From TTAP to NPS: Alex Crawford

In 2024, Alex Crawford worked as a Traditional Trades Advancement Program (TTAP) Landscape Stewardship Corps (LSC) intern at Medgar & Myrlie Evers Home National Monument. This internship gave him essential skills that led to him becoming a gardener at Petersburg National Battlefield. We caught up with him to hear about his experience, his background, and his work now as an NPS employee.

When were you a part of TTAP and where were you placed?
I was a part of TTAP from April 1st through September 30th of 2024. I worked as a part of the new Landscape Stewardship Corps in TTAP at the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Home National Monument in Jackson, Mississippi.

TTAP highlighted opportunities in historic preservation that Alex would not have ever known existed without the program.

NPS Photo

How did you first become interested in historic preservation?
Historic preservation - particularly when it comes to historic architecture - has been a passion of mine for years. I have wanted to get a job in a field related to it since 2020, when I was a junior in college. History has always been a topic of interest for me, and growing up I used to spend all my free time reading about the subject. However, my interest in historic preservation was sparked by an excess of time brought on by COVID-19 closing my college. While away, I grew an interest in the history of the houses of Little Rock, Arkansas, where I am from. My interest has only grown from there.

What was one of the coolest projects you worked on in TTAP?
It wasn't a project in the typical sense, but in late June of 2024 the MEMY site received word that Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, would be coming through Jackson and visiting the site. The staff and I went out of our way to roll out the red carpet. Although we only found out a few weeks in advance of his visit, we had the site looking great by the time he arrived. I ended up giving him a tour of the community garden at the site, which I had helped plant earlier that year. It was certainly a very surreal experience to see someone I'd only seen on T.V. appear in front of me!

How did you become an NPS employee?
While I was a part of TTAP, the program would send out occasional emails letting those in the Landscape Corps know about new job opportunities that would be good fits for us across the NPS. Halfway through my term I applied for a gardener position at the Petersburg National Battlefield in Virginia that they'd highlighted. It was actually the third job opportunity I'd applied for in Petersburg since I'd graduated college in May 2023. It was highly unusual for a city of only 30,000 people to produce that many opportunities in less than a year all related to historic preservation. So, I'm grateful the third time was the charm.

How did TTAP influence your career choices?
TTAP was unquestionably made a huge difference in me getting the job I now hold. I would never have known about the opportunity if the organization hadn't highlighted it and I simply hadn't considered looking in Virginia at the time. I was more focused on jobs closer to Arkansas and would've totally missed it on USAJobs.

After valuable experience gained from his experience in TTAP, Alex continues his passion for historical preservation as a gardener for NPS.

NPS Photo

How did TTAP help prepare you for your NPS position?
I owe my understanding of how to work in and for the NPS to my coworkers at the MEMY site in Jackson who I worked alongside for seven months (TTAP plus a month as a volunteer afterwards), and I owe the opportunity to get to learn from them to TTAP. My coworkers in Jackson were instrumental in helping me to understand what the NPS wants and expects from its workers and how it expects us to operate. They also gave me plenty of chances to learn about how to use the tools at my disposal. I went from not knowing how to use a weed wacker or how to drive a truck to getting the hang of both. TTAP provided help by checking in with me periodically, providing training in Baltimore, and teaching me about how to properly assemble a federal resume.

What advice would you give to someone interested in TTAP?
In my mind, TTAP is essential for anyone wanting to get a job with NPS. I would advise anyone serious about a career with the NPS to do at least one term in the program. But I would also advise them not to be discouraged if it takes a while to get in. I went through six internship interviews before MEMY took me! It's simply a competitive program to get into, but well worth the effort.

To learn more, visit the Traditional Trades Advancement Program and Landscape Stewardship Corps pages.