Mount Zion Cemetery / Female Union Band Cemetery, Washington, DC | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, HALS DC-15
While progress has been made in identifying cultural landscapes during the past decade, much more work is needed to document these designed and vernacular places. Since 2010, landscape architecture preservation enthusiasts from every state have been challenged to complete at least one Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) short format history to increase awareness of particular cultural landscapes.
The annual HALS Challenge is growing in popularity, with entries resulting in many new donations to the HALS collection. Beginning in 2024, HALS Challenges will no longer have themes. All HALS short format historical reports submitted each year will then be eligible. By not having a theme, NPS hopes to encourage more entries from more states, and professors that teach HALS will be able to plan their curricula years in advance. HALS will also update the scoring sheet to include 5 bonus points for student entries to encourage more emerging professional interest in the HALS Challenge.
To enter, please email your completed short format HALS history to HALS (scott_keyes@nps.gov) by July 31.
Below are the descriptions and results of each challenge.
2023 HALS Challenge: Working Landscapes 2023 HALS Challenge Results Video
2022 HALS Challenge: Olmsted Landscapes 2022 HALS Challenge Results
2021 HALS Challenge: Historic Black Landscapes 2021 HALS Challenge Results
2020 HALS Challenge: Vanishing or Lost Landscapes 2020 HALS Challenge Results
2019 HALS Challenge: Historic Streetscapes2019 HALS Challenge Results
2018 HALS Challenge: Memorialization, Commemorating the Great War 2018 HALS Challenge Results
2017 HALS Challenge: Documenting City or Town Park(s)2017 HALS Challenge Results
2016 HALS Challenge: Documenting National Register Listed Landscapes 2016 HALS Challenge Results
2015 HALS Challenge: Documenting Modernist Landscapes2015 HALS Challenge Results
2014 HALS Challenge: Documenting Landscapes of the New Deal2014 HALS Challenge Results
2013 HALS Challenge: Documenting the Cultural Landscapes of Women2013 HALS Challenge Results
2012 HALS Challenge: Documenting the American Latino Landscape 2012 HALS Challenge Results
2011 HALS Challenge: Celebrating Cultural Landscapes of Diversity2011 HALS Challenge Results
2010 HALS Challenge: Revisiting Cultural Landscapes of Childhood2010 HALS Challenge Results