Education
Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Fall 1980-Spring 1982
Master of Arts in History with emphasis in Historic Preservation
Thesis: “Summerfield, Alabama: Historic Preservation in a Rural Context”
Auburn University
Auburn, Alabama
Fall 1977-Spring 1980
Bachelor of Arts in History and Spanish
Work History
Mobile Historic Development Commission
Architectural Historian 1985 to present for this city agency. Responsibilities include coordination of easement program, historic building marker program, tax credit work, environmental review, and frequent public speaking on local history and historic preservation topics.
Mobile Historic Development Commission
Acting Director March 1997 to September 1998. Responsibilities included supervision of MHDC staff and volunteers, coordination of the Commission’s committees (properties, finance, awards, education), management of the city’s two architectural review boards, and working with the mayor, city council, other city departments and the citizens of Mobile on historic preservation issues.
Mobile Register
Books Editor, August 1996 to 2012. Responsibilities included writing a weekly book review column, “Southern Bound,” and coordinating and editing local reviewers.
Main Street Pulaski, Inc.
Project manager during 1984 for downtown revitalization project in this Tennessee community.
Middle Flint Planning Commission
Historic Preservation Planner from May 1982 to January 1984 for an eight county area of Georgia.
Professional Affiliations and Awards
President Historic Mobile Preservation Society, 1995-1997
Founder Church Street Graveyard Preservation Foundation, Inc.
Board, Friends of Magnolia Cemetery
Elizabeth B. Gould Research Award 1988, 2001, 2009
Robert Bell Writing Award, 2004
Distinguished Service Award, Alabama Historical Commission, 2002, 2010
Virginia Moran Writing Award, 2009 (first awarded)
Alabama Library Association Award for Best Nonfiction Book, 2009
Clinton Jackson Coley Award for best local history book in Alabama, 2016
NSDAR Historic Preservation Award, 2016