Five Florida State University graduate students recently experienced a week of hands-on learning in historic preservation, diverse architectural expression, and notable landscape studies at historic sites through the country’s premier organization supporting the preservation and interpretation of vernacular buildings and landscapes.

Assistant professor of history Kathleen Powers Conti, a public historian and preservation professional, was awarded the Ambassadors Award from the Vernacular Architecture Forum to facilitate travel to Delaware for five of her graduate students to travel with her to attend the five-day 2025 VAF conference, “From New Castle to Sussex: Big Stories from a Small State,” in May.

“This award allowed my students to get hands-on, collaborative learning experiences with experts from all over the world,” Conti said. “It was a great opportunity for them to learn about local architecture directly from site experts, and a transformational experience to see these sites in person, handle historic materials and ask questions.”

Established in 1979, the VAF promotes a broad and inclusive interpretation of everyday built environments, including houses of worship for different religions and historic farmlands. The VAF provides opportunities like the annual conference to expose students to professional connections and career opportunities in public history and historic preservation. The forum encourages a deeper understanding of how and why people make and use buildings and landscapes, tying into Conti’s research on the preservation and interpretation of places with “difficult heritage” — sites of trauma, contested history or atrocities.

At the conference in Wilmington, Delaware, Conti presented her research on the community space and history of Tallahassee’s Railroad Square with assistance from some of her graduate students who helped document the historic site. One of Conti’s former students, Hope Evans, also presented her research on Smitty’s Club, a past staple of Tallahassee social life. Evans recently accepted a position as a historic preservationist with the Florida Department of State after earning her bachelor’s degree from the Department of History in 2022 and her master’s degree in public history in May 2025.

“It’s one thing to hear your professor talking about a historic building and reading about its significance,” Conti said. “It’s such a radically different experience to get the chance to explore a landscape yourself, see how it was built, and study how it was preserved for hundreds of years.”

Throughout the week, students explored four centuries of history along the Delaware River via bus tours, historic excursions and site visits to notable buildings and landscapes dating from the 17th to 20th centuries, including the Rockwood Park & Museum, which was built in 1854 and features Gothic Revival architecture. They also interviewed current residents and employees at the historic sites to learn about current preservation efforts.

“This conference was a special opportunity to meet scholars and professionals I’ve read about in my classes and expand my network,” said Aidan MacKinlay, a student currently pursuing a master’s in history. “Visiting privately-owned historical homes and meeting with the owners to hear their stories gave me an up-close-and-personal experience with each building. Having this opportunity made me incredibly grateful for my graduate school coursework, the peers with whom I got to share these experiences and Dr. Conti.”

Conti joined FSU’s faculty in 2022 and teaches courses in historic preservation and public history as well as American, architectural and environmental histories. Her research has been supported by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Park Service, the Woodrow Wilson Center, the Association for Preservation Technology, the Society for Architectural Historians, Dumbarton Oaks, P.E.O. International and the Mellon Urban Initiative.

In earning the Ambassadors Award, Conti facilitated experiences for her students including touring Hagley Museum and Library, a 235-acre open air museum that houses a gunpowder factory built in 1802, known as the birthplace of the DuPont Company; the New Castle Court House Museum, one of the oldest courthouses in the U.S. and Delaware’s first court and state capitol; and the historic home and farm of Poplar Hall, which features stone construction that was rare for the modes of masonry used in the area.

“The self-guided tours showed me what preservation looks like in real life in all different forms,” said Gabrielle Camp, another first-year history master’s student. “While walking around Delaware, I got to practice the skills I’d been reading about in my courses like identifying building types, evaluating interpretive strategies for museums and more. My biggest takeaway from this conference is to not be afraid to initiate conversations.”

MiKayla Cole and Adam Beauchamp, both pursuing doctoral degrees, also attended the conference with the group thanks to the award funds.

For more information about research conducted in the Department of History, visit history.fsu.edu.