Michael Hurley (Undergraduate)

President Lincoln and Soldier’s Home National Monument
National Trust for Historic Preservation

The President Lincoln and Soldier’s Home National Monument, also known as the Lincoln Cottage, is located in Washington, DC, and is under the care of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. My internship included assisting with the ongoing restoration of the Visitor’s Education Center, an early 20th-century building that once housed the administrative offices of the Armed Forces Retirement Home. The main focus of my work was the ongoing preservation of the interior of Lincoln Cottage; the exterior restoration had been completed the previous summer. My tasks included architectural fragment documentation and identification, storage of sensitive materials, structural documentation and assessment of Lincoln Cottage and surrounding structures, selective removal of architectural elements and the reinstallation of flooring that had been previously removed. I also worked on getting a preservation carpentry studio organized and operational for the upcoming construction work schedule for both the Cottage and Visitors Education Center, sat in on a variety of preconstruction meetings and took part in an interesting peer preservation review that involved staff of the NPS, US/ICOMOS and the National Trust. My time at Lincoln Cottage enhanced my interest in historic structure conservation and prepared me for work in the professional preservation field.