National Trails Office Regions 6|7|8 Staff Highlight: Ramona Malczynski, Summer 2021 Latino Heritage Intern

Angélica Sánchez-Clark, chief historian for NPS NTIR, and Ramona Malczynski, 2021 NTIR LHIP Intern sanding by the site ID sign for Casa San Ysidro, a certified site on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.

NPS Photo

This summer, the National Trails office of the National Park Service (NTIR) was lucky enough to host Ramona Malczynski as our Latino Heritage intern. The Latino Heritage Internship Program (LHIP), created by the National Park Service (NPS) and administered in partnership with Environment for the Americas, is designed to provide internship opportunities to young adults in diverse professional fields in NPS. The program helps raise awareness of our national parks, trails, and historic sites, their accessibility, and the need for the Latino community’s involvement in their preservation and appreciation.

Angélica and Ramona at the NTIR office on the University of New Mexico campus.

NPS Photo

Ramona is entering her 2nd year of her PhD program in Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of New Mexico. Her PhD research will focus on water equity in arid lands, specifically the Río Chama in New Mexico and the Río Atuel-Chadileuvú in Argentina. In the future, she hopes to serve communities, which dovetails nicely with her internship project this summer: outreach to and collaboration with trail partners on four of the nine national historic trails (NHTs) administered by NTIR, El Camino Real de los Tejas, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, Santa Fe Trail, and Old Spanish Trail. NTIR co-administers El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro NHT and the Old Spanish NHT with the Bureau of Land Management.

Ramona Malczynski listening to a lecture about the history of Abiquiu and its connection to the Old Spanish National Historic Trail given by Virgil Trujillo, a docent at the Pueblo of Abiquiu Library and Cultural Center.

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The National Trails System Act of 1965 authorizes trail administrators to enter into partnerships with landowners and managers to protect and preserve their historic trail properties and share them with others. Through the partner certification program, trail staff provide guidance and technical assistance to owners or managers of certified trail sites, trail segments, museums, and visitor centers. This summer, Ramona contacted and met with many certified partners across the four trails to ensure that they had an opportunity to promote their site on the NTIR Places to Go page and on the new official NPS app, both of which are invaluable resources that provide the public information about places they can visit to learn more about the national historic trails. She also encouraged them to reach out to trail staff with requests for assistance with site ID signs, participation in the Passport Stamp program, and trail interpretation materials.

As is the case with any new job, there is always a learning curve, but Ramona quickly grasped the significant role that national historic trails play within NPS and embraced our trail partners and the work they do to protect and promote these trails. Learning about the history of the communities and the people along the trails also gave her insight into her own heritage and family history. As Ramona expressed in her first internship blog,

“Driving from Albuquerque to El Paso last weekend I was so excited to see signs that said ‘El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro – Historic Route’ because I knew I would soon start my Latino Heritage Internship Program position as the Latino Historic Trails Partnership Outreach Intern. I have traveled from Albuquerque to El Paso and vice versa hundreds of times to visit my extended family and have always thought it is the most beautiful journey filled with a lot of memories and meaning for me. Now, whenever I go south, I will always notice the National Park Service trail signs. I will think about the thousands of people who traveled El Camino for centuries, from Indigenous peoples who used the original route for trade across the continent, to people today who use the historic route turned interstate highway to visit their families, go to work or school, or visit historic sites.”

Lynn Brittner, the Manager of the Old Spanish Trail Association, Guy McClellan, historian with NTIR, and Ramona on a guided tour of Casa San Ysidro led by Aaron Gardner, the site manager.

NPS Photo

This summer, Ramona has visited places such as the Pueblo of Abiquiú in Northern New Mexico, where she learned about the community’s strong social and cultural ties to their Genízaro heritage and identity; Los Luceros Historic Site, home to generations of people for over six hundred years; and Casa San Ysidro: The Gutiérrez/Minge House in Corrales, which demonstrates 19th century life along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. Next, she will have an opportunity to visit Coronado Historic Site in Bernalillo, Martineztown in Albuquerque, the Gutiérrez-Hubbell House in the Pajarito community of Albuquerque, and the Village of Tomé in southern New Mexico, all certified partners along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro NHT. Though many LHIP interns traveled far and wide for their work, Ramona was “thrilled to be staying close to home to develop a deeper understanding of the history and communities of my home state and the American Southwest.”

Although Ramona’s internship is almost over, she has set up NTIR staff for success by revitalizing partnerships across the trails and by identifying opportunities for additional ways in which we can all work together to promote the national historic trails.