Heritage Conservation Project Director Helen Erickson Discusses Buffalo Soldiers on the Arizona-Mexico Border for ASLA Blog

June 25, 2021
Who
Helen Erickson, Heritage Conservation Project Director
What
Essay in The Field, ASLA Professional Practice Networks' Blog
Image
Camp Naco

Camp Naco, just north of the Mexico border in southeastern Arizona. Photo by Helen Erickson.

On June 22, 2021, CAPLA Heritage Conservation Project Director Helen Erickson published the essay “Buffalo Soldiers on the Southwest Border” in The Field, the blog of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Professional Practice Network. In its introduction to the essay, the ASLA notes how it “highlights the importance of documenting historic landscapes for perpetuity”—and in particular, a historic Black landscape.

Image
Helen Erickson

Helen Erickson, Heritage Conservation Program Project Director.

Erickson explores Camp Naco alongside the larger role of African-American soldiers in southeastern Arizona. The camp, which was constructed in 1919, is located in the valley of the San Pedro River and was home to rotating troops from the 10th U.S. Calvary Regiment—nicknamed “Buffalo Soldiers.” It is also “unique in that it was built almost entirely of adobe, a circumstance which explains its survival to the present day,” writes Erickson.

Learn more about Camp Naco and Buffalo Soldiers on the Southwest border by reading the essay.

Erickson, who holds a Master of Landscape Architecture and Certificate in Heritage Conservation from CAPLA, joined the college faculty in 2017 after working with the Drachman Institute for seven years on Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit-related projects. The national ASLA coordinator for the Historic American Landscapes Survey, she also holds a BA from Harvard University and a Master of Music from the Yale University School of Music.

  

Subscribe to The Studio

Sign up for CAPLA's monthly e-newsletter to get the latest news and events, insights from faculty and leadership, profiles of students and alumni and more.

Subscribe Now

Latest CAPLA News, Projects and Profiles

Image
Water flows rapidly over rocks and past riparian vegetation in Aravaipa Canyon while red rock cliffs tower in the background.

Indigenous Nations and the Right to Water: Relationships, Resources and Futures | Lecture by Heather Whiteman Runs Him

Heather Whiteman Runs Him is a citizen of the Apsaalooke/Crow Nation. She is the Director of the Tribal Justice Clinic and Associate Clinical Professor at University of Arizona Rogers College of Law where she also teaches courses on tribal water rights, tribal courts, and tribal law.

Image
A woman and two men pose for a group photo.

Extreme Heat Planning Works: Building on a Proven Platform at the Second Annual Southern Arizona Heat Summit

Held at the University of Arizona’s ENR2 building, the 2nd Annual Southern Arizona Heat Summit brought together experts and community leaders to discuss strategies for extreme heat preparedness, featuring presentations from City of Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and other officials.