Research Assistant to Michael Spencer, Associate Professor at the University of Mary Washington Department of Historic Preservation on the Tobacco Barn Project
Project Overview
The focal point of this project was a nineteenth century tobacco barn located on the grounds of the Booker T. Washington National Historic Site, a unit of the National Park Service. As research assistant to Professor Spencer, I performed as-built documentation and produced drawings of the tobacco barn using AutoCAD, sampled and identified wood species, and conducted archival research on historic tobacco barns.
Measured Drawings
These drawings were created in AutoCAD to aid in future interpretation of the tobacco barn.
Wood Sampling
Wood was sampled from different sections of the barn in order to determine the species used in its construction. Along with examining the samples under a microscope, I conducted research on species found on the property surrounding the barn as well as species commonly used in building other tobacco barns in the region during the same period of time. I produced a list of possible species for each sample by combining this research with the microscopic examination.
