Shepherd's Historic Preservation students bring the past to life on Halloween night

ISSUED: 26 October 2009
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
(Shepherd's Historic Preservation students bring the past to life on Halloween night)

Shepherdstown, WV--Shepherd University students in Dr. Keith Alexander's Introduction to Historic Preservation class will offer a living history program on Halloween night. The program will be held in the historic Shepherd family cemetery on New Street from 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, October 31. The event is free and open to the public.

Four Shepherd students will portray members of the Shepherd family, descendants of Thomas Shepherd, who founded Shepherdstown, originally called Mecklenburg, in 1762. Sophomore Paige Greaser, Fairmont, will portray Eleanor Shepherd; junior Matt Theibault, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will depict Henry Shepherd; sophomore David Smith, Martinsburg, will be Rezin Davis Shepherd; and senior Andrew McCullough, Columbia, Maryland, will be James Touro Shepherd. The students will be joined by Gay Shepherd Henderson, who will portray Fannie Shepherd, the wife of Henry Shepherd, grandson of town founder Thomas Shepherd.

"I'm very excited to be building on last year's successful program," said Dr. Keith Alexander, visiting assistant professor of environmental studies and coordinator of Shepherd's historic preservation program. "We had more than 80 people come by and learn about Shepherdstown's history last year. The more people know about our region's history, the more likely that this history will be preserved. It's great to be expanding the number of students participating, too, and to work with members of the Shepherd family makes it all the more meaningful."

Students worked with Shepherd alum Kyle Pfalzer to learn about what is involved in a living history program. Dr. Kathleen Corpus, visiting assistant professor of family and consumer science, helped the students with historic costumes. The experience is part of the historic preservation class's service learning activities for the semester.

-30-YOUNG

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