Staff Spotlight: Mykel King

Mykel King at Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument

NPS Photo

Meet Mykel King, a graduate of mass communications from Benedict College in South Carolina, a Historically Black College and University. King originally wanted to go to law school after earning his bachelor’s degree. After all, he had already worked at several law firms. He shared, “I was always interested in law from the beginning. I found it fascinating but was not able to take it at the college, since the major was not offered at the time during my freshman year, so I took media classes instead.” At the Central Fine Arts and International Baccalaureate Magnet High School, he had the opportunity to learn about all kinds of media, including video production, photography, and graphics. Having this prior experience from high school made his decision to change his bachelor’s degree from pre-law to mass communications a logical one. He was surprised to learn that it is common for those with mass communications degrees to go to law school. He took a media law course to complement his studies and minored in English.

Following his studies at Benedict College, he planned to go to law school. However, when he was told that he would not be allowed to hold a job during the first year of his legal studies due to the intensity of the courses, he made the difficult decision to delay his plans for law school to sometime in the future. His friend shared how she would be interning with the Greening Youth Foundation as an Education and Interpretation Intern with the National Park Service, so he decided to take a chance and send his resume even though he did not have specific prior experience. He did not know what to expect and was delighted when he heard he had been selected. He ended up taking on two internships over two summers and earned his Public Land Corps Hiring Authority. He is now a Park Guide at the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument.

Summer Interpretation staff from left to right: Ranger Nick Mainz, Intern Mykel King, Ranger Kaitlyn Barnett, Intern Autumn Turkvant, and Ranger Claire Casey posing for photo inside of Jean Baptiste Valle House

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During his first internship, he learned about interpretation and education with the newly established Ste. Geneviève National Historical Park in Missouri, giving tours of the historic homes and attending community events. In preparation for a Folk Festival at the park, he recruited a person to build the stage, monitor audio, and another person to demonstrate book marbling and antique furniture making. The job he envisioned himself doing and what he actually experienced in return was so much more rewarding. He not only got to interact with Chris Collins, the Superintendent at the time, but also with several other staff members, which created a strong sense of community. The park has four historic houses, three of which can be toured. The team was made up of seven Park Rangers and increased to 12 when the Green Tree Tavern opened to the public during his second internship. The richness of the interactions made it even more worthwhile.

King did not know who he was going to meet on any given day, between the visitors who came from France, Canada, and Germany and the NPS staff and interns. He recalls one day when he was invited to a park employee’s house.

“I remember being invited over for dinner. I got to the house and this woman was making spaghetti. It was not until after we started talking about what we wanted to do with our careers and what our next steps were that I realized she worked for the National Park Service. She wasn’t wearing her uniform. I saw her in a different light, where she was with her family. We sat at the table, and she served the best spaghetti I had ever had with the bay leaves and all.”

This woman was Nichole McHenry, who is currently the Program Manager for Relevancy, Diversity, and Inclusion at the National Park Service, who had taken a temporary job with the park. Her nephew Evan, with whom he had spent a lot of time, was also going through an internship.

Ste. Geneviève Superintendent Chris Collins and intern Mykel King posing for photo at the Bequette-Ribault House

NPS Photo

A first observation King made upon arriving to the park was just how hot and humid it was. In fact, there were many days of over 100-degree weather. As a result, he appreciated the French colonial style homes because they were the perfect type of housing for the climate. There were two types of homes. One was called poteaux-en-terre (post-in-ground) and the other was called poteaux-sur-sol (posts on a sill). The houses stay intact for a long time, and even when earthquakes and floods shake the ground, they continue to stand tall.

A story that particularly intrigued him was the Bauvais-Amoureux House. This house is one of only three known surviving poteaux-en-terre style houses in Ste. Geneviève. It was originally built in 1792 by Jean Baptiste, the son of one of the first residents of Ste. Geneviève. Pélagie Amoureux, originally Pélagie Vital, was enslaved for the first 27 years of her life. During this time, she met a White Frenchman named Benjamin Amoureux and fell in love with him. Around 1830, Benjamin and Pélagie rowed across the Mississippi to Illinois where they could be married by a Catholic priest. They returned to Ste. Geneviève where they presented their marriage certificate and took communion. She continued to be enslaved by the Bauvais family, along with her son Félix, for the first few years of her marriage. They were eventually emancipated by Félicité Bauvais, the widow of Vital St. Gemme Bauvais, in 1832. From 1832 to 1852, they lived apart until they bought the Bauvais-Amoureux house. Their descendants continued to live there until 1923.

View of the Bauvais-Amoureux House

NPS Photo

For the first internship focusing on education and interpretation, he worked with then intern Autumn Turkvant from the Greening Youth Foundation on the Railroad to Freedom project. He was researching stories and station destinations. He recalls,

“I originally went to look for one station and found four or five. I went to the city library first to get more information…I talked to librarians. Some of them were working with the Randolph County Genealogy Society. Many of these people weren’t being talked about because helping enslaved people was illegal back then.”

He would go to the Circuit Clerks Office and search through records to find stories of the enslaved people in Ste. Geneviève. Many of these records have not been digitized, so in many cases, he was looking at the original records, which put a smile on his face. He felt closer to this history.

To stay away from the heat and small office in the park’s attic during his second internship, he found himself spending large chunks of his time in the library, which was at the community center. He met many of the community leaders here. It became his second home where he would read for hours and take in all the history that had been documented on paper. He would discuss how the park would fit in within the community and what the community wanted to see from the park.

Left to right: Emily Smithey, Mykel King, and Autumn Turkvant at Thistlehorn Museum in Sparta Illinois

NPS Photo

Being a new park has its challenges, and for this park, part of it was building the park relationship with the rest of the community. King helped bridge the gap and get the park acquainted with different organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of the United States of America, 4-H, Future Farmers of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the surrounding schools in Ste. Geneviève County.

After spending two summers with Ste. Geneviève, it was time for a change. He traded the hot, sweaty summers of Missouri for cold, snowy winters of Ohio. In November 2022, he became a Park Guide at the Charles Young Buffalo Soldier National Historic Monument.

King knew Brigadier General Charles Young was one of the Buffalo Soldiers of the 9^th and 10^th Cavalries as well as the first Black Superintendent of the National Park Service at Sequoia National Park. He also knew Young was the third African-American graduate of the United States Military. However, he was intrigued to learn of the other aspects of Young’s life that is not always shared widely. Given his background in the arts, King felt an immediate connection to Young’s interest in the arts. Young was a teacher and also wrote over 100 poems and a couple of songs “To see him doing all of that while maintaining a career is impressive,” he noted.

Youngsholm from the front; Photograph of Major Charles Young

NPS Photo Public Domain

The work King does changes from day-to-day and this keeps him on his toes. He enjoys writing social media posts for the park and provides interpretive programs to visitors, including giving tours and supporting events. A memorable event took place last December for Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s 150^th anniversary and Dunbar Christmas. He felt connected to the people in his community and to those who looked like him. However, community is not just about appearances. It’s also about shared experiences. King feels like he left a legacy at his college and hopes to leave one everywhere he goes. What he has learned about himself and wants to share with youth and young adults interested in a possible career with the National Park Service is to, “[Not] count yourself out. Your network is just as important when trying to get this position than any other. I wouldn’t have known this job existed without Nichole McHenry. Always make a good first impression. Don’t be afraid of change. You have to learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.”

He has found a way to bridge his passion for music and the performing arts into the work he does. He has a deep love for music and singing keeps him motivated and fulfilled. When he was younger, he was in the Georgia All-State Choir, the Central High School Glee club, a group called Destined for Greatness, and regularly sang at his church in Macon, as well as in Concert and Gospel choirs while attending Benedict College. He decided to become a member of Alpha Rho Theta Fraternity of the Creative and Performing Arts to serve the community through art. Some of his favorite parks include Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, and Ste. Geneviève National Historic Park. If he could create his own park, it would be for Dr. Betty Johnson Tolbert, an educator from Macon, Georgia, who has touched and inspired generations in the area.

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