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Eva Blankenhorn-Career Interview

Kassidy N. Keller

Pennsylvania State University

RPTM 101: Introduction to Recreation

Professor Jen Emigh

March 27, 2024

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Introduction

I got the opportunity to interview Eva Blankenhorn to discuss her career with the

National Park Service and how she got there. Eva is a full time Park Guide at the Eisenhower

National Historic Site located in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Pennsylvania

State University in May of 2021 earning her degree in Recreation, Parks, and Tourism

Management. Eva originally studied Kinesiology but changed her major after participating in

Penn State’s Outdoor Recreation Consortium class. After completing an internship with the

National Park Service as a seasonal ranger, she has worked in her current position for about a

year.

Mission/Purpose of the Agency/Department

According to their website, “The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural

and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and

inspiration of this and future generations. The National Park Service cooperates with partners to

extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation

throughout this country and the world” (National Park Service [NPS], 2023). For the Eisenhower

Historic Site’s specific mission statement Eva explained it’s “To preserve and protect the home

of our 34th President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and his wife Mamie and to share the far-reaching

impacts of their lifetimes and careers. (Blankenhorn, personal communication, February 2,

2024).”

Clientele Served

Like many other national parks, monuments, and historic sites the clientele is diverse.

There are no age restrictions for entrance and people travel from all over the world in some

cases. By being a park guide Eva gets to be face-to-face with all these visitors. And the beauty is
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that every client could be visiting for a different reason. Specifically with the Eisenhower House,

Eva mentioned that guests can tour the home and the grounds. The site is even a fully working

farm that people can volunteer at (Blankenhorn, personal communication, February 2, 2024).

Interestingly, last summer the park changed the way a visitor can access the Eisenhower

house. “Before April 2023, every visitor came on a shuttle bus,” Eva explained. Now, clientele

are able to drive themselves to the Eisenhower homestead and use a newly added parking lot.

When asked how this affected the park, Eva stated that it’s increased the number and variety of

clientele they see each day. “Before, we really only saw people who were interested enough to

buy a ticket, get on the shuttle and commit an hour or two of their day, largely middle aged or

older white Americans.” With this change Eva has noticed more students, from elementary to

college, and families that are no longer constrained by the shuttle ride option. It also enabled

visitors with disabilities more freedom to explore the site in the comfort of their own

transportation.

Services and Programs Provided

The main services offered at the Eisenhower House are tours. They occur within the

house itself, outside of the house and you are also able to tour the grounds of the working farm.

Eva also mentioned, “we’ll do a series of special events that kind of start in March and run

through December (Blankenhorn, personal communication, February 2, 2024).” For example,

May 4th and 5th this year will be the Historic Site’s World War I event which will host

programming commemorating the war and its effects on President Eisenhower (NPS, 2024). Due

to the proximity of the Eisenhower National Historic Site to Gettysburg National Military Park,

park guides also provide tours of the National Cemetery. There is even a connection between
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many of the veterans buried there to service under Eisenhower himself (Blankenhorn, personal

communication, February 2, 2024).

Staffing

The number of full-time staff members surprised me initially. “I am one of three park

guides,” said Eva (Blankenhorn, personal communication, February 2, 2024). Adding up all the

staff, she finalized the total at around eight full time and three seasonal works each year. These

permanent staff jobs work in interpretation, education, the museum, and maintenance. The site

also takes on a handful of interns each year during the summer as well.

Even with dedicated staff, volunteers are a huge factor in the running of the Eisenhower

site. Because the farm is a working one, a division of the volunteers work on the farm and even

donate the produce to local food banks. The other half of volunteers focus on interpretation and

supplement the full-time workers day-to-day. Eva estimated the number of volunteers to be

around 20 to 25.

Funding Source

To keep an historic site such as this one up and running, one needs to think about the

finances. “Of course, we’re federally funded, so we get our budget from the federal

government,” mentioned Eva (Blankenhorn, personal communication, February 2, 2024). This

has the potential to cause issues when budget approvals get held up in congress. At the time of

our interview, the budget had still not been passed and so as of the end of the fiscal year, in

October 2024, the NPS did not have a budget to work with. In the meantime, the organization

has continued to operate under continuing resolutions.

Fortunately, there are two non-profit partners that work with the site to raise money along

with federal funding. The Gettysburg Foundation and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Society are two
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organizations that work with the Gettysburg Battlefield and the Eisenhower House to fundraise

money that usually goes towards intern stipends (Blankenhorn, personal communication,

February 2, 2024).

Professional Issues

When asked about the biggest challenge the Eisenhower House has faced, Eva responded

“accessibility. For a long time, those shuttles were literally like a barrier to the site (Blankenhorn,

personal communication, February 2, 2024).” The house itself was built in 1955, so it is not ADA

compliant. The stairs in the house have limited visitor interaction as well. Eva relayed that there

are plans to help fix this problem. Due to being a national historic site, there are legal limits to

what can be done to the site. This means no elevators installed, but by installing better lighting

and utilizing iPads for virtual experiences, Eva believes they can improve the visit for people

who are limited by the current conditions. Facilitating learning and enjoyment for all brings Eva

a lot of pride and reminds her every day that she’s in the correct career field.
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References

National Park Service. (2023, October 20). What we do (U.S. National Park Service). National

Parks Service. https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/index.htm

National Park Service. (2024, March 19). Ranger programs and Home Tours. National Parks

Service. https://www.nps.gov/eise/planyourvisit/rangerprograms.htm