Four Rivers Congratulates Al Luckenbach on Receiving Preservation Maryland’s Tyler Gearhart Award for Professional Excellence
Annapolis, MD — The Four Rivers Heritage Area congratulates Al Luckenbach, who will receive the Tyler Gearhart Award for Professional Excellence from Preservation Maryland on May 21, 2015 at their annual awards ceremony to be held in Baltimore.
Dr. Al Luckenbach, who recently retired in 2014, was Anne Arundel County’s first county Archaeologist, serving 26 years and Founder and Director of the Lost Towns Project. He holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Kentucky. Al has been published widely in such journals as Science and American Antiquity. He is also the author of Providence 1649: The History and Archaeology of Anne Arundel County Maryland’s First European Settlement (1995). A few of Al’s many research interests include prehistoric archaeology, historic ceramics, and clay tobacco pipemaking.
Dr. Al’s work at Historic London Town and Gardens, his team’s discoveries at Leavy’s Neck that resulted in an important component of the acclaimed Smithsonian Exhibit, “Written in Bone,” and the discoveries at the Chew site in Deale have brought great distinction and national recognition to the Four Rivers Heritage Area.
Other awardees this year include J. Rodney Little, Maryland’s State Historic Preservation Officer for the last four decades, and the Maryland Historical Trust, together with the Maryland Department of General Services, for their restoration of the Old Senate Chamber in the Maryland State House. The restoration represents the chamber at the exact moment of General George Washington’s resignation.
The “Heart and Soul of Preservation” Awards Celebration will be held on Thursday, May 21, 2015 from 6:00-9:00 p.m. at the Dye House at Mount Washington Mill, 1340 Smith Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21209. For the complete list of award recipients for this year and to purchase tickets for the celebration, please visit www.bestofmaryland.org.
Four Rivers, one of Maryland’s 13 certified state heritage areas, is a nonprofit organization operating in partnership with the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, Anne Arundel County, the City of Annapolis, the Town of Highland Beach, and heritage-related organizations and businesses. Its mission is to stimulate preservation and economic development of the region by supporting and promoting its natural, historic and cultural resources. For more information please visit the Four Rivers website, www.chesapeakecrossroads.org, or call the office at 410-222-1805. E-mail contact: [email protected]