The Askins Achievement Award
J. Michael Logan, Rudy R. Christian (AAA 2000), Lisa Sasser (AAA 2001), David Gibney (AAA 2008) |
David Gibney - 2008 Askins Achievement Award Recipient
David Gibney of Smithsburg, Maryland was presented with the 2008 Askins Achievement Award on July 19th during the International Preservation Trades Workshop in Barre, Vermont. J. Michael Logan, Supervisor of Heritage Conservation with the Howard County Recreation and Parks Department, introduced David citing his outstanding craftsmanship, dedication to teaching and sharing his skills, and his distinguished record of public service for Habitat for Humanity, PTN, and the people of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. The Askins Achievement Award is given in recognition of outstanding contributions and accomplishments in the promotion, education, and application of preservation trade skills. The award has been presented annually by the Preservation Trades Network since 1998 at the International Preservation Trades Workshop (IPTW). The Askins Achievement Award recognizes contributions over and above the noteworthy. The award criteria includes contributions to the preservation trades for: the continuance of traditional building skills, advocacy of training in preservation trades, practicing a building trade at master level of skill and knowledge, and extraordinary effort given to advancing the awareness of traditional building trade skills and knowledge. The nominee should be an advocate of the trades from a trade’s background, and have contributed efforts above and beyond the norm to help move the trades’ community forward. The nominee should be a person who has helped raise the bar and challenged others to try harder. The Askins Achievement Award represents more than just quality work and good ethics it also means challenging others to work for the betterment of the community around them. |
Submit a Nomination for the 2009 Askins Achievement Award
Nominations for the 2009 Askins Achievement Award may be submitted until May 1, 2009.. You do not have to be a member of PTN to make a nomination for the Askins Achievement Award. Nominations from previous years may be resubmitted, and are encouraged. The 2009 Askins Achievement award will be presented at IPTW-ITES 2009, August 25-29, 2009 in Leadville, Colorado.
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Download the Askins Award Guidelines and Nomination form. |
Guidelines and Nomination Procedure for the Askins Achievement Award
- Askins Achievement Award recipients do not have to be members of Preservation Trades Network.
- Nominators for the Askins Achievement Award do not have to be members of the Preservation Trades Network and they do not have to be Award Recipients.
- Recipients of the Askins Achievement Award are the group that administers the award, and selects future recipients.
- The award was established to be distinct from and separate from the Preservation Trades Network Board of Directors.
- The permanent award plaque listing previous winners is owned by the National Park Service Historic Preservation Training Center and shall be displayed and kept up-to-date by the HPTC at the HPTC Headquarters at Gambrill House, Frederick, MD. The Logo is loaned to PTN for use on the individual Award Plaque given to each year’s winner.
- A recipient selected by the others shall take on the administration of the award on behalf of the Askins Achievement Award group.
- The new recipient shall be contacted to ensure that the plaque is created in the manner desired by the recipient.
- The criteria for the Askins Achievement Award are stated in the nomination form.
- The Askins Achievement Award group shall solicit nominations from the Preservation Trades Community at large.
- The Askins Achievement Award group shall have the right by majority vote to approve or disapprove use of the Award for marketing or promotion by the Preservation Trades Network Board of Directors.
- The Askins Award Recipient shall have a nominator who has provided a written nomination form and is willing to introduce the recipient.
- Announcement of the Askins Award Recipient shall be published in the PTNews or other media after the International Preservation Trades Workshop.
- Announcement of the Askins Award Recipient before the International Preservation Trades Workshop is subject to a majority vote of the recipients.
- The business of the Askins Achievement Award group may be conducted by conference call, direct meeting, or email. A quorum to conduct the business of the group shall be a majority of the recipients..
- Nominations stand for one year. The nomination may re-submitted.
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Askins Achievement Award Recipients
2008 - David Gibney
2007 - Dr. Gerard C.J. Lynch
2006 - Earl Barthé
2005 - Joseph Jenkins
2004 - John William Laing
2003 - Jimmy Price
2002 - Bill Gichner
2001 - Lisa Sasser
2000 - Rudy R. Christian
1999 - John Fugelso
1998 - Jim Askins |
2008 - David Gibney
 Nomination statement by J. Michael Logan, Supervisor of Heritage Conservation, Howard County Recreation and Parks Department
Born and raised in South Bend, Indiana, David began his career in 1971 working a construction job while an art student at Indiana University. He bought his first old house in 1976 in South bend, which led to purchasing a number of houses, thus forming the Old Building Recycling Company in 1977, restoring old houses in South Bend's Historic district. During this time he served on the Board of Renew, Inc. one of the first non-profits of its kind to assist inner city residents to buy and restore their homes. Furthering his life goal he joined the National Trust's Restoration Workshop Study Program from 1980-82. He was instrumental in assisting with projects at Lyndhurst Estate, NY, Woodrow House and the Decatur House in Washington DC, Chesterwood, Clivden, and the famed Drayton Hall in South Carolina.In 1983 he ended up back in South Bend to serve as Project Manager for Neighborhood Housing Services, restoring inner city houses. I imagine that with his experience with the National Trust's east coast properties and wanting to be where history happened first, prompted his move to Maryland in 1984, where he began working for Doug Reed of Preservation Associates, Inc. He figured he could make a living out of working and teaching the preservation trades. So in 1988 he formed Historic Restoration Specialists, Inc. His ad states “preservation specialists and fine artisans” and he has honorably lived up to those labels. To the present time, his company continues to establish itself with a wide variety of quality restoration trade projects throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. His clients include private individuals, historic societies, the National Park service, churches, state and local municipalities. While known for specialized carpentry in restoration of windows and doors, he is accomplished in masonry, plaster, decorative plaster and timber framing. With his professional training in art and preservation skills, he is not only blessed with the ability to restore almost any type of object in our built environment, but has a need to share with others his knowledge. He has evolved as a known teacher/trainer of the preservation trades. His professional lecture and teaching experience includes: seminar Instructor in masonry, plaster, preservation carpentry, preservation methods, window and porch repair, comprehensive restoration methods, and Early American Building lecture series at Harford, Frederick, Allegany Community Colleges in Maryland, American College of the Building Arts, Wilson College, Shepherd College, , University of Pennsylvania, Virginia Community College, and the Smithsonian Institute. He has lectured and taught on many occasions with hands-on workshops at Historical Societies and preservation group throughout Maryland and Virginia, often without compensation. He has become a self-taught man that craves knowledge of our trades, with the ability and desire to share that knowledge. I know, I have witnessed this on many occasions. With over 200 books in his library, 90% of them are art and restoration manuals. He has associated himself with people in the know to become one of the persons "in the know". His heart and mind are continuously giving 100% to teach, demonstrate and work hard for the people who want to learn. He is inspired by three major projects: the Preservation Trades Network, Habitat for Humanity and helping the people of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He has been involved with PTN since its birth, always improving his demos, always staying late, and answering the final question. David is a voice of experience and passion for his work, with an answer worthy of any ear. As a member of the PTN Board of Directors twice over, he is an advocate for PTN where ever he travels. He has volunteered with the Hagerstown, MD chapter of Habitat for Humanity since its inception in the early 1990's. He served as Project Manager for the first 12 houses built; often teaching volunteers tool-trade skills. In the fall of 2006-07 he taught a group of women the skills to complete the first Woman's Built house. He recently completed his fourth trip to New Orleans, since Katrina. He was the driving force that made the production and training happen at IPTW 2006. In May of 2007 he funded himself and three volunteers to work in New Orleans, training homeowners in restoration methods, and skills for selecting qualified contractors. Recently this past March he spent a week training Hands On, Inc. volunteering on window restoration projects. He has a heart-felt desire to help the people of New Orleans regain their life and dignity. I know this, because that is what he is all about.
In closing this nomination, I can honestly say in the past twenty years I have known him, he has given me sound advice on every question I have ask him and always gave me a correct procedure to a preservation trade question. For the past 10 years we have become good friends and I can honorably say that I have never known a more gracious humanitarian, in all aspects of his life, than David Gibney. He has raised the bar and challenged others to the task. His ethics in practicing his craft are at a master skill level, promoting him as a driving force in moving the preservation trades forward. I'm proud to nominate him for this honor and to be his friend. Thank you David Gibney.
2007 - Dr. Gerard C.J. Lynch
Nomination statement by John Laing AAA, IMBM, Cert Ed, FWCP
Gerard is an internationally acclaimed and highly respected historic brickwork consultant, master bricklayer, educator and author. Gerard left school with little or no qualifications but had the natural ability and determination to complete an apprenticeship to become a skilled Brickmason. After completing his five year apprenticeship and working in the industry, Gerard went on to first teach and then managed Trowel Trades at Bedford Technical College in England. This would have been enough for most master craftsperson but Gerard went on to gained many awards, including the Silver and Gold Trowels from the Brick Development as well as gaining his Licentiate of the City in Brickwork. During his time training and teaching apprentices, Gerard pioneered the revival of gauged brickwork, in which he is know considered to be one of the world's leading authority. Becoming disillusioned in the early 1990’s due mainly to the break up of the craft by the modern construction industry awards body, Gerard took the decision to set up a private consultancy and teaching practice in Historic Brickwork in 1992. Since that important date Gerard has gain world wide recognition as leading trainer and consultant in Historic brickwork Techniques. He continued his quest for life long learning by being awarded the 'Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship' to study in the Netherlands and Belgium and the Viscount De L'Isle Award for in 1997 and in 1999 he was awarded an MA in 'Conservation of Historic Brickwork by De Montfort University, Leicester, and was awarded a Doctorate in 'Historic Brickwork Technology'. Dr Gerard Lynch moved into wider international areas, working in Europe and in the USA, and working as a consultant on many historic structures and lately was involved in training and consultancy of the rebuilding of St Mary's Church, Historic St Mary's, Maryland, USA. ‘The Red Mason’ as Gerard is affectionately known in the US, has given lectures and demonstrations at the American Lime Conference, the International Preservation Trades Workshops' (IPTW) as well as key note speeches at many preservation conferences throughout the world. In closing, there are many honours’ that Gerard has won that I have not mentioned but I would be here all night, Gerard is well respected by his peers for never forgetting his craft back ground or where he came from and indeed can jaw at any level from Craft to Academic. Gerard has already made a substantial contribution towards the understanding, application, repair and conservation of historic brickwork, through his books and teachings.
2006 - Earl Barthé
Nomination Statement by Marjorie A. Hunt, Ph.D. Curator/Folklorist Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
It is my great pleasure to nominate Earl Barthé for the Askins Achievement Award. Mr. Barthé is immensely deserving of this award. He is not only a master preservation plasterer of extraordinary skill and artistry, he is a craftsman who has great love for his traditional trade, takes great pride in high standards of excellence in craftsmanship, and has worked tirelessly to teach, preserve, and pass on his traditional skills to future generations of tradesmen. Earl Barthe’s roots in the plastering tradition run deep. He is a 5th generation plasterer whose great-great-grandfather, a master plasterer from Nice, France, settled in New Orleans in the mid-1800s and established a family business that is still in operation today. “Ninety-nine percent of my male family are plasterers,” says Mr. Barthé. His 150-year-old family company specializes in preserving old plaster walls, ornamental cornices, and other decorative details for historic buildings. “I look at these old buildings, and I know one of my ancestors was involved in building it. Now we’re working on restoring it, and it gives me such a strong feeling for how things continue,” he once commented. Earl Barthé takes enormous pride in the lasting mark his family has left on the city of New Orleans. “I take my grandchildren riding, and I say, ‘See that building? We did that.’ We’ve had a hand in a lot of places.” When I first met Mr. Barthé while conducting research for the Masters of the Building Arts program for the 2001 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, I was immediately struck not only by his artistic excellence, but by his passion for his craft and his pride in his traditional skills. “When I was a boy, my dream was to be like my father. I couldn’t wait to get a job with plaster,” he said. “You cannot do this work if you don’t appreciate it. It’s some precious work. It’s like a diamond, like a jewel, and it’s for you to preserve it.” Mr. Barthe’s teachers demanded high quality work. “They didn’t just want a plasterer, they wanted a master craftsman. And New Orleans, we produce some of the best.” Mr. Barthé has followed in his teachers’ footsteps - he holds the bar high and demands excellence from the apprentices he teaches and the journeymen who work with him. Mr. Barthé has a strong desire to preserve and pass on his traditional knowledge and skills -- striving to keep his craft alive. He has passed down his trade to countless members of his family, including his son Hurchail Barthe, his daughters Terry and Trudy Barthé, and many of his grandchildren, as well as to numerous young people in New Orleans. He is a highly respected member of his trade union, a past member of the state’s Apprentice Program, and has continued to work hard to try to revive the plasterer union’s apprenticeship program. When Mr. Barthé participated in the Masters of the Building Arts program at the 2001 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, his willingness to share his traditional knowledge with the public served to educate and inspire thousands of visitors to the Festival. I know that he has taken part in many similar presentations in New Orleans. Mr. Barthé has always worked tirelessly to seek ways to bring young people into the trade, instill pride in the craft, and encourage high standards of workmanship. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s devastating effects on New Orleans, Mr. Barthe’s resolve to teach and preserve his craft has increased ten-fold and his involvement in efforts to help restore New Orleans’ historic buildings and rich material legacy is truly inspirational. Mr. Barthé has received many honors for his high quality craftsmanship and his passionate dedication to preserving his trade. He was featured in the recent New Orleans Museum of Art exhibition titled “Raised to the Trade: Creole Building Arts in New Orleans” and in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival’s “Masters of the Building Arts” program in 2001. In 2003, he was inducted into the Louisiana AFL-CIO Labor Hall of Fame, and in 2005 Mr. Barthé received the nation’s highest honor in the traditional arts – the National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship. Earl Barthé stands as a beacon - inspiring and teaching others through his artistic mastery, his dedication to his craft, and his unwavering commitment to excellence. It is with the highest possible regard that I nominate Earl Barthé for the Askins Achievement Award.
2005 - Joseph Jenkins
Nomination statement by John William Laing, Assistant Head of School, Edinburgh's Telford College
Joseph Jenkins, Master Roofer Slater and Tiler has been involved in preservation roofing trades since 1968. Joe, a successful owner and director of a Slate and Tiling Restoration Company in North Western Pennsylvania has personally worked on thousands of slate and tiled roofing structures; some well over 100 years old. Joe is a true connoisseur of roofing skills and has studied and researched roofing structures from all over the world. Indeed I believe a holiday or break from work consists of Joe climbing a roof some where in the world, whether it be in Spain, Scotland or the USA to discuss with fellow roofers what techniques, tools and materials have been used. I first met Joe several years ago at the World International Roofing Federation Youth Championships, held at Edinburgh’s Telford College, where he was a spectator. Every since that meeting I have been an admirer of Joe’s skills and knowledge with my involvement with the IPTW over last six years. Over this time I have observed Joe presenting and demonstrating his slating and roofing skills , disseminating any underpinning knowledge, freely to all attendees present. As the author of the Slate Bible, Joe has shared his knowledge with all within the preservation industry, sending copies of the Slate Bible to several Building Schools and Preservation Colleges for student use, in Europe as well as the US. Joe constantly presents at trade shows and is ever present at the IPTW sharing his skills and knowledge with all who attend. In closing, the Askins Achievement Award is presented to a recipient, whose work and accomplishments have reached the highest realization of quality, availability and viability in a preservation trade. I for one think Joe Jenkins, Master Roofer and Preservation Educationist has achieved this status and think he would be an excellent recipient of this years 2005 award for his contribution to the preservation of roofing trades and his unselfish way he shares his knowledge and skills with tradespersons, Architects and students throughout the Europe and the US.
2004 - John William Laing
Nomination statement by Jeffrey Price, Virginia Lime Works
As an educator at Edinburgh’s Telford College, John Laing has dedicated his life to sustaining the trowel trades in Scotland, in particular, plasterwork. He has also played an important role in bringing the techniques of historic plasterwork to trades people, architects, and conservators in the United States. Mr. Laing was nominated for this award by the owners of Virginia Lime Works, James Price (2003 Askins award recipient), and his son Jeffrey. Their nomination statement reads in part: My father and I met John Laing 4 years ago on our first trip to Scotland to learn more about traditional plastering and the many other uses of lime. Close to our hotel was a beautiful stone church that was under restoration. The restoration for the most part was being performed by apprentices and student stone carvers/masons. We stopped in to discuss the project when they told us that they were students at Edinburgh’s Telford College. We popped over to Telford where we were looking for the masonry instructor but instead were met by John Laing, the head of the plastering department. John took the greater part of the day to show us American strangers, his workshops, the work that his students were doing, and to discuss education initiatives and trowel trades education. The hospitality and the openness of that discussion was something that was never forgotten. As a result of this meeting Mr. Laing came to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to demonstrate flat wall and in-situ cornice plasterwork at IPTW 2000. He has been a demonstrator at two subsequent IPTW events at IPTW 2002 in Fairmont, West Virginia, and IPTW 2003 Columbia, Maryland. At each of these events he has shared, not just his mastery of his trade and passion for teaching, but also his dedication to the understanding and practice of heritage conservation and continuing commitment to education.
2003 - Jimmy Price
Nomination statement by John Friedrichs, New Dimension Building
James Price is the founder of Price Masonry Contractors, Inc. and Virginia Lime Works. Jimmy has worked the masonry trade for 30 years in all aspects of the business. His interest in traditional building and historical restoration led him to become involved with the restoration of Popular Forest. His passion for the masonry trade and its traditions and the work at Popular Forest was a catalyst to experiment with the traditional methods making lime putty from oyster shell and quicklime in a traditional wood fired kiln. His work in bringing the traditions of the production and use of lime putty mortar has been a contribution of extraordinary value to the conservation of our common cultural heritage. His personal goal has been to make a significant impact on the next generation of the preservation trades through education of craftsmen, consultants, architects, engineers and other professionals involved in the conservation of historic masonry. His company conducts building with lime workshops 6 times a year. Jimmy sponsored and created the first annual American Lime conference. He has taught workshops for the National Park Service, Eastfield Village, Cooperstown, Association of Preservation Technology, and the University of North Carolina. He worked in Falmouth Jamaica to teach local craftsmen how to produce lime putty from local sources and how to use it. He is sponsoring several international tours to educate and create a better understanding of the traditions of the masonry trade by gaining insight to the European experiencing. VA lime works sponsored 10 students at the American Lime Forum and one of the 10 was sponsored to the international tour. His goal is to bring create a bond between the European and American masonry building traditions. Jimmy has been honored by: National Trust for Historic Preservation for work at Popular forest Blue Ridge Chapter of American Institute of Architects, Craftsman of the Year State of Virginia American Institute of Architects, Virginia State Society Honors Awards Maryland Historical Trust, Maryland Historical Trust Award Jimmy Price truly fits the description of Master Mason. He has full command of his trade through the continuation of the trade by education of others, the development of his trade by expanding the base of knowledge, continuing the traditions of the trade, and linking North American experience with its roots in Europe.
2002 - Bill Gichner
Bill wasn't always a blacksmith. He was one of the sons of the owner and operator of Gichner Iron Works located just outside Washington, DC, and had no interest in his father's business. However, when he was about 16 and looking for work, he found that the iron business offered him a steady job and good pay. Bill had to work hard to learn all the things about smithing that his father and others thought he should know to become a master smith. The fact that he did become a master smith can be shown by two small but important points. First, a large portion of the iron work that you can still see today in the Georgetown area of Washington was designed and built by the Gichner Iron Works and installed by Bill, since he did a large portion of the outside work for the company. Second, Bill was considered — and was officially recognized by his peers as — one of the few master smiths in the United States. When Bill left the Gichner Iron Works, his blacksmithing did not stop. He settled in Ocean View, Delaware and opened a shop called Iron Age Antiques. Some say the antiques were just a front for what really went on at the shop. Bill established a blacksmith shop in the basement and began teaching blacksmithing and selling blacksmith equipment. Bill soon established himself as the man with high prices, but the man that could get what you needed when no one else had it. Throughout his career Bill Gichner worked tirelessly to advance the trade, or art, of blacksmithing by formally and informally teaching the subject everywhere he could. In his 9th decade of life, he had an apprentice working and learning in his basement shop. His informal teaching also never stopped. Bill picked people that he thought had the talent and the creative mind and the desire to become a good working smith or teacher, and informally coached and encouraged them. The organizations that Bill helped have become legendary. The Artist Blacksmith Association of North America (ABANA), has bestowed its highest award in recognition of the work Bill has done to further its cause. The Blacksmiths Guild of the Potomac and the Gulf Branch Nature Center agreed that if the nature center built a shop to meet in on the Center's grounds, the guild would provide demonstrations to educate the public about smithing. Bill arrived one day with anvils, forges, vices, hammers and whatever else he thought they would need to get started. The Mid Atlantic Smiths Association received so much help from Bill that they took on the task of hosting the annual Bill Gichner Hammer-in, since the attendance became too large for everyone to fit in the Iron Age Antiques shop. On the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Furnace town guild has a teaching facility mostly equipped by Bill. The facility was dedicated as the Debbie Gichner Memorial Blacksmith shop in honor of Bill's daughter. The Blacksmith Guild of Central Maryland (BGCM) survived for years solely on the money from the equipment and material that Bill donated every year for their auction at their Blacksmiths' Days celebration. When BGCM entered into an agreement with the Carroll County Museum to establish a blacksmith school and Bill heard about it, he called and asked what was needed to start the school. Bill interrupted the list of needs and said, "Let’s put it this way, when are you coming to pick it up?" BGCM now has a school with eight forging stations and gives classes all year, winter and summer. Bill gave his entire Library collection to the National Ornamental Metal Museum. It took three trips in a large van to transport the library to the museum in Tennessee, and they are building a new wing on the museum in which a section will be set aside for the Gichner collection. This section will be available to the public so that both present and future students may benefit from the generosity of this master smith. Bill Gichner passed away on December 8, 2004.
2001 - Lisa Sasser
Lisa has worked in preservation since 1972, beginning as a Museum Technician at the Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock, Texas. In 1977, she received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Texas Tech University, completing as a thesis project, a Historic Structures Report and restoration plan for a post-1680 houserow at Tesuque Pueblo, New Mexico. From 1979-1984 she was employed as a Historical Architect on the Northeast Team of the Denver Service Center, the centralized planning and design office of the National Park Service. In 1984, she became the first woman to enter the National Park Service preservation trades training program at the Williamsport Preservation Training Center in Williamsport, Maryland. After completing the trades apprenticeship program, she remained on the Training Center staff as a Supervisory Preservation Specialist and Senior Historical Architect. In 1993, she became the Assistant Chief Historical Architect for the National Park Service in Washington, D.C. From 1996-2006, she worked as a Project Manager with the National Park Service, Northeast Region, Architectural Preservation Division, in Lowell, Massachusetts. She is currently on the staff of the Northeast Region Planning, Construction and Facility Maintenance Directorate. Project work has included; planning and project supervision for stabilization of hospital structures on the south side of Ellis Island, project management for the rehabilitation of the entry level of the Washington Monument, and work on dozens of 18th-20th century structures in National Parks in the Mid-Atlantic states and New England. She has also worked with the Forest Service in the Pacific Northwest to preserve CCC-era rustic log structures, and encourage the development of in-house preservation teams. Since 1987, she has helped to develop training programs, and instructed workshops in preservation philosophy and "hands on" preservation methods for federal agencies, universities, and state and local groups. Publications include the articles What Historical Architects Can Learn from the Preservation Trades – and Why They Should, New Paradigms for Preserving Old Buildings, and Setting Up a Preservation Workshop in the journal CRM.
2000 - Rudy R. Christian
From the beginning of his involvement with timber framing, Rudy has been willing and eager to share his experience and knowledge with others through discussions, networking, classes, written articles and on-the-job training. In 1997, Rudy attended the first IPTW as a demonstrator/presenter. He was instrumental in coordinating other timber framers that participated in the first IPTW. Each year since then, he has been the main contact and coordinator of timber framers involved in the PTN event. Rudy was a member of the first Executive Committee of PTN and is currently Chairperson of the PTN Special Projects Committee. Rudy is working with the PTN Planning and Research Committee in an effort to develop cooperative venture between the Timber Framers Guild and PTN. One such effort is the Hay Barracks training course and demonstration that was included with IPTW-2000. Rudy Christian is an appropriate example of many things that PTN represents. PTN is concerned for the involvement of the three generations of a trade. Rudy showed respect for his teachers and worked hard to complete the tasks assigned by them. As he developed in his trade, he networked and shared information and techniques with others. Always looking to glean more of the knowledge that is embedded in existing structures, he respects and learns from others, both living and dead. Through his dedication, hard work and openness, he has become a master of his trade. Many people become less accessible as they accumulate advanced knowledge, experience and skill and as their services become more in demand. Rudy has maintained an openness and a commitment to community building that is exemplary within the PTN community.
1999 - John Fugelso
John ‘the Craftsman’ is an historian, a problem solver, and an educator. All throughout John’s professional career, he has in one way or another focused on history and historic preservation activities. His skills in these areas have developed, in part, within the programs of such organizations as the National Portrait Gallery, where he worked as a cabinet-maker’s helper, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where he worked as a restoration intern. John is driven to establish sensible, useable and practical solutions to problems involving the details, materials and fabrication of historic buildings. He will agree that he has spent at least the past 20 years in pursuit of a body of preservation trades professionals to develop, support and use such solutions. It is indeed people like John who have created the environment for the International Preservation Trades Network to succeed. During John’s process of pursuing a career in the preservation trades, he accumulated professional degrees in American History and Political Science from the University of Minnesota, and Historic Preservation from the George Washington University. His educational background has served to foster his never-ending goal of educating others. From the late 70's through the mid 80's, he developed and implemented a program in Preservation Carpentry and Historic Preservation at Durham Technical Community College in Durham, North Carolina. In 1991, John took a position with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission as Historic Preservation Supervisor. John was originally hired to coordinate a preservation project training initiative utilizing the Pennsylvania Conservation Corps (PCC), which is a training program for 18- to 25-year-old youths administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. Within a few years, this program grew from one crew at one site to ten crews at ten sites. Today, in addition to coordinating project activities of the PCC crews, he manages the Preservation Construction Section within the Division of Architecture and Preservation and a staff of two Preservation Construction Specialists. This section works in teams with the Architecture Section to design and manage preservation construction projects, and also undertakes their own preservation construction projects utilizing their trade skills. John has given many demonstrations of his skills as a preservation tradesman in carpentry, wood-shingle roofing and decorative finishes at historic site events, APTI and IPTW. He consistently strives to share his knowledge and experiences with his broad base of professional colleagues, unskilled youth, and in general, with anyone who will listen. The respect he shows for others never fails to garner the personal respect he receives in return.
1998 - James S. (Jim) Askins
 Jim Askins completed formal apprenticeship programs in both carpentry and cabinetmaking, and is considered by many preservationists to be a leading expert on the technical aspects of construction, restoration and maintenance required for historic preservation. He began working for the National Park Service in the early 1960's at Harpers Ferry, Pea Ridge and Vicksburg doing historic preservation projects. The passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966, brought attention to the shortage of skilled tradespeople to work on National Park Service cultural resources projects. Jim began training a team of preservation craftsmen at Harpers Ferry in 1967. Following severe damage in 1968, the preservation team worked as the C&O Canal restoration team, which formed the nucleus for the creation of the Williamsport Preservation Training Center in 1977. Jim Askins directed the WPTC Program from 1977 until his retirement in 1989. During that period WPTC grew from 8 to 35 employees and completed more than 200 National Park Service preservation projects throughout the United States. In a 1997 interview with Doug Hicks, HPTC Deputy Superintendent, Jim described the training philsophy of the Williamport Preservation Training Center by saying, "In order for someone to work independently in the federal sector and not screw up a resource they had to have a tremendous array of skills. You had to have craft skills, administrative skills, people skills, and you had to have academic skills - it was the marriage of these things that I had in mind. It was why I selected a cross section of people as trainees knowing that I would not have the fiscal resources to hire instructors. The participants would help expose the other participants to their strong suits. I mixed craftspeople with professional people with people who had administrative skills and people skills." Reflecting on his Park Service career, Jim said, "My greatest contribution was to show that what we were doing was destroying cultural resources under the guise of maintaining them. We made people understand that they needed to do business a different way. If I contributed anything to the NPS, it was that idea. That idea may not have been original to me, but through my visibility and the amount of noise and people I beat over the head, I raised the awareness level of the special needs of cultural resources." (The complete interview is available in the online archive of the CRM Journal, Vol. 20, No. 12, 1977.) In retirement Jim and his wife Janet divide their time between Wells Tannery, Pennsylvania and Pine, Arizona. Jim is still an avid turkey hunter.
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