stood her out to the State Historic Preservation Office.
The National Register has five main criteria for protecting sites, focusing on architectural significance, historic preservation, and archaeological importance. Dr. Deathridge's Masters degree is in archaeology, and her Ph.D. is in Public History from Middle Tennessee State University.
"For the most part, I'm a lifelong Tennessean. This is my third year in North Carolina, so one of the things i'm actually excited about, through the process of reviewing these nominations is that I'm going to get to know North Carolina and North Carolina history better."
NRAC meets three times a year in Raleigh to review all of the the potential nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, set up in 1966 by the National Historic Preservation Act.
The appointment is for two years, with the possibility to serve 3 terms back to back. There are 12 people on the board, made up of preservationist, public historians and archaeologists. The meetings, which are open to the public, are largely attended by property owners, the people who prepare the nominations, and graduate students from local programs. Dr. Deathridge's first meeting was this week.
You can learn more about Professor Deathridge on her website k10deathridge.org.