A “plan to heal their hearts”: The lives of Ann and Tat

From 1861 to 1904, Miss Harriet Colfax served as keeper of the federal lighthouse at Michigan City, Indiana. For the full 43 years of her service her companion, Miss Ann Hartwell, lived with her. While original source documents are a record of the lives of “Ann and Tat,” as they were known to their friends, newspaper articles published during their lives and in the decades after their passing (both in 1905) provide insights on the ways they were seen and their relationship described. A difference is noted after their deaths, with an apparent distancing of Ann from Harriet. Through reporting and analysis of news articles details, are revealed about Harriet Colfax and her relationship with Ann Hartwell. A sort of disappearing of that relationship in the news, and an official distancing by the historical society now managing the lighthouse as a museum, are described. While there is no specific evidence that Ann and Tat were lesbians, there is similarly no evidence that they were not. This leads to an exploration of a lens of queer possibility and thoughts on interpreting LGBTQIA+ stories at parks, protected areas, and heritage sites

Effectiveness of Informal Two-way Interpretation in National Parks

This is a study about the effectiveness of natural and cultural resource-based communication or “interpretation” as practiced in national parks of the United States. Specifically, it focuses on informal interpretation, extemporaneous or unplanned encounters between park officials and visitors, in five units of the National Park System. The stated aim of interpretation is to build connections between visitors and park resources. This study asked questions about the effectiveness of informal efforts enhance the experience of park natural and cultural resources for visitors, from their perspective as opposed to that of the park officials. This study, based in dialogue theory, tested an approach to park communication referred to here as two-way, dialogic interpretation. Qualities of two-way, dialogic communication were identified and then observed in informal encounters between park officials and visitors. Visitors were interviewed between three and thirty-six months after their visit. An assessment of interview data, specifically visitor recall of the experience, compared against ethnographic records of the encounters were used as a measure of the power or effectiveness of the qualities of two-way, dialogic interpretation in enhancing recall. In addition, an assessment of the priority given to informal interpretation was performed through content analysis of various planning and management documents from the parks studied. Results indicated that employment of the identified qualities of two-way, dialogic interpretation had little effect on visitor recall of their park experience. It appears, according to this study, that the place itself and the natural and cultural resources protected in the parks are at the very center of the visitors’ recall. In essence, the study’s results indicate that what an interpreter says or how they say it is far less important than the actual resource-based experience that the visitor has. This phenomenon is discussed and recommendations for further study are made

A “plan to heal their hearts”: The lives of Ann and Tat

From 1861 to 1904, Miss Harriet Colfax served as keeper of the federal lighthouse at Michigan City, Indiana. For the full 43 years of her service her companion, Miss Ann Hartwell, lived with her. While original source documents are a record of the lives of “Ann and Tat,” as they were known to their friends, newspaper articles published during their lives and in the decades after their passing (both in 1905) provide insights on the ways they were seen and their relationship described. A difference is noted after their deaths, with an apparent distancing of Ann from Harriet. Through reporting and analysis of news articles details, are revealed about Harriet Colfax and her relationship with Ann Hartwell. A sort of disappearing of that relationship in the news, and an official distancing by the historical society now managing the lighthouse as a museum, are described. While there is no specific evidence that Ann and Tat were lesbians, there is similarly no evidence that they were not. This leads to an exploration of a lens of queer possibility and thoughts on interpreting LGBTQIA+ stories at parks, protected areas, and heritage sites

Understanding the outdoors and conservation through a queer lens

A brief introduction to the theme articles on LGBTQIA+ Experiences and Expertise in the Outdoors and in Conservation

Meeting visitor interest to advance conservation: A study from Indiana Dunes National Park, USA

Thousands of visitors to parks take part in ranger-led programs annually. During these programs rangers work to evoke and maintain interest in order to connect visitors with cultural and natural resources. Researchers have found interest is a powerful driver of learning, yet its role in the experience of adults who participate in ranger-led programming has not been well studied. Open-ended telephone interviews conducted months after a ranger-led hike to a prominent dune in Indiana Dunes National Park illustrate the extent to which visitors’ recollections show continuity with their reasons for attending the ranger-led hike and their uptake of resource messages. Like other ranger-led programming, this hike was designed to make intellectual and emotional connections, to fuel long-held interests, and activate new stewards. The program was the result of collaboration among rangers and local scientists. Responses to a pre-hike survey were matched with post-hike recollections transcribed following an open-ended phone interview. The vast majority of post-hike interviews revealed a match between hike participants’ initial interests and recollected details of the experience as well as new areas of piqued interest. In post-hike reflections, visitors mentioned factors that influenced the dune’s formation, and the majority mentioned the problems caused by trampling. Participants recruited for this study grasped and recollected resource messages connected to their interests. They spoke of the need to protect a popular and puzzling geological formation