UF Historic Preservation Program

DCP doctoral candidate Sarah E. Miller has been awarded a 2026 Dissertation Research Scholarship from the The Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) in support of summer dissertation research focused on cultural planning and Gullah/Geechee heritage landscapes in Northeast Florida.
The SHA Dissertation Research Scholarship program supports graduate students conducting travel and research related to dissertations in historical archaeology, defined as the study of material remains and historical evidence from the fifteenth century to the present. Funding from the award will support stipends for Gullah/Geechee community members participating in Community Conversations about Heritage at Risk (CCHAR) sessions and pilot cultural mapping initiatives connected to descendant-informed preservation planning and cultural landscape documentation.
Additional information about the 2026 SHA Dissertation Research Scholarship cycle is available through the SHA Awards and Grants Program.

The first week of PIN is in the books! Always a whirlwind, the week started out with dinner at the Faculty Cottages on Sunday night, followed by introductary presentations and a lively discussion of Nathaniel Philbrick's Away Offshore. New NPT Director, Rita Carr, led the group on a private tour of Upper Main Street to learn about the early wealthy residents and whaling history of the island. Chief Curator & Obed Macy Research Chair, Mike Harrison, spoke to the students about whaling, race, and how the NHA looks to tell the full story of Nantucket's history. Finally, the group toured the Boston-Higginbotham house and the African Meeting House (and dodged the rain!), walk their summer study area, and started to learn about the architecture of Nantucket. After such a full week, they more than earned their first trip to get ice cream at The Juice Bar!
And most importantly, huge thanks to Betsy Tyler and Marsha Fader who are joining the students and PIN Faculty again this year--you ladies are a research power team, and the students are so lucky to have you to learn from!

Welcome PIN2026! We are so glad you are here and cannot wait to see where the summer takes us. Follow along each week as we explore the island, learn about historic preservation, archival research, and the joys of beach "bond"fires!

Getting set up for PIN each summer takes time and a village! For the second year in a row, PIN alum Sal Cumella came and helped Dr. Cleary Larkin and PIN Co-Director, Erica Mollon, get things ready for the students. Local architect (and also a PIN alum!), Marsha Fader, took them on a walking tour around the neighborhoods 'in town' to look at architecture in between yard clean ups and planting window boxes at the dorms. We are looking forward to meeting our new group of students this week, but we truly value the help of our alums!

Congratulations to Dr. Cleary Larkin who was selected to serve as selected to serve as one of six 2026 Modernism in America Awards jury members. Presented by Docomomo US, the awards are in their 13th year and are the only national program to recognize and celebrate the documentation, preservation and reuse of modern buildings, structures and landscapes. To learn more about the awards and the other jury members please visit https://docomomo-us.org/events/modernism-in-america-awards

It was a great day at the Crystal River Archaeological State Park for the Heritage Documentation class. Nigel Rudolph, RPA and UFHP alum, led a powerful and engaging tour of the site that mined the archaeological record and created a deep connection to the daily lives of the pre-contact cultures that lived on this site for thousands of years. Thanks, for the wonderful tour!

This week the Director of the Historic Preservation Program, Dr. Cleary Larkin, celebrated with our Spring 2026 Graduates. A huge congratulations to Dr. Hisham Khafaji and Dr. Michael Murphy who earned their PhDs in Design, Construction and Planning with a concentration in Historic Preservation, and to Haley Weltzien, Eric Romo, and Delaney Cecere for earning their Master of Historic Preservation degrees! We are so proud of each of you and look forward to seeing the contributions you make to the field!

One week left to apply for our summer field program--Preservation Institute Nantucket! This summer, in addition to exploring the island, participants will help us unravel the mystery of where early residents of the New Guinea neighborhood went, and become architectural archaeologists looking for clues hidden deep within some of the remaining buildings to discover if earlier buildings are in fact hidden in plain sight. A summer at PIN's 8 week program will expand your knowledge or historic preservation while you create memories and friendships that last a lifetime.
Learn more and apply at https://dcp.ufl.edu/historic-preservation/pin/ (link also available in our bio!)

Event Announcement! "The Road to Old Florida" (2026) is a documentary short film produced by the University of Florida Historic Preservation Program. The film examines stewardship across four of Florida’s 47 National Historic Landmarks: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park in Cross Creek, Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Fort Barrancas in Pensacola, and the Norman Film Studios in Jacksonville.

Each site operates under a different stewardship model and represents a distinct chapter in Florida’s cultural heritage. Together, they pose a central question in the field of historic preservation: what does it take to protect the places that define us, and what happens when that work goes unfinished?

Directed by historic preservation student Eric Romo, the film is presented by the University of Florida Historic Preservation Program. It premieres on April 28, 2026, at the Matheson History Museum in Gainesville, Florida.

Dr. Linda Stevenson's Documentation class spent a beautiful morning at the Evergreen Cemetery in Gainesville, learning about Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) as a tool for documenting and interpreting below-ground heritage. We learned how this tool is used in preserving historic cemeteries with Rachael Kangas, M.A., RPA, Director, West Central () & Central Regions (), and Nigel Rudolph, RPA, and MHP Alum, colleagues from the Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN). For more information about FPAN visit their website at www.fpan.us/about/overview and for more information on the historic Evergreen Cemetery visit https://www.thiswondrousplace.org/