A student’s academic career in the M.A. in Historic Preservation (M.A.H.P.) program culminates in a written thesis. Each student selects a topic in consultation with faculty during Thesis Proposal and works with that faculty member and two other thesis committee members who are experts in the topic selected.

Below are abstracts of theses completed in the M.A.H.P. program. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the full thesis, please visit the MDSOAR website or email M.A.H.P. director, Melanie Lytle.

Previous McCullough Award Recipients

2023 Elizabeth Cohan —Heritage Species for Historic Preservation

2022 Meghan Diehl — Historic Preservation for All People: Reconceptualizing Accessibility in Historic Buildings

2020 Nancy LaPira — Protecting Our History Underfoot: Filling in the Regulatory Gaps Through Local Archeological Review

2019 Samantha Travis — Placekeeping for Preservation: Building a Cultural Sustainable Preservation Model

2018 Denice Dressel — Pressured Landscapes: Preserving Agricultural Land on the Urban Fringe

2017 Jennifer Sparenberg — Enduring Utopia: Sustaining a Sense of Place in the Greenbelt National Historic Landmark District

2016 María F. Lopez-Martinez— The Coast in Peril: Preserving Puerto Rico's Historic Resources from Sea Level Rise

2015 Carin Ruff — Stranded in Time: Protecting Properties Outside the Period of Significance in Existing Historic Districts

2014 Laura A. Kirn — A Case for Storied Landscapes: Wilderness and Historic Preservation

2013 Aimee K. Jorjani — Seeking and Determining Impacts: Justifying Federal Competitive Historic Preservation Grant Programs

2012 Michael J. Kassman — Developing the Qualification Standard for the Preservation Craftworker

2011 Keith W. Park — Thinking outside the crate: preserving and utilizing historic fruit orchards in Northern California

2009 Robert T. Bryant — Finding a Balance: The Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings for Low-Income Housing

2008 Sarah G. Michailof — Can Transit-Oriented Development Accommodatte Preservation Goals? A Study of HIstoric Structure Districts in the Vicinity of Washington's Metro Stations

2007 Rebekah K. Wood — Determining correct temperature and relative humidity ranges for historic house museums

2006 Gina M. Tann

2005 Fred R. Smith — Restoration Reconsidered: Historical Accuracy of the Kitchen at Adena, a Federal Period House Musem

2004 Edith B. Wallace — Reclaiming Forgotten History: Preserving Rural African-American Cultural Resources in Washington County, Maryland

2003 Barbara A. Casey — San Diego's Asian Pacific Thematic Historic District: Defining the Goals in Revitalization of an Ethnic Historic District

2002 James K. Hare — Design Review and New Construction in the Charleston Historic District

2001 Jennifer M. Perunko — The Bank of Alexandria: An Influence in Commercial Architecture in Alexandria, 1792-1834

2000 Anna R. Von Lunz — Overlooked Heritage in a National Park

1999 Jan M. Eakins — To Preserve Our Recent Past: Protecting the Bellevue Forest Subdivision in Arlington County, Virginia

1998 Robert C. Benedict — The Impact of Encroaching Development Upon Endangered Civil War Sites with the Lowcountry of South Carolina