Sherrrie Leigh Singleton

Dr. Earl Mulderink

History 2710

April 18, 2006

Saving Our Past With Photos

Service Learning Project Assignment

Project Title: Landscape Survey of Selected Farms in Iron County

Project’s intended audience and beneficiaries:

I believe that this project would be one that anyone could benefit from. Historical preservation helps our nation’s states, cities and individuals identify, evaluate, protect and preserve historical properties for the future. Yet, there will still be places that will not be safe, because they do not fall under the guidelines of historical preservation. Mother Nature herself can wipe out whole cities at one time, as we have seen with the New Orleans tragedy. The best way that anyone will know what historically was on a certain piece of land will be by photographs and documentation. Families looking for their histories will find the need for past photographs. They will need to see what their past looked liked, where their father, mother or grandparents grew up, and what society was like. In the Historic American Landscape survey, NPS HALS program quotes:

Historical landscapes are special places. They are important touchstones of national, regional, and local identity. They foster a sense of community and place. Historic landscapes are also fragile places. They are affected by the forces of nature, and by commercial and residential development, vandalism and neglect. They undergo changes that are often unpredictable and irreversible. For these reasons and for the benefit of future generations, it is important to document these places.

Local contact persons or agency:

When I received this assignment, I knew exactly who I was going to get help from - Janet Seegmiller. Janet is someone I have got to know over the years because of my interest and love for the history of Cedar City and the people who lived in it. Janet knew exactly what she would like me to work on and new that it would be something that I would love and be interested in. She brought up the subject of photographing the agricultural areas left around Cedar and Enoch Valley. Needless to say, she did not have to convince me. I know this project has needed to be completed for a long time. When I moved back to Cedar after living away for only four years and started to drive around town I realized how many things had changed, in what to me seemed like such a short time. After beginning the first steps of this project, I realized that this project is one, as you said, “ambitious.” I was scared at that phrase, but soon understood that I could do it. I know that I still have a long way to go, but I will reach the end of this tough road. To do a proper job of the photographing and documenting will take time and a lot of new learning for myself. But I guess there is really no better way to learn something, then to just dive in. Janet gave me a tremendous amount of help at the start and really got me going. I also spoke with Ryan Paul, curator of the Iron County Mission Park and asked for his advice. We spoke about best ways to complete this project. He told me that this project would be very important for the museum. He was the person who constantly gave me new ideas and exact areas to focus on so that the pictures could one day be a part of the Iron County Mission Park. I have also been over to the Iron County Clerks Office. This began my first learning experience: reading plat maps. Here is a basic summary of what I learned: Whatever area you are looking for comes in a numbered grid area. From there you go to other maps that are a blown up detail of that area. This gives you the information of the people who have had possession of the property, how large the piece is, and how the property lay longitudinally and latitudinal, etc. The county’s records go back to 1887. These records sit in and old, abandoned, dusty record’s room. When I told the ladies that were working there what I was set out to do, they grinned and said, “I could have at ‘er.” I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt about their sarcasm. Let’s just say, that I have seen some pretty messed up record’s rooms, but none could compare to this. The lack of technology with the records made the documents, especially the older ones, extremely difficult to read and understand. For example, in the 1800s someone could have signed an “X” for a signature instead of a real name. I can’t complain entirely about the record’s room though, for there were a few updated records that made researching a cinch.

Workload to complete the project and Timetable:

Studied how to take pictures 5 hours

Researched historical information for landscape surveys 2 hours

(See Appendix A)

Joined Sherratt Library with HALS 1 hour

(See Appendix B)

Bought camera and learned the mechanics of it 4 hours

Started taking pictures of historical landscape 3 hours

Visited Iron County Recorder’s Office in Parowan for plot maps 3 hours

Studied Iron County Plats 3 hours

Talked to Cedar City farmers 2 hours

Photographed Clemont Adams Farm 1 hour

(See Appendix E)

Research Clemont Adams Farm 2 hours

(See Appendix C and D)

Typed service learning report 4 hours

Made picture page and documented Clemont Adams Farm 3 hours

(See Appendix E)

_______

Total hours on Service Learning Project 33 hours

As shown through this table, I have completed the required hours for this class, and then some. Despite all the hours and work already put into this project, I am far from done. I will continue working on this project throughout the summer with Janet Seegmiller. Also, it is my goal to be able to collect old photographs and stories from the elderly to supplement this project. The Historical Library has boxes of artifacts people have donated. Janet and I would like to go through them and fill in the gaps of farms that have already been destroyed. I am very dedicated to this project and even though it looks like it will take me a few years to complete, I will not stop until the end has been reached.

Technology Related Sources:

The technological resource I used the most was a digital camera. I was so grateful that this resource was available and that it has become so advanced in this day and age. Photography is crucial to this project. It seems like one day you drive by something and the next day it is gone – that is why everything needs to be captured on film – and why I heavily relied on my newly purchased digital camera. (See Appendix F). The other resources I used are found within the computer. First and foremost the Internet was used to research the historical aspects of the farms. I also used the picture application on Microsoft Word to edit and download the photos I took. And finally, I used Microsoft Word to type up my report.

Connections to other service-learning projects:

It is my dream that this project will lead to the documentation and photographing of all architectural aspects of Cedar. I would like a book to be compiled that starts displaying houses in the 1800s continuing through the post-war era house, and finishing up with the Sears and Roebuck houses. This project needs to be started immediately so that these precious, historical homes will not be forgotten. We can’t move all these houses to the Iron Mission that is why it is critical they be recorded for future generations to appreciate.

Reflection Statement:

I came to a realization how fast our old heritage is evaporating into thin air because of the substantial growth we are seeing. I was the last year born in the old Cedar hospital and have lived the majority of my life in Cedar, and all of my life in Southern Utah. I love this town. My passion for this area cannot be measured. Keeping the past alive through photographs is deeply important to me. I can remember singing Wild Fire as I rode my horse through the fields that how are covered in quarter million dollar homes. I can’t bare to see the past be erased. The people who started this town poured their heart and souls into its success…how can we let that go unnoticed? How can we let all the hard work, dedication, and commitment dwindle down to highways, businesses, and fashion homes? I will not let it happen. I will make sure that proper documentation will be completed and that it will be accessible to the public. I thought my love for this town was great before, but from doing this project it has only swelled within my heart. This project has even brought me to tears because of the carelessness of society to preserve history and the destruction of so many great farms and homes that has taken place. I want my grandchildren to be able to see this project one day and be able to reflect on their past, understanding that there were those who came before them, those that shaped the future’s success they feel today.

Appendices

Appendix A

Historical American Landscape Guidelines for Photography

Appendix B

Historical American Landscape Survey – Growth of an Idea: Establishing the Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS)

Appendix C

Historic Landscape Initiative

Appendix D

Built in America: Index to photographs

Appendix E

Clemont Adams Farm photographs and documentation

Appendix F