At Delaware State, historic preservation begins at home — with Loockerman Hall, a late-18th-century manor that now resides on the National Register of Historic Places. When Delaware State opened in 1891, Loockerman Hall was the university’s main building, housing classrooms, administrative offices, dormitory rooms, and dining facilities. Today, more than a century later, this fully restored facility remains a vital part of campus life.

 

That’s what the Master of Historic Preservation degree is all about — providing important pieces of our past with new life in the present and future. The historic preservation degree prepares students for careers in research and restoration, with a concentration in either Museum Studies or African-American Heritage Preservation. Students get an advanced education in architectural history, preservation law and policy, research methods, curatorship, and museum management.

Graduates are fully prepared for professional employment and leadership positions with museums, state agencies, historical societies, tour companies, and other history-related organizations in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors.

The history department has a young and dynamic faculty. Instructors come from a diverse set of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and they have a broad range of research interests that include military history, Latin America, Africa, maritime history, Colonial U.S. history, and the U.S. presidency.

 

Because the history department is small and intimate, graduate students have a lot of direct interaction with professors and receive much guidance and encouragement.

All students in the graduate program in historic preservation complete an off-campus internship with a private historical group or a local, state, or federal government agency. In addition to cultivating skills that translate directly to the workplace, students gain professional contacts via their internships, which may lead (directly or indirectly) to future employment.