 My name is Milan Jordan and I'm Director of the Hope Crew. And Hope Crew is an acronym that stands for Hands-On Preservation Experience. The National Trust created this initiative to give people experience in the preservation trades because there was an extreme shortage in preservation trade-skilled labor. Our HBCU Digital Documentation Fellowships are powered by the Action Fund and act as an extension of the work to sustain HBCUs into the future. The first year of the Digital Documentation Fellowship was a partnership with three HBCUs, Prairie View A&M University, Tuskegee University, and Florida A&M University. I'm a fourth-year architect major here at Tuskegee University. I came to Tuskegee because of architecture. I always had a loveful design of buildings. When I was younger, I used to go with my uncles. We look at houses and when I walk in, you know, they're looking at the size of space, you know, thinking like, okay, I can put this over here, but I was looking at the crown molding on the type of material that was used inside the houses and that always fascinated me, so that's why I came to Tuskegee. Jordan is really just an amazing student. When he came in freshman year, I was his faculty for Design Studio. So to see his growth in taking on historic preservation, he has a knack for working with his hands. I love working with my hands. It means a lot to me to know that I can have a vision in my head and then I can put my hands on certain things and bring that vision to life. Favorite part of the whole crew fellowship this summer was creating the historic narrative because during the research, I really got into understanding the Armstrong School, the reason behind it for real. Just talking about it now, getting the chills in my body, just thinking about it. It showed really how the community came together to reach a collective end goal. We were really looking to expose the students to a number of hands on learning experiences as well as documentation and storytelling technologies. Everything from GIS mapping, laser scanning, geotagging, the technologies that you need to tell today's stories about the past. Jordan, I got to work alongside him as his mentor on this project. We had a lot of one-on-one sessions talking about the site. And I could see enthusiasm shift once he did his research, but once he entered the site, he went to the site and he talked with Miss Woody, the site representative, and walked the grounds and talked about how his project is going to benefit them. The level of excitement that I saw he brought to the project after having that engagement with her and with the site was really cool to see. And just knowing that all of the students in their own way are getting to experience that. My name is Dorothy. I'm Dorothy Mapson Woody. Several years ago, I met Dr. Daniels up in Huntsville, Alabama. And of course, we went out in the country and there was a church with a little cemetery and a little schoolhouse. And it was a beautiful schoolhouse and it looked so much like our schoolhouse. And I had some pictures and I said, guess what? I have a schoolhouse down in Macon County. He said, can I see it? I said, of course you can. I could hardly contain myself because this is where I want all these years. Someone to come aboard and help me save this schoolhouse. That project is one that is very near and dear to me because it's one of the oldest remaining rural school buildings that were erected during Booker T. Washington's era. And it is a testament to the seriousness that we've always had as a people as it relates to education. And so to have a student over 120 years later assisting in the restoration of that schoolhouse, conducting historic research on it, looking at how can we use advanced technology like laser scanning and photogrammetry and to support the work that we're doing is really, really amazing. Being on the ground with the students and seeing each one of the projects is really when it came to life for all of us. Over the summer I had the privilege of working with the National Trust and the Hope Crew and developing a digital documentation workshop for the Armstrong School to help bring a public face to the site. The importance of this site cannot be overstated. When you think about enslavement and the legacies of enslavement, you can look at those things that are oppressive experiences for African Americans and you can look at things that were joyful experiences for African Americans. And what I like to focus on is this idea of black self-determination coming out of enslavement, emancipation, reconstruction, Jim Crow. And if our stories and our history is going to be mainstream history, then it starts with places like this and documenting places like this because this is our history. The schoolhouse almost got torn down. They kept saying that this whole building is an eyesore, but I knew it was a historic building. I knew it. The National Register of Historic Places is a nationally steward program that is really a tool for sites to lock into grant opportunities and also preserve the written history of the site and the physical landscape. We really do recognize the National Register as an important way to preserve a site. And instead of just focusing on the Armstrong School, which is what a lot of energy, importantly, has been put towards, we're looking at this National Register nomination as an entire district. The contributing features to the district are the school, the cemetery, and the church building. I told them just the other week, I said, I want this to become a reality before I leave here because, you know, I'm 73 years young and I really want to see my baby. I want to see my baby saved. Working with the Hope Crew this summer helped me personally understand what I wanted out of architecture, out of my career in the future. The community is important to me because it takes a village. You can try to do everything on your own, nothing stronger than being a group or a community itself. If you have a strong community and a strong environment, I believe personally that you can thrive through all obstacles that come your way. The Digital Documentation Fellowship seems to have touched each one of the fellows in a very different way. We've seen them grow, evolve, get professional training, find new avenues of interest and really see themselves in the movement. Many of our fellows are interested in exploring advanced degrees, master's degrees in architecture and preservation now as well too. Entrepreneurship, they got a taste of what it was like to lead teams and to work independently and they really see that as a part of their future in path now as well. You know, the fellows have worked so hard to design projects that are benefiting their community and I'm hoping that that continues after we leave. We've given them the tools and allowed them to make those connections locally with people doing preservation and we're hoping not only can we assist in that continuing but that they will personally continue the work after we leave. After training my bachelor's degree here at Tuskegee Bachelor's Architecture, I plan on going and thinking about my master's in historic preservation. After that I want to take my licensure in architecture and open my own firm, help developing the community around me, making it stronger and better for the future.