QUARTERLY MEETING

June 25, 2013 | Mare Island, near Vallejo

Chair: Cathy Garrett
Recorder: Larkin Owens
Attendees: Brian Collett, Patricia Cullinan, Jennifer de Graaf, Cathy Garrett, Janet Gracyk, Amber Grady, Ellen Johnck, Melissa Mourkas, Larkin Owens, Chris Pattillo, Valeria Vincent Sancisi, Meg Scantlebury, with speaker Myrna Hayes

Prior to the meeting, Myrna Hayes, along with Brian Collett, of the Mare Island Heritage Trust kindly led a brief tour of Mare Island, a National Historic Landmark that was established in 1854, as the US Navy's first permanent installation in the Pacific and closed in 1996. This tour highlighted the natural and cultural history of the southern portion of the peninsula. Our first stop was the Mare Island Cemetery, the Navy's oldest military cemetery in the Pacific, established in 1858. It is comprised of less than 1000 graves and maintains remnants of historic allées of eucalyptus, black acacia, cypress, and pepper. Myrna and Brian emphasized here the critical issue of unauthorized removal and replacement of several gravestones, as well as their recommendation that the City of Vallejo, as owner, conduct full-documentation of the cemetery in a cultural landscape report and proceed with long-term restoration and maintenance in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Treatment of Historic Landscapes. The second stop was the Rowser Garden, a small historic landscape within the 215-acre Mare Island Shoreline Heritage Preserve. Once the private garden of a former head groundskeeper, this landscape was uncovered and became accessible to the public in recent years following nearly 20 years of neglect and overgrowth. The garden features remnants of historic terraces and meandering paths of boiler brick, along with a natural amphitheater and diverse landscaping, surrounding the abandoned foundation of the original duplex home. As the physical climax of our tour, the Rowser Garden provides sweeping views of the Maritime Academy, the Carquinez Bridge, and the entire San Francisco Bay. Janet Gracyk and all members present offered a round of applause for such an interesting tour of Mare Island.

With no items to add to the agenda, Cathy Garrett officially called the HALS Northern California Chapter meeting to order at 5:19pm and began with introductions. Cathy announced that she will shortly be transitioning out of her role as Current Chair and, due to this shift in all three chair positions, enquired about suggestions and/or volunteers for a new incoming Secretary.

1. HALS Heroes report

   Chris Pattillo announced that the first HALS Heroes $1000 stipend was awarded to Fred Reichman following the confirmed receipt of the completed short-form documentation and measured drawings for Rancho Los Alamitos.

   Chris also reiterated Cate Bainton's suggestion to expand the HALS Heroes program to include and encourage photography, and highlighted the need to call upon people with large-format photography skills. Chris reported that Dane Pollok has recently submitted study photos for the Oakland Museum, which she shared with the group. She further expressed the need for feedback for him, as well as expertise to eventually adopt a program of evaluating photography based on NPS standards. Janet Gracyk offered to contact Brian Grogan and Steven Quiñones-Colón to see if they would be willing to review and comment on the photos.

   Note: Since our meeting, Janet has made contact with Brian and he has generously offered to help HALS Northern California Chapter and has provided feedback on this HALS photography.

2. SHPO meeting

   Cathy Garrett reminded the group that more than a dozen people attended the last SHPO meeting 4 years ago, which lasted a couple of hours. She is pleased to announce that we now have confirmation of another upcoming meeting with new California SHPO Officer Carol Roland Nawi and staff at 2pm on 7/25/2013 in Sacramento. In this meeting, Cathy will disseminate information on how HALS Northern California Chapter is structured (3 chairs - past, present, and future), determine what we can do to help each other, and create dialogue about what cultural landscapes are. Cathy also suggested that we meet for lunch prior to the meeting.

   Ellen Johnck added that we are interested in how we can help SHPO's office especially in light of projects such as the restoration of the Presidio, Downtown Oakland, and upcoming Pier 70. Ellen argued that National Register nominations are all about buildings, but wondered where landscapes are in this discussion and asked the question, does the SHPO's office have sufficient staff with cultural landscape expertise? Brian Collett echoed these sentiments, reminding us that the Mare Island Cemetery is an example of a resource that is particularly vulnerable, owned by the City of Vallejo.

   Cathy also mentioned that she spoke with Cindy Woodward at the recent California Preservation Foundation conference and she posed a general question about how can we use HALS to give people a better understanding of cultural landscapes. Chris Pattillo pointed out that when an issue surfaces, a successful avenue for municipalities to organize mitigation and funding is through exposure and engagement: show up at meetings, make requests, and tell them about HALS. This simple interaction benefits the community and creates a broader understanding of cultural landscapes. Melissa Mourkas also recommended that HALS Northern California Chapter establish a relationship with The Cultural Landscape Foundation's What's Out There program that raises awareness through a database of cultural landscapes around the country. Larkin Owens offered to reach out to Courtney Cook Spearman, who manages this program in DC, to determine how we might be able to link our websites and create dialogue.

   Cathy will confirm and report back on the location of the upcoming SHPO meeting. Since our last meeting, Cathy noted that the HALS Challenge and several new programs are in place. Her ultimate hope is that we're able illustrate the role of HALS so that we and the SHPO's office can work together to use it as a tool to raise awareness of cultural landscapes. Chris closed in noting that her hopeful agenda is to get more HALS work done, since a lot of it is done pro bono and not required.

3. 2013 HALS Challenge

   Chris Pattillo reminded members present that the theme of the 2013 HALS Challenge is to document historic landscapes that were designed by or for women. Chris briefly described the two short-form narratives that she completed for Elmshaven in St Helena (historic home of Ellen White, a founder of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church) and the Richards DAR House Museum in Mobile, Alabama (1860 Italianate home and current residence for local Alabama chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution). Chris described concerns from a past quarterly meeting about how to market and promote the Challenge, which resulted in a couple of published articles. As the NPS has still not received many submissions this year, Chris encouraged anyone able to complete a short-form history.

   Two possible subjects identified for next year's HALS Challenge include the documentation of historic landscapes of the Civil War (to coincide with the 150th anniversary) or the Civilian Conservation Corps. While there were exceptions noted, discussion ensued that Civil War landscapes largely occur on the East Coast and CCC landscapes in the West. Chris mentioned that the 2012 Latino Challenge could be perceived as being focused in the West.

   In any case, Chris reiterated that the 2013 HALS Challenge narratives are due by end of July. If anyone is interested, Chris recommended that volunteers reference the Chapter's Inventory List.

4. China Camp documentation update

   Ellen Johnck reminded the group that, when threatened with closure, China Camp was saved through local operating agreements and the efforts of Friends of China Camp in the quest to preserve our state parks. Listed on both the State and National Register, this cluster of shoreline structures that once supported the Chinese shrimp-harvesting industry in Marin County remains in fairly good condition. Having conducted research for the long-form documentation of China Camp, Ellen reported that she has now written about 13 pages that describe significance, the chronological historical narrative, and the natural characteristics of the site. She told the group that the report is currently in a readable format, but asked for feedback on how much more time she should spend on subject depth. Her report is currently over and above HALS requirements and photos are complete, but she could re-organize around the defined characteristics of a cultural landscape. Cathy Garrett agreed that this was a good question for the group, since the work is purely volunteer, and commended Ellen for her efforts.

   On a side note, Chris Pattillo mentioned that Berkeley City Club also wants to expand the 1.5-2 page report that has been completed, so she sent Olompali and Piedmont as examples.

   In terms of measured drawings for China Camp, Jennifer de Graaf reported that Valeria Vincent Sancisi is doing all the heavy lifting of AutoCAD. Valeria will share the drawings with Janet Gracyk for her portion of the drawings. Jennifer will have drawings printed for people to redline at the next meeting, even if they are a work in progress. Cathy again commended volunteer efforts and underscored the importance of setting goals for completion.

   Brian Collett questioned whether Ellen's narrative should be responsive to the drawings. Ellen stated that the narrative was edging there and all agreed that they must talk to each other. Chris Pattillo conveyed that it would be helpful to get the narrative in advance. Ellen, Jennifer, Valeria, and Janet all agreed to coordinate efforts for the next meeting and the group offered appreciation for work so far.

   Ellen also mentioned that she was recently honored with nomination to the City of San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission (former Landmark Board), which consists of five architects, one historian, and herself. She expressed excitement about bringing landscape into their dialogue. Ellen stated that she would be promoting HALS work, as well, within her cultural landscape class at UC Berkeley Extension.

5. HALS National ASLA Liaison Meeting Update

   Following a quarterly meeting the previous Tuesday, HALS Northern California Chapter Liaison Chris Pattillo discussed the ongoing national effort to identify a liaison for each state. A personal telephone call to potential candidates was one notion for raising interest.

   Chris also mentioned that the HALS subcommittee meeting will take place on Saturday at the ASLA conference in November 2013 and follows traditionally with dinner. As she received positive feedback the last time she presented in 2011 in D.C., Chris will also address the ASLA chapter presidents at this year's conference. She reported that since the HALS booth was previously a success, she is hoping that the HALS Liaisons be able to come up with another animated concept for an informational kiosk. HALS Liaison Marion Presley has also created a stellar lineup of ASLA conference tours specific to historic landscapes, which Chris encouraged interested members to join.

   In further news, Chris informed the group that the current HALS coordinator is stepping down with Chris Stevens of NPS to take over the role. Chris Stevens will most likely also conduct the HALS feature presentation at the next ASLA webinar.

   Chris Pattillo acknowledged, as well, that the qualification standards for historic landscape architects were taking such a long time to develop. She assured that the national HALS team is still moving forward, as they are currently reviewing comments and intend to publish them upon completion.

   As an ongoing issue that was not discussed at this national meeting, Chris reiterated the desire for a tripartite effort between ASLA (that seems to contribute some effort to HALS), NPS (which contributes quite a lot), and the Library of Congress (which never seems to fully engage).

   In culmination, Melissa Mourkas questioned whether liaisons are chosen by chapter or state. Melissa mentioned that the California Sierra Chapter comes to mind, even if they are not terribly active. Chris responded that Noel Vernon is working essentially alone as the Southern California Chapter, as well. Cathy Garrett stated that she believed it was fine for a state to have more than one liaison, to which Chris agreed. Chris encouraged anyone interested to throw their hat in the ring and get a local president to nominate them. Cathy commented on the program functioning as a vehicle for communicating and an opportunity to connect with other states. Chris agreed, highlighting the bridge that was created for her in completing the short-form documentation for this year's HALS Challenge in Alabama.

6. Announcements, upcoming events

   Janet Gracyk began by offering to report back on the CPF Building Codes for Historical Buildings and Sites case study workshop that was to be held at the Presidio last Thursday, 27 June 2013. Melissa Mourkas echoed that cultural landscapes were supposed to also be covered in this workshop as applied to the site.

   Cathy Garrett also reminded the group that the National Association of Olmsted Parks is hosting a two-part symposium on Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. in Washington, D.C., on 10-11 October 2013 and at Stanford on 27-28 March 2014. Cathy mentioned that many people do not realize how profound Olmsted Jr.'s work is in California, but argued that he was an accomplished renaissance man who lived somewhat in the shadow of his father. She believes this event will be scholarly and highly recommends attendance. Each symposium will cover entirely different content and aims to cover Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.'s work across the country.

7. Possible future meeting locations and speakers

   Melissa Mourkas reminded the group about a gentleman named Tom Gates, who specializes in tribal relations and ethnographic landscapes in the southwest where solar programs are proposed, would be a great resource for a future meeting presentation near Sacramento. Tom presently works for the California Energy Commission, but would be volunteering to present as a private citizen. All members present expressed great interest in a presentation on ethnographic landscapes, the fourth cultural landscape typology defined by NPS with which we do not often work. Cathy Garrett emphasized that HALS Northern California Chapter membership is diverse and that we should reflect this diversity in what we study. All agreed that we would like to better understand ethnographic landscapes and build this strength. Melissa highlighted what a great opportunity this is, as Tom is one of very few primetime ethnographers that do this type of work. Melissa agreed to confirm with Tom a potential Fall/Winter meeting date, depending on his workload.

   Ellen Johnck made the suggestion to solicit a site within the East Bay Regional Park District, as well, as there are more than 70+ parks and several with imminent tribal issues. Cathy and Ellen recommended that we reach out to Brian Wiese with the Park District and also suggested the Dunsmuir Hellman Historic Estate as one potential venue.

   Janet Gracyk suggested a potential meeting hosted by the NPS, with Sarah Raube identified as a potential contact. Janet also expressed interest in finding a Petaluma venue for the future.

   Confirmed dates of upcoming meetings are as follows:

   • Tuesday, 13 August 2013, 4pm - Lake Chalet, Oakland
   • Tuesday, 12 November 2013 - details forthcoming
   • Tuesday, 11 February 2014 (or the 18th or 25th)?
   • Tuesday, 13 May 2014 - Petaluma venue organized by Janet Gracyk

   Cathy Garrett mentioned once more that we are searching for an incoming Secretary, if anyone is interested or knows of a potential candidate. The incoming Secretary is responsible for taking meeting notes and disseminating them to the group, current Chair conducts meetings, and past Chair sets up meetings and events. Cathy emphasized that candidates truly learn this position by doing and have a lot of support throughout the process.