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Keep plugging away, Drew and Emmanuel.
Students Fight to Preserve War Site
By Elizabeth Conway
The Bullet - University of Mary Washington
September 28, 2006
Two historic preservation majors have taken on a mission to preserve a site where confederate soldiers placed cannons during the civil war in 1862.
What appears to be an odd, overgrown pile of earth behind Jefferson Hall is actually a Lunette, which is the barrier earthen work that protected the cannon so it could be fired upon oncoming troops and minimize the risk to the soldiers firing it.
“Much of the Fredericksburg battlefield has been marred from appreciation due to development in the post-World War Two era,” says a junior member of the historic preservation club as well as a historic preservation major, Emmanuel Dabney. “As Fredericksburg continues to rapidly grow, more unpreserved land will be lost and this should not be another place forgotten.”
Many students of historic preservation have learned about the importance and meaning of the lunette, but no one has yet to take action on further preservation of the fortification. That was until two active students, Drew Gruber and Kate Egner, decided to help with maintaining the preservation of the lunette, with the help of other enthusiastic students.
Though there has been some erosion to the actual lunette because of time and the occasional bikers, it has remained very true to its original form. According to Dean Chirico, dean of students, this preservation is not because of any state or school mandate but rather the school’s respect for the history surrounding it.
“The lunette is in such a great current state because it has adequate tree coverage to prevent run off, and over exposure to natural elements,” said Gruber. “Likewise, it is technically off the beaten path for NPS [National Park Service] tourists and general public as well! It is one of few in such a good condition in the area.”
Gruber and Egner set up a meeting with Cedric Rucker, Dean of Student Life, and Bernard Chirico, Vice President of Student Affairs and Student Dean, for Sept. 21. Both deans had positive things to say about the meeting with the two students.
“Both Kate and Drew were very professional but at the same time very engaging,” said Chirico. “They has their information together, they came in knowing they were proposing something and that there would be a discussion. I never felt that they were making any sort of a demand instead they presented a way to work this out and different ways to think about.”
The meeting held between the two students and the two deans was just a preliminary meeting and mainly informative on both sides. The students wanted to know where to go with their plans for further preservation of the lunette and the Deans wanted to hear their ideas about how to preserve it.
According to Chirico the next step is for him to take the ideas to the president. He believes after this there will then be some discussions with the board of visitors.
Though their were many possibilities put forth on the table by the students to Chirico and Rucker, the first and foremost was further preservation of the lunette and then the second was to make it more information readily available to students. According to Chirico the dream goal of Gruber and Egner is to possibly bring back either replica cannon or the original cannon, which has been tracked to the Gettysburg National Park Service.
“The two most important actions that can be done is first and foremost, a sign that simply states ‘Keep off earthworks,’” says Dabney. “These are resources that cannot be made original again and the best preservation method is to keep people off it as much as possible. Allowing grass to grow on it is also important to mitigate soil erosion.”
Though continued preservation is a main goal of the historic preservation club as a whole, the lunette does not seem to be in immediate danger. “We do not think it’s threatened, we want to see that is continued to be preserved,” said Douglas Sanford, associate professor and director of the historic preservation department. “Although I know there has been some damage because of people riding their mountain bikes on it.”
This extensive research about the lunette has taken hard work from not only Gruber and Egner but also with the best wishes of multiple alumni and concerned students. According to Sanford, talks about further preservation of the Lunette on Mary Washington’s campus have only come up in the past year.
“This in a broad sense reflects the greater American interest in the civil war. There has obviously been interest but that has grown in the last 5 to 10 years. The popularity of reenactment is part of that as well. This has come up in the past year in terms of the club finding a couple members to take the lead on this,” says Sanford.
Dean Rucker and Chirico agreed that the lunette is an important part of the historic campus but had some worries that increased awareness, especially to the public could bring too many tourists. “This is a campus, and they understood that,” said Rucker. “We are seeking to balance the issue of liability and heavy traffic and heighten awareness about it.”
Dean Chirico also agreed with Rucker on the worry of heighten awareness about the lunette to others outside of the student body. According to Chirico, he voiced concerns with what it would do to destruction of a historic area if more people became aware of the lunette and they starting walking all over the site, but he says that they not only had good responses but also supported their ideas with data.
“I think it represents who our students are and I think it represents well the education they’ve been getting,” says Chirico. “Not just historic preservation students but just generally, the good thinking that they were doing and they are very committed to this.”
Eric
Students Fight to Preserve War Site
By Elizabeth Conway
The Bullet - University of Mary Washington
September 28, 2006
Two historic preservation majors have taken on a mission to preserve a site where confederate soldiers placed cannons during the civil war in 1862.
What appears to be an odd, overgrown pile of earth behind Jefferson Hall is actually a Lunette, which is the barrier earthen work that protected the cannon so it could be fired upon oncoming troops and minimize the risk to the soldiers firing it.
“Much of the Fredericksburg battlefield has been marred from appreciation due to development in the post-World War Two era,” says a junior member of the historic preservation club as well as a historic preservation major, Emmanuel Dabney. “As Fredericksburg continues to rapidly grow, more unpreserved land will be lost and this should not be another place forgotten.”
Many students of historic preservation have learned about the importance and meaning of the lunette, but no one has yet to take action on further preservation of the fortification. That was until two active students, Drew Gruber and Kate Egner, decided to help with maintaining the preservation of the lunette, with the help of other enthusiastic students.
Though there has been some erosion to the actual lunette because of time and the occasional bikers, it has remained very true to its original form. According to Dean Chirico, dean of students, this preservation is not because of any state or school mandate but rather the school’s respect for the history surrounding it.
“The lunette is in such a great current state because it has adequate tree coverage to prevent run off, and over exposure to natural elements,” said Gruber. “Likewise, it is technically off the beaten path for NPS [National Park Service] tourists and general public as well! It is one of few in such a good condition in the area.”
Gruber and Egner set up a meeting with Cedric Rucker, Dean of Student Life, and Bernard Chirico, Vice President of Student Affairs and Student Dean, for Sept. 21. Both deans had positive things to say about the meeting with the two students.
“Both Kate and Drew were very professional but at the same time very engaging,” said Chirico. “They has their information together, they came in knowing they were proposing something and that there would be a discussion. I never felt that they were making any sort of a demand instead they presented a way to work this out and different ways to think about.”
The meeting held between the two students and the two deans was just a preliminary meeting and mainly informative on both sides. The students wanted to know where to go with their plans for further preservation of the lunette and the Deans wanted to hear their ideas about how to preserve it.
According to Chirico the next step is for him to take the ideas to the president. He believes after this there will then be some discussions with the board of visitors.
Though their were many possibilities put forth on the table by the students to Chirico and Rucker, the first and foremost was further preservation of the lunette and then the second was to make it more information readily available to students. According to Chirico the dream goal of Gruber and Egner is to possibly bring back either replica cannon or the original cannon, which has been tracked to the Gettysburg National Park Service.
“The two most important actions that can be done is first and foremost, a sign that simply states ‘Keep off earthworks,’” says Dabney. “These are resources that cannot be made original again and the best preservation method is to keep people off it as much as possible. Allowing grass to grow on it is also important to mitigate soil erosion.”
Though continued preservation is a main goal of the historic preservation club as a whole, the lunette does not seem to be in immediate danger. “We do not think it’s threatened, we want to see that is continued to be preserved,” said Douglas Sanford, associate professor and director of the historic preservation department. “Although I know there has been some damage because of people riding their mountain bikes on it.”
This extensive research about the lunette has taken hard work from not only Gruber and Egner but also with the best wishes of multiple alumni and concerned students. According to Sanford, talks about further preservation of the Lunette on Mary Washington’s campus have only come up in the past year.
“This in a broad sense reflects the greater American interest in the civil war. There has obviously been interest but that has grown in the last 5 to 10 years. The popularity of reenactment is part of that as well. This has come up in the past year in terms of the club finding a couple members to take the lead on this,” says Sanford.
Dean Rucker and Chirico agreed that the lunette is an important part of the historic campus but had some worries that increased awareness, especially to the public could bring too many tourists. “This is a campus, and they understood that,” said Rucker. “We are seeking to balance the issue of liability and heavy traffic and heighten awareness about it.”
Dean Chirico also agreed with Rucker on the worry of heighten awareness about the lunette to others outside of the student body. According to Chirico, he voiced concerns with what it would do to destruction of a historic area if more people became aware of the lunette and they starting walking all over the site, but he says that they not only had good responses but also supported their ideas with data.
“I think it represents who our students are and I think it represents well the education they’ve been getting,” says Chirico. “Not just historic preservation students but just generally, the good thinking that they were doing and they are very committed to this.”
Eric
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