National Council on Public History

Mr. Harpe has over 25 years of experience in the field of historic preservation in both the public and private sectors. He is a Certified Gravestone and Monument Conservator and a Professional Member of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC). He adheres to AIC’s standards of practice and code of ethics and has worked on numerous projects involving the conservation and restoration of gravestones, mausoleums, and monuments. He is a Certified JAHN Mortar Installer authorized by Cathedral Stone Products of Hanover, Maryland, and has received advanced training through Limeworks.us. He has OSHA-10-Hour Safety Training Certification. His educational and professional experience exceeds the qualifications set forth in the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for an Architectural Historian and Historian [36 CFR 61].

Recently, Jason has been the lead conservator on several large-scale conservation projects. He provided conditions assessments and conservation treatment plans for Mt. Olive Cemetery and Greenwood Cemetery in Jackson, Mississippi. The conservation treatment plans were approved by the National Park Service and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History prior to Jason and his team beginning conservation work on over 500 gravemarkers, objects and artistic works in the two cemeteries. He has authored eight Historic Preservation Plans for Preservation Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Hallowed Grounds, a statewide non-profit group dedicated to the protection of the state’s African American burial grounds, in addition to cemetery treatment plans and planning documents for cemeteries in North Carolina, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The plans included assessments of conditions, operations, as well as long-term goals, maintenance plans, and cost estimates. He is currently wrapping up the rebuilding and conservation of brick and marble colonial-era box tombs at the Brunswicktown Historic Site/Fort Anderson Historic Site near Southport, North Carolina. This work began with a detailed treatment proposal approved by the National Park Service and will close with a final conservation treatment report which will document the means, methods, and materials used.

Jason is generous with his subject matter expertise. For the past four years he has led week-long cemetery conservation workshops for the maintenance staff of the City of Raleigh, North Carolina Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department. Most recently he led a two-day cemetery conservation workshop for the Association for Gravestone Studies in York, Pennsylvania, and a three-day workshop at Woodland Cemetery on the campus of Clemson University for staff of the University-sponsored Woodland Cemetery Project. He has presented virtual cemetery conservation workshops for Preservation New Jersey, the American Association for State and Local History, Pennsylvania Hallowed Grounds, the Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office, and the North Carolina African American Cemeteries Network.

Mr. Harpe has been selected as the editor of the third edition of  Lynette Strangstad’s The Graveyard Preservation Primer, a seminal resource for cemetery preservation for nearly 40 years. He is on the Board of Directors for the Association for Gravestone Studies (AGS).