March 28, 2024

Scholarship Recipient Preserves and Interprets the Past

James Marshall ’23 volunteers for the National Park Service.

James Marshall ’23 volunteers for the National Park Service.

With a major in historic preservation, James Marshall ’23 applies his knowledge and skills to bring history alive for others. In between architecture classes and building forensics labs, you can find him volunteering at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.

James says he has loved history as long as he can remember. “I grew up in Marlowe, West Virginia, so my parents regularly took me to parks and battlefields, including Antietam.”

In high school, James took dual-credit courses to complete training as an electrician, yet he wanted to find a way to honor his love of history. One day, he found a YouTube video featuring UMW Associate Professor of Historic Preservation Michael Spencer ’03. That led to a 125-mile drive to Fredericksburg to meet the professor and to tour campus.

Read more of this story and find other UMW articles in the Fall 2022 Planning Matters newsletter.