From 1984-1990, Rich was employed as a National Park Ranger assigned to Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. His NPS accomplishments included the creation and design of the first person programming (living history) at Hopewell Furnace and winner of the "Interpreter of the Year (Freeman Tilden Award)" for the Mid-Atlantic Region of the National Park Service. In 1991, he began HISTORY ALIVE!SM and returned to adjunct college teaching. In both 1993 and 2002, he was awarded the "Outstanding Adjunct Professor of the Year Award" at Penn State Berks. Other honors include: winner of the Kutztown University of Rothermel Alumni Award, named one of KU's "100 Most Distinguished Alumni of the 20th Century," and selection for "Who's Who in America" (2006 edition).
Paralleling his teaching career, his national reputation of excellence in living history grew, and in 1995, Rich was the winner of the National Association for Interpretation (NAI) "Excellence in Interpretation Award"--a national distinction presented annually to one individual, institution or agency that has displayed excellence in the practice of frontline field interpretation and, through their efforts, have influenced others. He has completed the extensive requirements for certification by NAI as both a "Certified Interpretive Guide" and a "Certified Interpretive Trainer" (including CIG Trainer) and in 2003 won an NAI Media Award for "Outstanding Feature Article" in Legacy magazine. He is currently a presenter for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council Commonwealth Speakers series.
Annually, he presents over two hundred HISTORY ALIVE!SM performances and numerous living history workshops. In 1995, he took a year off from teaching to design and present 220 dramatic/multimedia performances of a program that summarized the 100 year history of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. He subsequently wrote and performed similar programs for Maryland's Natural Resources Police and the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
Other specially designed programs include acoustic heritage music programs and the company's Boys of Base Ball. The latter, a unique look at baseball's past designed for minor and major league ballparks, was featured at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002 and 2007 (Hall of Fame Inductees Weekend), 2004 (Hall of Fame Game Weekend), as well as at the 2000 and 2002 Baseball Winter Meetings and the 2004 Little League World Series.
The company trademark History is People!® can be found on products including two CD's, History Thru Song and Hammered in Iron: Railroad Songs & Stories by Rich Pawling's History Alive! Boys. History Thru Song is a history of our nation as told through the songs of the laborers and songwriters of the 18th, 19th and early 20th century. Hammered in Iron: Railroad Songs & Stories is a double CD live concert recording focusing on railroad life and history that includes both music and interpretive introductions. A video series focuses on the working class and their role in American History. Two titles have been released in that series, including Buildin' the Rails: the Life of a Gandy Dancer (which aired on the History Channel) and Fire in the Hole! A Coal Miner's Story.
Rich's graduate education, a Master of Science in Geoenvironmental Sciences was awarded at Shippensburg University of PA. His undergraduate degree was completed at Kutztown University of PA--majoring in education, environmental science and geography. Rich has authored three historical dramas--one on the history of Ephrata (PA) entitled The Ephrata Story: Schmutz, Bellyguts and the Dragon, Oil on the Brain: The Story of Pennsylvania's Early Oil Days, and A Line for All Times: the Mason-Dixon Line. His other written publications include "Geographic Influences Upon the Development and Decline of the Union Canal" Proceedings of the Canal History and Technology Symposium; "Hopewell Furnace: A Microcosm of America's 18th and 19th Century Cold Blast Charcoal Iron Industry", Pennsylvania Geographical Society; "Interpreting America's Forgotten Hero: The Common Laborer", "Back on the Road Again--Living History Off-site", "Getting It Right: Excellence in Living History", "Interpreting History Through Song", and "Hurrah for Our National Game: the Interpretation of Baseball" National Association for Interpretation Workshop Proceedings; and "Where We Have Come From, Where Are We Going: The Philosophy of Interpretation" and "For the Love of the Game: Interpreting Baseball" Legacy (NAI).
Rich Pawling's HISTORY ALIVE!SMhas presented interpretive living history/music programs or training sessions throughout the United States and Canada including the Colorado Historical Society (Denver, CO), Colorado State University (Fort Collins, CO), Tarleton State University (Tarleton, TX), Delaware State Parks, Maryland State Parks, California State Parks, Historic Southern Indiana, National Baseball Hall of Fame (Cooperstown, NY), Pennsylvania State Parks, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, U.S. Forest Service (Portland, OR), New River Gorge Nationall River (Lansing, WV), F.E. Warren AFB, "Fort D.A. Russell Days" (Cheyenne, WY), Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park (Mandan, ND), Fort Laramie NHS (Ft. Laramie, WY), Kansas State Museum, Land Between the Lakes NRA (Golden Pond, KY), BLM/Oregon Trail Interpretive Center (Baker City, OR), Rocky Mountain NP (CO), Bent's Old Fort NHS (LaJunta, CO), Little Bighorn NB (Crow Agency, MT), Grand Canyon NP (AZ), Havre de Grace Decoy Festival (Havre de Grace, MD), National Envirothon (U. of Pittsburgh, Johnstown, PA), The Wildlife Society National Conference (Snowmass, CO), the Maryland Forest Association (Solomons, MD), Parks Canada/Fort Wellington, Upper Canada Village (Morrisburg, ON), the American Association for State and Local History (Columbus, OH, Denver, CO, Pittsburgh, PA), Association for Living Historical Farms and Agricultural Museums (Troy, NY, Hiram, OH and Princeton, NJ) the National Association for Interpretation Annual Workshop (Vail, CO; Charleston, SC; Santa Clara, CA; Washington, D.C.; Cleveland, OH; Orlando, FL; Billings, MT; Beaumont, TX, Anchorage, AK; Syracuse, NY, Des Moines, IA,Virginia Beach, VA and Wichita, KS) and the NAI/CILH Section Workshops (St. Louis, MO and Portland, OR).
For Additional Information, contact History Alive!SM
at (888)818-6761,
or via E-mail
at richpawling@yahoo.com
