Fellows

Colbi Layne W. Hogan, Ph.D.

Research Fellow 2023-2025

Dr. Colbi Layne Hogan (B.S. in History and Social Science Education, Auburn University; M.Ed. in Social Science Education, Auburn University; Ph.D. in Public History, MTSU) is focused on the development of the Merrill-Williams Heritage Center in Franklin, Tennessee.

Colbi also conducts research for the Johnsonville State Historic Park in New Johnsonville and assists Teaching with Primary Sources—MTSU with various projects, such as workshops, curriculum design, and National History Day. Her research interests include historic preservation, education, and local history.

Tiffany Momon, Ph.D.

Writing Fellow 2024-2025

Dr. Tiffany Momon, an Associate Professor of History at Sewanee, the University of the South (B.S. in Political Science, Tennessee State University; B.A. in African and African American Studies, University of Memphis; M.A. in History, Middle Tennessee State University; Ph.D. in Public History, Middle Tennessee State University) is researching and preparing a manuscript on the life of John “Quash” Williams, a Black cabinetmaker in 18th-century Charleston, South Carolina.

Additionally, Momon will contribute to various CHP projects, including visiting sites on the Historic Rural African American Churches in Tennessee survey. This year, she will also work on furthering and sharing her research on Black craftspeople through the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive (blackcraftspeople.org).

Maia Council

Research Fellow 2022-2023

Maia Council, a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a research fellow at the Center for Historic Preservation. During her undergraduate career at MTSU, she graduated magna cum laude with degrees in History and Spanish. In 2021, she graduated with a Public History M.A. from MTSU. She is currently involved in a digitization project for the R.H. Boyd Company, a historic Black publishing company in Nashville, Tennessee. Maia’s research presently focuses on maritime history, particularly British polar exploration in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Her master’s thesis explored the Franklin Expedition and the manner in which British museums interpret its story. Maia is also greatly interested in the study of material culture and has worked as an intern at the Houston Museum of Decorative Arts, a glass and ceramics museum in Chattanooga. You can learn more about Maia at her Web site.

Noha El-Bobou

Research Fellow 2023

A 2022 graduate of the Master’s Program in Public History at MTSU, Noha is working on the Stony Point project, preserving documents collected by the Armstrong and Powell families from the 1790s to the 1980s.

Noha, who also has a B.A. in History from the University of the South, is interested in twentieth-century medicine in the American South, specifically nutrient-deficiency diseases and the building of public health spaces. For her M.A. thesis, "Pellagrous Repercussions: The Mighty Goliath of Tennessee's Past 1900-1930s," she did a local study of pellagra in Rutherford County, TN.

Dr. Crystal deGregory

Research Fellow 2020-2022

Dr. Crystal A. deGregory (B.A. in History, Fisk University; M.A. in History, Vanderbilt University; Ph.D. in History, Vanderbilt University; M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction, Tennessee State University) is researching African American schools and education institution-building in Nashville both during and after the Civil War, as well as engaging the CHP’s community partnerships across the region. Known for her collaborative advocacy and entrepreneurial leadership, she is the founder of the digital storytelling project HBCUstory as well as Dorian and Beyond. You may stay connected with her on social media @hbcustorian.

Dr. Marcela Saldaña Solis

Historic Preservation Fellow 2020-2021

Dr. Marcela Saldaña Solis, a research professor at the National Coordination of Historic Monuments (INAH) in Mexico City, is conducting research on the global history of construction and its preservation, focusing on the ties between the United States, Mexico, and Germany. She is also assisting with placing El Rancho de las Golondrinas in New Mexico on the National Register of Historic Places and other projects related to the Santa Fe Trail and El Camino Real National Historic Trails.

Annabeth Hayes, M.A.

Historic Preservation Fellow 2018-2019

Hayes (B.A. in History, Rhodes College; M.A. in History, MTSU) Annabeth is working on an inventory of the Tennessee Governor’s residence in partnership with the Tennessee State Museum and on a report about Rippavilla in Spring Hill. Her research interests are material culture, Tennessee history, and historic preservation.

Ginna Foster Cannon, Ph.D.

Historic Preservation Fellow 2017-2018

Cannon (B.A. in History and Literature, Harvard College; M.B.A. in Marketing and Management, Columbia Business School; M.L.A.S., Vanderbilt University; Ph.D. in Public History, MTSU) is building on her dissertation, “An Exploration of Tennessee’s Historic Hotels as Cultural Heritage Tourism Assets,” and expanding some of her case studies.

Jenny Andrews

Historic Preservation Fellow 2017-2018

Andrews (B.S. in Horticulture, Virginia Tech; B.A. in English, Maryville College; M.A. in History with emphasis in Public History, MTSU) is completing follow-up research and field work related to her thesis, “Public History to Public Policy: Using Historic Resources to Inform Park Interpretation and Community Preservation.”

Susan W. Knowles, Ph.D.

Fellow Fall 2011-Summer 2013, Spring 2004

Knowles (B.A. in French and art history, Vanderbilt University; M.L.S. George Peabody college; M.A. in art history, Vanderbilt University; Ph.D. in public history, MTSU) is building on her dissertation research focusing on Tennessee’s marble industry. This year she will complete an East Tennessee Marble Industry Multiple Property Nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.

Abigail Gautreau

Historic Preservation Fellow 2015-2017

Gautreau (B.A. in History, Randolph-Macon Woman’s College; M.St. in History, Oxford University; Ph.D. in Public History, MTSU) is expanding her dissertation, “The Past is Political: Race, Cultural Landscapes, and the Case for Community-Driven Heritage in Selma and South Africa,”and working on the CHP’s digital projects.

Leigh Ann Gardner

Historic Preservation Fellow Fall 2012-Spring 2013

Gardner (B.A. in History, Mississippi University for Women; M.A. in Public History, MTSU) is collaborating on projects including a heritage development plan for the Polk-Clark School in Gibson County and a Conditions Assessment/History of the DeVault Tavern in Washington County. This year she will also work on furthering her research on African American fraternal and benevolent lodges in the state, and developing a survey of lodges. Gardener is currently working on a blog which follows her research on African American fraternal and benevolent groups in Tennessee. For updates on her blog visit http://tn-africanamericanlodges.blogspot.com/. For more information on the projects that Gardner has completed and is currently working on visit her online portfolio at http://leighanngardner.wordpress.com/

Jane Davis

Historic Preservation Fellow Fall 2010-Summer 2011

Davis (B.S. in anthropology, MTSU; MLS, University of Tennessee; ABD Ph.D. in public history, MTSU) is working with the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site to design a traveling exhibit to interpret Grant’s participation in contraband camps in Tennessee and the development of African American communities following Emancipation.

Spurgeon King

Historic Preservation Fellow Fall 2010-Spring 2011

King (B.S. in history and international affairs, Florida State University; M.A. in history/historic preservation and Ph.D. in public history, MTSU) is assisting the Longstreet Headquarters in Hamblen County with interpretive planning.

Lauren Nickas Beaupre

Historic Preservation Fellow Summer 2010-Summer 2011

Beaupre (B.A. and M.A. in history, MTSU; ABD Ph.D. in history, University of Notre Dame) is researching her dissertation, “‘A City of a Thousand Churches;’ Religion and Urban Development in Memphis, 1893-2000,” for her Ph.D. in history from the University of Notre Dame.

Brian Dempsey

Historic Preservation Fellow Summer 2010

Dempsey (B.A. and M.A. in history, James Madison University; Ph.D. in public history, MTSU) is revising his dissertation, a study of blues heritage tourism in the Mississippi Delta, for publication.

Kristen Luetkemeier

Historic Preservation Fellow Fall 2006

Luetkemeier (B.A. in history, James Madison University; M.A. in public history, MTSU) collaborated on the Gatlinburg National Register Multiple Property Nomination (MPN) and a study of the city’s historic resources.

Steve Hoskins

Fellow Spring 2006

Hoskins (B.A. in religious studies, Trevecca Nazarene University; M.A. in historical theology, St. Louis University; and M.Div., Nazarene Theological Seminary) received a fellowship while completing the Ph.D. in Public History program. During his fellowship, Hoskins served as the project manager for the Center team developing an interpretive plan for Clinton, Tennessee’s Civil Rights story.

Rachel Martin

Historic Preservation Fellow Fall 2005-Summer 2006

Martin (B.A. in English and biblical literature, University; M.A. in history, MTSU) served as the editorial assistant to the Tennessee Historical Quarterly, the journal of the Tennessee Historical Society. She also assisted on a museum interpretation plan for the Green McAdoo School in Clinton.

Evan Hatch

Historic Preservation Fellow Fall 2005

Hatch (B.A. in American studies, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; M.A. in southern studies, University of Mississippi) developed a collections management policy for the Arts Center of Cannon County, a regional arts center located in Woodbury where he serves as the center’s folklorist.

Elizabeth Moore

Historic Preservation Fellow Summer 2005-Spring 2006

Moore (B.A. in art history, Vanderbilt University; M.Arch., University of Virginia.) researched and wrote National Register of Historic Places Nominations for Bodenham School and Bridgeforth School and created a heritage development plan for Lynnville, all in Giles County. She also completed a Fentress County survey and a National Register nomination for the Fisher Farm in Williamson County.

Carolyn “Carrie” Barske

Historic Preservation Fellow Summer 2004

Barske (B.A. in history, Sewanee University; M.A. in history, Northeastern University) researched and wrote a National Register of Historic Places nomination for Maplewood Cemetery in Pulaski, Tennessee, and developed a historical and architectural walking tour for the City of Pulaski that includes the cemetery, downtown Pulaski, and its greenway system.

Stacey Graham

Historic Preservation Fellow Summer 2003

Graham (B.A. in history, University of Michigan; M.A. in history, University of California, Los Angeles) researched Fort Blount and Nashville Christian Institute and wrote a brief history of Rutherford County for Murfreesboro Magazine.

Jim Williams

Historic Preservation Fellow Summer 2003

Williams (B.A. in history, College of William and Mary; M.S. in history, Oxford University) prepared a legislative history of the 1960 Tennessee Civil War Centennial Commission and developed a survey of the economic impact of Heritage Area properties.