A historian by training, Paige Cruz spent over 30 years working for the federal government. Her career began with the National Park Service where she was the sixth woman to ever complete its three month-long intake ranger training program at the Albright Training Center, Grand Canyon, Ariz. Her first assignment was as Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego, CA where she was the first permanent woman ranger historian in the Western Region of the National Park Service.
After nearly a decade in the West, she returned to the East and began working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Huntington W. Va -her hometown. She spent the rest of her career working for an agency whose primary focus was engineering and construction of American civil works projects. The Corps was focused on the present and future, not the past, and consequently did not appreciate its extensive role in American history. Many of the Corps built structures such as San Francisco's Fort Point, the Washington Monument, and others have become historic, now preserved by the National Park Service. The 200th Anniversary Commemoration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition was a perfect way for her to connect the Corps' past with the present.
Paige was excited about having this opportunity to return to the history she loved and focus on the history of this agency whose foundation goes back to 1775 -before our country became a nation. A high quality last assignment before she retired and left the challenges of government service behind, it would be nice and quiet -or so she thought. In any case, she felt it was a privilege to be a part of this national event.
