Monica Rhodes

Monica Rhodes is a cultural preservationist whose career has contributed to the protection and interpretation of America's shared history. With more than 15 years of experience in historic preservation, Rhodes has used preservation as a strategic tool to advance socially and economically inclusive heritage practices. She earned an undergraduate degree in history from the University of Tulsa and a master's degree in African American studies from Temple University, followed by a second master's degree in historic preservation. As one of the few academically trained African American preservationists in the United States, Rhodes has worked to expand the field to reach broader and more diverse audiences.

Before her fellowship work, Rhodes led initiatives at two major national organizations focused on historic preservation and national parks: the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Park Foundation. As the founding director of the National Trust's HOPE Crew (Hands-On Preservation Experience), Rhodes guided more than 165 preservation construction projects, trained 750 young people and veterans, and engaged 3,700 volunteers in large-scale community events. The program supported $18 million in preservation work, primarily in national parks, and expanded the preservation movement to younger and more diverse participants. At the National Park Foundation, Rhodes led efforts to reinstitute programs preserving national parks that highlight African American, LatinX, and women's history.

The American Academy in Rome awarded Rhodes the Adele Chatfield-Taylor Rome Prize in historic preservation and conservation. She was among 37 Rome Prize winners selected from nearly 1,000 applicants. As a Rome Prize Fellow in Historic Preservation and Conservation at the American Academy in Rome and a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University, Rhodes established programs at national organizations focused on preservation. Throughout her career, she has helped raise and manage more than $150 million, directed preservation activities in 46 states, and completed projects in more than 100 national parks.

Rhodes was appointed to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation as an expert member, an independent federal agency that promotes the educational, economic, and cultural values of historic preservation and advises the president and Congress on national historic preservation policy. She serves as an advisor to the Center for the Preservation of Civil Rights Sites at the Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania and is a board member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites. Rhodes' work has been featured in national outlets such as PBS NewsHour, Huffington Post, Washington Post, and in a feature spread on women in the preservation movement in Essence magazine. Rhodes continues to encourage communities and practitioners to use lessons from the past to build a more equitable and inclusive future in the field of historic preservation.