2018 John L. Cotter Award for Excellence in NPS Archeology

Excavating with the UAC at Santa Monica Mountains NRA. NPS photo.

The John L. Cotter Award for Excellence in National Park Service Archeology is awarded annually to honor the long and distinguished career and pioneering contributions of Dr. John L. Cotter. The award was established as inspiration for student and professional archeologists to continue Dr. Cotter’s model of excellence. The award recognizes the archeological accomplishments of NPS staff or a partnership researcher within a unit or units of the National Park System.

The Cotter Award recognizes two categories. The Professional Achievement Category is awarded to individuals with demonstrated long-term service in the NPS. The Project Achievement Category is awarded to an individual or a group of people for a single fixed-year activity or a multi-year effort with sequential phases for inventory, excavation, testing, mitigation, planning, or collection analysis regarding submerged or terrestrial National Park Service resources.

The winners of the 2018 awards are:

Jim Bradford (Professional Achievement)

Jim Bradford was stationed at the Southwest Regional Office (later the Western Archeological Center) for nearly 40 years, from 1978 until 2017. He served throughout his whole NPS career in Santa Fe but worked with parks and partners from Louisiana to Guam. Bradford’s technical specialty was measured plan drawings obtained from trilateration—imaged from two points on a known baseline. He taught three generations of resources management and law enforcement personnel to construct accurate overviews of archeological sites and crime scenes.

Bradford’s report for El Morro National Monument, Without Parallel Among Relics: An Archeological History of El Morro National Monument (2013), is an excellent example of multidisciplinary scholarship. In addition to his terrestrial archeology, Bradford served as part of the Submerged Resources Center from 1980 until his 2017 retirement, executing more than 1,150 dives for NPS in 37 years. His professional and personal relationships include many Native community members who respected and trusted his opinion on traditional properties, and has worked on many NAGPRA projects through the years.

Urban Archeology Corps (Project Achievement)

The Urban Archeology Corps (UAC) was a national program from 2012-2017 that employed students to conduct interdisciplinary public archeology projects in urban national parks. The Corps engaged students in archeology to complete resource management projects, meet statutory responsibilities, and conduct archeological outreach with students and local communities. Park archeologists and resource managers supervised small teams of students on small Section 106 and Section 110 projects and conducted public education.

The UAC made a difference in the lives of the almost 145 students who participated over the course of the program. The projects championed diversity in archeology, emphasized interdisciplinary research, explored multiple perspectives and, most of all, valued the unique contributions that students make to the NPS. Without the team leads’ hard work, creativity and devotion, the UAC program could not have been a success.

• Teresa S. Moyer, Archeologist, Archeology Program, Washington Office
• Kristen G. Allen, Chief of Natural and Cultural Resources, Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site & Richmond National Battlefield Park
• Katherine D. Birmingham, Cultural Resources Program Manager, National Capital Parks-East
• Ethan P. Bullard, Museum Curator, Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site & Richmond National Battlefield Park
• Gary M. Brown, Cultural Resource Program Manager, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area]
• Thadra Stanton, Archeologist, Southeast Archeological Center (for Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park)

Watch the ArcheoThursday webinar, Urban Archeology Corps: National Park Service Cotter Best Project Award Winners for 2018.