A Heritage Approach at the New Ralph Wilson Park

The Houghton Chapter of the New York State Archaeological Association Presents: Katie Campos, RWPC executive director and Dr. Kathryn Grow Allen, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at SUNY Potsdam and Founder of Modern Anthro Consulting for a presentation on the Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy’s Heritage Engagement Project.

This lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Susan Maguire at (716) 878-6599

Heritage, a word popularized by UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre, focuses on tangible and intangible inheritances from the past. Archaeologists working in this field often focus on heritage that has survived hundreds or thousands of years into the present. But heritage as a lens can be useful at places comparably much younger. In this presentation, we share the Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy’s Heritage Engagement Project. This public engagement campaign, developed by Dr. Allen, is using a heritage perspective to connect an urban park redesign to local, regional, and global development goals. Our heritage approach is also being mobilized to share historical content, communicate science, tackle resistance to change, and encourage stewardship for the redesigned greenspace. Focusing on a synergy between past, present, and future, our project shows how heritage (and archaeologists trained in heritage) can make an impact in organizations outside the traditional heritage industry.