Three people honored for work in preservation

The Southeast Missouri State University Historic Preservation Association held its spring banquet Saturday, handing out awards to Dan Schoeneberg and Dr. Robert and Kaye Hamblin for their historic preservation efforts.

The Hamblins were awarded the Excellence in Historic Preservation Award by Sigma Pi Kappa, the international honor society for historic preservation. The couple received the award for their preservation efforts in rehabilitating the Harrison House at 313 Themis St., a historic home the couple said they first saw after a 2003 Tunes at Twilight concert series performance.

The Hamblins bought the house when it went on the market and spent three years rehabilitating the structure.

The association bestowed Dan Schoeneberg with its Arthur H. Mattingly Award, which recognizes achievement in the historic preservation field by a graduate of the university's historic preservation program.

Schoeneberg was nominated by Southeast history faculty member Dr. Frank Nickell, director of the school's Center for Regional History, for work throughout his career. Schoeneberg graduated from Southeast in 1995 with an undergraduate degree in historic preservation, then obtained a master's degree in the field from Eastern Illinois University in 2000.

He works as an experience research manager at the Conner Prairie Living History Museum in Fishers, Ind., where he is in charge of historical research. Schoeneberg has 18 years' professional experience working at historical societies and historical sites throughout the Midwest and was awarded the American Association for State and Local History certificates of merit in 1997 and 2006 for his work at Conner Prairie and at Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa.

msanders@semissourian.com

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