In December 2024, I had no idea what the next year would bring me. After working a season at Fort Wadsworth, Gateway National Recreation Area, in New York City, I knew that the National Park Service was for me. I began 2025 working in the rolling hills of central Kentucky, and before I knew it, seas of golden wheat awaited me in Kansas!
Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed are solely my own and do not represent the National Park Service. The purpose of this post is to document my life as a seasonal employee in the service and to educate others.
Camp Nelson National Monument
Rambling about in Kentucky’s Bluegrass region
Not until I got my final offer at Camp Nelson National Monument, did I know about the Kentucky Bluegrass region.
In late 2024, I hunted for a seasonal winter job with the National Park Service. My goal was to secure one and by the time my season ended, have another seasonal position lined up elsewhere.
Fortunately, Camp Nelson was hiring a seasonal Museum Technician for early in the year. I had an interview, made the final cut, and received a GS-7 job offer — which I accepted. The General Schedule (GS) is the pay scale for most federal civil servants. Previously, I had been a GS-5, so the two-level bump was not too shabby. With more pay came more responsibilities, which would be good for my professional development.
I came onboard at the park in mid-January 2025. At that time, snow still hadn’t fallen. That would change very soon! Early 2025 proved to be a cold winter for Central Kentucky. Once spring arrived, however, the streams, hills, and trails of the Bluegrass beckoned my name.
Click here to read more about me reporting for duty at Camp Nelson!
Kentucky is an outdoor lover’s paradise. My favorite hikes included Raven Run Nature Sanctuary in Lexington and Tom Dorman State Nature Preserve in Garrard County. The former has several awesome waterfalls cut into limestone, with sparkling streams flowing gently over a hilly landscape. Tom Dorman nature preserve, on the other hand, is known for its pretty cliff-top views along the Kentucky River Palisades.
Fortunately, I invested in a good pair of hiking shoes back in Chicago!
Helping a new museum program
At Camp Nelson, I had plenty to do to keep me busy. Something new always came up.
The park has existed since the late 1990s but only relatively recently, did it join the National Park System. For the longest time, it operated as a Civil War Heritage Park under the control of Jessamine County Fiscal Court. Then in the late 2010s, a movement to transfer the site to federal control led to its establishment as Camp Nelson National Monument, approved by President Donald J. Trump in 2018.
Despite the impressive work of Jessamine County to build up the park, more had to be done after 2018. The park had to meet federal codes and standards. My job was to help the museum program to get up to par. Regular duties included:
- Collecting and analyzing environmental data (temperature and humidity)
- Moving and housing museum objects
- Conducting historical research
- Insect Pest Management (IPM)
- Housekeeping — cleaning of exhibit and storage spaces
- Entering data into museum collections database software
I also had plenty of other tasks. They included inventorying museum supplies and thinking of what else was needed, doing the same for another park, contacting local museums to take in non-accessioned objects, but most exciting of all, happened when I made a chance discovery. The park had what it thought were reproductions of two large 19th century photo portraits. Upon closer examination, I determined that they were in fact originals and had to contact conservators, asking them about best storage practices. Then there was my exhibit project.
Click here to read about me rolling up a Civil War veteran’s reunion flag!
Designing a museum exhibit
Since before 2018, a private collection of Civil War weapons, accouterments, and relics, was on display inside the visitor’s center. It finally came time to return the items. With the case now empty, the park needed something to fill its space for the next several years. It became my job to design and install a new exhibit. The process was long and had many steps, and by the end, all the park’s divisions had a say in the project!
The exhibit was a joint collaboration. With me being in Cultural Resources, I worked closely with Interpretation, specifically its Chief and another ranger. It began with a simple meeting. The Chief provided the theme, the history of the Oliver Perry House, the park’s sole surviving structure from the Civil War. I had to identify related objects in our collection and the narrative, text, and installation, all rested on me.
It continued to only get more complicated. The exhibit text, for instance, needed approval from the Chief of Interpretation. Once cleared, I sat down with the park’s remarkably patient administrative assistant, who ordered the text panels from the Government Printing Office — a not so straightforward process. Then the Chief of Facilities assisted me in choosing the right mounting hardware and instructed me in how to best prepare the empty display case. He also had one of his facilities crew assist me in the mounting.
More can be said on the entire process, and I plan to dedicate an article to it in the future.
Fort Larned National Historic Site
Go West, young man
Several months into my position at Camp Nelson, after I started to get into the groove of things, I began interviewing for my next seasonal position. I ended up selecting a location that, in all honestly, had not stood out for me at first. Once I received an availability check from the hiring manager, I did some more research, and my attitude completely changed. The park: Fort Larned National Historic Site in Larned, Kansas.
Never have I been to Kansas before. Already in my NPS career I have experienced the hustle and bustle of New York City and southern living in Kentucky. Why not try something else new? I grew up watching Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, and a host of other classic Westerns, with images of the West forever imprinted on my mind. Now I had a chance to experience it.
Taking the job, however, came at a cost. I accepted a four-month GS-5 Museum Technician role, later extended to five months, and went down in salary. For a seasonal employee in NPS, this is rather common. My start date: June 30.
The last week in June I wrapped up five months of work in Kentucky. I stayed with family in Chicago for several days and from there, drove 780 miles to Great Bend, Kansas, where I would be living. Because of circumstances out of my control, I found an unfurnished apartment at the last minute. It’s an experience that I hope I will never have again!
On the road, what awaited me past Kansas City truly left me awe struck. Wide open land with rolling hills, covered in tallgrass. Sprinklings of rock outcroppings. Cattle nonchalantly grazing in barbed wire enclosed pastures, basking in the sun. Finally, I was out West.
Wearing different hats
Fort Larned truly is a time capsule from a bygone era. Garrisoned by the Army from 1860 to 1884, it soldiers once protected travelers, merchants, and to a lesser extent, settlers, along the Santa Fe Trail. In its heyday, the fort consisted of sandstone, wood, and adobe structures, centered around a parade ground on a 4 square mile military reservation. Today, nine of the original stone buildings still stand. Inside many of the buildings’ interiors are period furniture and reproduction supplies, a window into how garrison life was like in the 1860s.
At a park as small as Fort Larned, staff members sometimes have to wear different hats — both literally and figuratively. There, even though I was a museum technician, I belonged to the Interpretation division. Outside my regular duties, I had collateral duties like opening and closing historic buildings, manning the front desk inside the visitor’s center, leading tour groups, and on special occasions, doing living history.
For two weeks, the 4th of July and Labor Day, I made history come alive at the fort. I donned a heavy wool sack coat, in federal blue, along with sky blue trousers. A forage cap covered my head, adorned with badges: the number 3, crossed rifles, and the letter C. I interpreted life at the fort in 1867 as a member of C Company, 3rd Infantry Regiment.
Bringing history alive
Dressing up as a soldier also meant drilling as one. Under the tutelage of Sgt. Ben, a permanent ranger at the park, I learned different aspects of 19th century soldiering. First came instruction on basic weapons movements, like shoulder and carry arms, according to Civil War manuals of arms. Next came practice on firing small arms. At the park we used the muzzleloading Model 1864 Springfield, along with the breechloading Model 1866 Springfield. Later on, I trained in different positions on a smoothbore cannon and, with a platoon of men, learned how to march.
For my first living history event, the 4th of July, I was not yet up to par. Come Labor Day weekend, I was much more experienced and disciplined. On that weekend I took part in small arms demonstrations, in which we shot blanks. I also got to fire a smoothbore cannon for the first time on the number four position — the person who primes and fires the piece. In all honestly, I probably jumped higher in the air than the cannon!
Another way that I brought history to life was by taking visitors into our closed-off barracks room. Furnished with bunk beds, which slept four men each, a stove, and reproduction weapons and uniforms, the recreated room looks nearly identical to how it did in 1867. Children especially love to try on the uniforms and to lay on the straw-filled mattresses.
From giggles to wide-eyed shocks of amazement, I am sure that I provided life-long memories for children!
Photos of historic firearms demonstration at Fort Larned National Historic Site. The soldiers are National Park Service employees and volunteers. Labor Day weekend, 2025. Janet Fleske, NPS.