25 Apr Update: Reconstruction Era Monument Superintendent
The National Park Service just announced an interim Superintendent for the multi site Reconstruction Era Monument. Superintendent Melissa English-Rias, whose specialty is developing interpretative programs for the National Park Service, will initially be charged with leading the planning phase throughout the summer. Michael Allen, who may of us met during the journey to becoming a monument, will be working with Ms English- Rias
Melissa English-Rias has been a front-line interpreter with the National Park Service for 29 years.
She began her NPS career as an undergraduate student at Ninety Six National Historic Site while attending Lander University in Greenwood, SC in 1986. She graduated with a BA Degree in History. Through a cooperative education program she attended Western Kentucky University and worked at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky and received a Masters of Public Administration.
Melissa spent the majority of her NPS career as an Interpretive Specialist and Chief of Interpretation at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, Georgia. She has also served as Acting Superintendent of De Soto National Memorial, Bradenton, Florida.
Her permanent job is a staff park ranger in the Southeast Regional Office of the National Park Service in Atlanta, Georgia.