PRAIRIE GROVE -- Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park's new interpreter has found a good fit: she's interested in public history and historical preservation and wanted to move closer to her hometown of Bentonville.
Kylee Cole started as a park interpreter Aug. 1 and is working alongside Matt Mulheran, who started as a park interpreter in August 2018.
Cole has not been a Civil War reenactor and does not consider herself a Civil War historian. However, she said she's found it exciting to be able to continue learning and diversify what she knows.
A Bentonville High graduate, Cole earned a bachelor of science degree in history with a major in anthropology from the University of Central Arkansas.
She said a Bentonville history teacher influenced her as far as seeking some type of career in history. The teacher made history come alive and made it relative to today's times, Cole said.
Her grandmother, who was interested in the family's genealogy, shared many stories about her life that were appealing and fun.
"Those two people probably are who inspired me to pursue history professionally," she said.
For the past two years, Cole attended Colorado State University, earning a master's degree in history with a concentration on cultural resource management and historical preservation.
Her experience over the years has included working for White Oak Lake State Park in southwest Arkansas and working for the Colorado State Parks system. Susan Adkins, the Battlefield Park's superintendent, was Cole's trainer for her first job with Arkansas State Parks as a seasonal interpreter.
Cole said she and Mulheran have several goals as the state park ends 2019 and enters a new year. During the colder months, she said they go to schools and provide outreach to students. For the warmer months, they hope to bring more students into the park.
"We hope to build our program and get more traffic in the park with school groups," Cole said.
The park has good relationships with specific teachers but wants to cast a broader net to reach more teachers and more schools, she added.
Personally, Cole said she wants to bring more "civilian" stories to the park.
"I want to dig into the civilian experiences that women and children had during the war and then the broader stories in the aftermath of the battle. How did people's lives change," she said.
Cole said she believes many people will be able to connect to the state park in a different way through the civilian stories.
Cole had been to the Battlefield State Park on one occasion before her new job but said she did not remember much about the park.
Since coming, she's been thoroughly impressed. She's also been surprised by the number of people who have grown up in Prairie Grove and never been to the park.
"We still have so many people we can interact with here," she said. Her personal goal is to show local residents and other visitors that history is cool and important, just like she learned from her history teacher in Bentonville.
A main goal for the park as a whole is to get the historical houses open again for tours, Cole said. This includes replacing items in the houses with reproductive, vintage and antique pieces that are appropriate for the period, "so the houses look like the real life that would have happened during that time."
When the houses are ready, the park will be able to open the houses for scheduled tours, she said.
Since coming back to Arkansas and Arkansas State Parks, Cole said one thing has been reaffirmed to her.
"It's reaffirmed to me how awesome Arkansas State Parks are," she said. "There are a lot of opportunities to grow here. I hope to bring something slightly different to the table because of my background."
When she's not at the state park, Cole said she enjoys many other activities. She has two dogs and likes to kayak, hike and craft. Presently, she's sewing her own living history dress using an 1860s pattern.
General News on 01/01/2020