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Page 34
Volume 26, Issue 1
Gettysburg Foundation
Partners Make it
Ryan Levins
by: Barbara J. Finfrock
93, Levins started his National Park Service (NPS) career
at Harper’s Ferry National Historic Park as a volunteer,
then as a seasonal ranger in interpretation. However, even
before that official experience, he had been reenacting as
persuaded by his 8
th
grade history teacher, Joe Spangler,
and had attended the 125
th
anniversary of the Battle of
Gettysburg for his first reenactment.
Another link to Gettysburg occurred when Levins was in
high school, beginning to look at different colleges. He had
read an article written by an NPS park ranger named Scott
Hartwig, a graduate of the University of Wyoming. Levins
wrote a letter to Hartwig enquiring about Wyoming and
yan Levins is a native of Anderson, Indiana, a state
that has three national parks, but none near his
home. However, he knew from an early age that he
Chief Ranger Ryan Levins, a native Hoosier, poses alongside the Indiana State
Monument
R
wanted to work in a national park in some capacity. He is
now the Chief Ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park
and Eisenhower National Historic Site. His responsibilities
span the full breadth of duties at both parks, although his
primary duty is in law enforcement, often called protection.
Levins earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Park
Administration from Shepherd College (now University)
and a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from
Florida State. While still in undergraduate school in 1992-