ABOUT
My name is Robert Kurtz, and I am a PhD Candidate at Middle Tennessee State University in Public History. I have a master's degree from North Dakota State University in History with a focus on the Northern Great Plains and Preservation. My bachelor's degree is also from North Dakota State University in History with a minor in Anthropology.
My interest in history has always come from a place dominated by objects and the spaces they fill. It led to exploration, a collection of trinkets, and continually asking myself how things got to be the way they are. This later expanded to wanting to know more about the craftspeople who made them and why they chose certain materials and methodologies. My education introduced me to preservation through service learning and how to apply it.
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After over a decade of experience in residential construction I have been fortunate enough to further pursue my education in public history focusing on preservation and vernacular architecture. I have taken part in field and archival research, preservation reports, National Registry nominations, tours, serving customers, and educating the public on historic sites.
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I have held the position of Historic Preservation Officer (HPO) for the City of Corpus Christi, Texas. As an HPO I aided the public in locally listing their properties through historic overlays and educating the public on preservation processses and practices. ​
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I am currently working as a Historian/Architectural Historian for an Archaeology firm where I am writing Section 106 reports from data that we collect through field and archival research.