Rediscovering the Past

When Nathan Koozer began his internship with the National Park Service, he had no idea that his discoveries would help change the way local residents viewed history.

As a Penn State Altoona history major from Bellwood, Pennsylvania, Koozer was interested in an internship with the Park Service so that he could get experience with the federal government and get involved with local history, as well as complete his internship close to home. During the course of his summer internship, he worked at both the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site and the Johnstown Flood National Memorial and took on an exciting research role while there—exploring the Johnstown flood of 1889 and Clara Barton's role in it.

According to information from the National Park Service, American Red Cross Founder Clara Barton arrived in Johnstown with a team from the Washington, D.C. area to direct relief operations with more than 2,000 dead and thousands of homeless victims. During her four months of work, Barton's branch of the American Red Cross is remembered for providing shelter, along with warm meals, provisions for daily needs, and medical care to many survivors in large buildings simply known as "Red Cross Hotels," some of which stood into early 1890. In fact, the Johnstown Flood is considered the first major civilian disaster relief effort for the American Red Cross, which was less than ten years old in 1889.

"In particular, I was researching where she set up her headquarters, meaning where she lived and where her offices were," he says. "And what I uncovered was that the house that a lot of people in Johnstown called the 'Clara Barton House' was not in fact the Clara Barton house."

According to the research uncovered by Koozer, Barton had a couple of places in town that she designated as her headquarters, but it ended up that she actually recorded herself staying on the property of a judge from Johnstown. The house originally believed to be her headquarters was located on Main Street and still stands today, but the judge's property now believed to be her residence is located on Washington Street in Johnstown.

"… what I uncovered was that the house that a lot of people in Johnstown called the 'Clara Barton House' was not in fact the Clara Barton house."
—Nathan Koozer

Koozer, who graduated this past August following the completion of his internship, says his Penn State Altoona education allowed him to hit the ground running when he began with the Park Service.

"All the classes that I had, whether they were history or not, prepared me for my internship because when you go into [a work experience], you need to know sociology, psychology, and even basic math skills. The history courses prepared me for writing reports and doing things like that, as well as being able to do research. I think it all was a good educational experience that prepared me for the next step."

He put these research skills to good use during the course of the internship as he dug deeper and deeper into Clara Barton's history and her role in the Johnstown flood.

"Clara Barton was dedicated to keeping accurate records; it was just that this particular fact concerning where she set up her headquarters was, for whatever reason, just never recorded very clearly. In my research effort, I had to delve deep and, when I came to a dead end, figure out where to go next."

Koozer says that, despite the sometimes difficult nature of uncovering research, he found a great deal of satisfaction with his internship in general, and specifically in working on the Clara Barton project.

"I believe that I found evidence to pinpoint where she stayed," he says. "I'm sure that there are going to be other people who are still going to go back and check the facts. In my final report, I even suggested that others would go back to verify the information and just keep going because I think that it's something that people want to know."

He notes that his internship experience was of great benefit because he was able to choose one that met his expectations and overall goals for an internship experience.

"I would just suggest to anybody that's interested in doing an internship to pick the site that's right for you," he notes. "The Park Service was the right thing for me. From the first day that I was there, I was treated like an old friend. It was a great experience and that's because I found the place that was right for me."