1. National parks are amazing destinations to pack up the car and kids and make memories that last a lifetime. Family Vacation Critic is published by online travel specialist The Independent Traveler, Inc. Looking to create lasting memories with your family? Check out the 10 Best National Parks for Families.
2. Our country’s national parks are quite unique. This week CNN created their own top ten list of Natural Wonders, and not surprisingly, four are America’s national parks!
3. In the spirit of getting kids outside and into our national parks, Saturday, April 20 is National Junior Ranger Day! Check out if there is a program near you!
4. Today kicks off NPCA’s National Park Week Challenge in partnership with myActions.org. Join other national park supporters during this fun challenge to take ten green actions in ten days and see how they add up with others’!
5. Are you a Civil War buff? Follow the fictional Beglan O’Brien, independent newspaper correspondent, on Facebook. O’Brien’s character is not real, but his posts are based on actual events and passages from Civil War correspondents, giving insight into this period in history.

Have you seen a fun story or tidbit online as you make your National Park Week plans? Let me know!

-Megan Cantrell, Senior Coordinator of Member Engagement

Here are five interesting facts that stood out for me as I read through the report:

1. Civil War tourists love learning and tend to have cash to spare: They earn a higher household income, on average, than the general population, and more than half are college graduates, compared to the nationwide average of 24 percent.
2. The average family of four visiting a Civil War battlefield spends $1,000 on their trip—and their spending looks something like this:
3. In Virginia alone, tourists at Civil War battlefields stay twice as long and spend twice as much as the average tourist.
4. On average, visits by 956 tourists support one job in a battlefield community.
5. In Philadelphia, property values increase an average of 1.6 percent for each mile closer the property is to a national historic district.

For more great information on battlefield visitation in general and the specific effects places like Antietam, Chickamauga, and Harper’s Ferry have on their communities, read the report on the Civil War Trust website.

-Jennifer Errick, Editor, Online Communications

If you liked this story, you might also like

• Living History and Solemn Reflection at Antietam Commemoration (September 28, 2012)
• Did You Know? Only 28% of Civil War Battlefields Have National Park Protections (September 12, 2012)
• From Civil War to Civil Rights: All Peeps Created Equal (March 29, 2013)

Some readers may remember that a small team of NPCA employees put together a Peep diorama last year modeled after one of our nation’s most iconic parks–”Mount Peepmore.” The piece was selected as a semifinalist and displayed among the year’s best entries in a month-long annual art exhibit known as Artomatic. A number of NPCA staff proudly attended the opening reception and saw our interpretation of these four iconic presidential faces memorialized with beaks and bunny ears. It was moving.

This year, an even larger team contributed to another innovative theme, commemorating 2013 as the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address as well as the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. “By the Peeple. For the Peeple. All Peeps Created Equal,” the piece reads, framed in red, white, and blue. Nick Lund, Lance Speidell, Elizabeth Anderson, Brynne Mason, Christina Kamrath, Madeline Morales, Krissy Conway, Megan Cantrell, Michael Whybrew, Madeleine Starkey, Ed Stierli, Emily Brown, Sara Conner, Jeffery Billington, Jennifer Cole, and Liz Ackley all helped in putting the ambitious project together.

Sadly, the diorama was not selected as a winner this year–but the great theme of pink, yellow, green, blue, and purple bunnies and chicks standing side by side as equals is a timeless one worth sharing!

-Jennifer Errick, Editor, Online Communications

Today the country celebrates an important milestone in preserving its history. After years of advocacy and study, President Obama has finally named three new national monuments as part of the National Park System, including a new national park site on Maryland’s Eastern Shore honoring Harriet Tubman. This new national monument encompasses several sites in Dorchester County, Maryland, of great historic significance to Tubman’s early life as an enslaved person and during her career as a conductor on the Underground Railroad.

American schoolchildren grow up learning about Tubman and her legendary bravery, hearing how she escaped from slavery and risked her freedom—perhaps her own life—to free dozens of others on the Underground Railroad. Now, just a couple of weeks after the 100th anniversary of her death, the Park Service will help to tell her story.

As an enslaved girl on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Tubman was hired out to work for “Miss Susan,” a mistress who was quick to use the whip. Once, after she caught Tubman stealing a lump of sugar, Miss Susan flew into a violent rage. Tubman fled to escape another beating, and hid in a pigpen for days until hunger forced her to return. She was brutally whipped for her transgressions. 

In October 1849, Tubman escaped to Philadelphia. In December 1854, Tubman, who could neither read nor write, asked a friend to send a coded letter to Jacob Jackson, an Eastern Shore neighbor and a free and literate black man. The letter instructed Tubman’s three brothers to prepare for her pending return to guide them to Philadelphia and freedom. They successfully escaped on Christmas Day, telling no one of their plans, not even their mother who was expecting her sons for Christmas dinner. The Jacob Jackson Site will be part of the Harriet Tubman National Monument and managed by the National Park Service in partnership with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the State of Maryland.

Later, as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, Tubman returned to Maryland multiple times to liberate friends and family members. Much of the landscape found today on Maryland’s Eastern Shore has changed little since Tubman roamed the territory in the 1800s. The preservation of those fields, trails, and waterways—intact and unimpaired for benefit and enjoyment of future generations—makes this designation an even sweeter victory.

Of equal or greater significance is what this national monument designation will do to advance public understanding of women’s history in general, and the role of African American women in particular. Of the 398 units in our National Park System prior to today’s designations, just seven were tasked directly with commemorating some aspect of women’s history.

Tubman also served in the Civil War as a Union nurse, spy, and scout, on one occasion leading Federal troops along an obscure path which allowed them to more stealthily approach opposing Confederate forces. Tubman’s courageous work contributed directly to the preservation of the Union and highlighting that legacy will help the National Park Service create a much broader and more accurate picture of who really matters when it comes to understanding the conflict that defined this nation. After the war, she continued to serve her people and her country selflessly until her death in 1913. 

While the national monument is a great step forward, it does not accomplish everything advocates hope to achieve on Harriet’s behalf. The national monument would leave out the Poplar Neck plantation (in Talbot and Caroline Counties, Maryland) from which Tubman escaped in 1848. It also does not include any properties in Auburn, New York, including the A.M.E. Zion Church where Tubman worshipped, her personal residence, and a home for the aged she raised money to build and operate. For the past six years, NPCA has actively worked with partners such as the Association for the Study of African American Life & History (ASALH), the Maryland Office of Tourism, and a variety of other federal, state, local, and grassroots champions to pass legislation introduced by Senator Ben Cardin and cosponsored by Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Gillibrand (D-NY), and Schumer (D-NY) to preserve these additional sites. Our work on the legislative front will continue even after the designation of the national monument.

As the National Park Service advances towards its centennial in 2016, much discussion has been had about the best ways to create a 21st century park system for a 21st century America. A Tubman site helps advance that goal by commemorating the legacy of a woman who rose from humble beginnings under the worst circumstances any of us could imagine to become one of this nation’s most admired historic icons. Tubman’s story is important because in many ways it is our history at its best. Thanks to bold action of President Barack Obama, her narrative is now a story we can share more broadly with the world, and for that, maybe help make that world a better place.

Colonel Charles Young and the Buffalo Soldiers

In addition to the long-awaited site honoring Tubman, President Obama also designated two other national park sites sharing important parts of our nation’s history, including the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument. Though Harriet Tubman’s story is widely taught, Young’s fascinating legacy and the story of the Buffalo Soldiers is less familiar to many.

In 1884, Second Lieutenant Charles Young became just the third African American to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Young distinguished himself as a soldier in the Ninth U.S. Cavalry, one of the black troops known as the Buffalo Soldiers that served, among other roles, as some of the nation’s first park rangers. Despite the rigid segregation of the U.S. military at the time, Young rose through the ranks to become a colonel; served as a professor of military science, French, chemistry, geometry, and geology at Wilberforce University in Ohio; and went on to become the first African-American acting national park superintendent at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park in 1903. The national monument preserves Young’s home in Xenia, Ohio, and helps tell not only his story, but the story of life as a black soldier in the 19th century.

First State National Monument

Last but not least, today’s announcement helps preserve an urban oasis along the Brandywine River in Delaware—the only state in the country that did not have a national park site. The First State National Monument tells much of early America’s history, from the Native American Lenape tribe that lived in the river valley to the Wyeth family of artists who still paint its beautiful landscapes. The largest battle of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of the Brandywine, was fought here, and the birth of industry was literally propelled by the Brandywine River’s steady flow. Even the paper used to print the Declaration of Independence was made on the Brandywine River. The new monument also commemorates the legacy and perseverance of early Dutch, Swedish, and English settlements, a vital aspect of the state’s rich history.

More than five million people live within 25 miles of the main property, making it readily accessible to the public and a conservation centerpiece for the state and the region.

Learn more about the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad, Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers, and First State National Monuments on NPCA’s website.

Black history and the African-American narrative comprise an essential chapter in our country’s shared heritage and culture. Nearly 30 of our country’s 398 national park sites directly honor prominent African Americans and share their stories. During Black History Month, NPCA is hopeful about new opportunities—including the three listed below—for Congress to advance the National Park Service’s goal to more authentically represent our shared heritage.

1. Establishment of a long-awaited site to honor Civil Rights pioneer Harriet Tubman. American hero Harriet Tubman is among the most surprising leaders not currently honored in our national parks. Fortunately, the Senate reintroduced the Harriet Tubman National Historic Parks Act this month, which would create national park sites in Maryland and New York. As NPCA’s Legislative Representative Alan Spears said, “Harriet Tubman’s story is that of a true American icon, as she rose from a humble beginning, lived through degradation, and rose above to empower others to reach a better, brighter future.” Harriet Tubman served her country not only as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, but also as a nurse, scout, and spy. Through the expertise of National Park Service, an up-close history of the Underground Railroad could be shared, as well as Tubman’s often overlooked contributions to the war effort.
2. Recognition of the heroic contributions of the Buffalo Soldiers. Honoring our country’s first National Park Rangers, the Buffalo Soldiers in the National Parks Study Act was recently reintroduced by House and Senate leaders. If passed, this legislation would authorize the Park Service to examine areas that were significant to African-American troops known as the Buffalo Soldiers in the late 1800s and early 1900. Many believe American Indians coined the term from the soldiers’ brown skin and thick curly hair, not unlike the buffalo. Others believe the strength of the buffalo inspired the name. What we know without question is that before the National Park Service, park care and administration was commissioned through the Army. Buffalo Soldiers played a historic and central role in protecting Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks, from their headquarters in the Presidio of San Francisco.
3. Creation of Chicago’s first national park. We also await reintroduction of legislation in Chicago to study a potential Pullman National Historic Site in Chicago. The Pullman District was the first industrial planned community in the 1880s and recounts of the rise of the modern labor movement and the formation of the first African-American labor union. Unique stories of accomplishment make the Pullman district a perfect place for Chicago’s first national park site.

NPCA is proud to advocate on behalf of these important sites and work to preserve African-American history in our national parks. On Wednesday, February 27 from 3-4pm ET, NPCA will host its first Google+ Hangout: “The Legacy of Buffalo Soldiers and Our National Parks.” Famed Yosemite National Park Ranger Shelton Johnson and Colonel Charles Young biographer Brian Shellum will participate in the discussion, along with NPCA staff members Alan Spears and Amy Marquis. Join us for this discussion on the history of Buffalo Soldiers in our national parks and efforts currently underway to further diversify our National Park Service from the inside out.

UPDATE: You can watch a recording of NPCA’s Google Hangout here. Special thanks to Shelton Johnson, Brian Shellum, Alan Spears, Amy Marquis, and everyone who participated and sent questions for this informative and interesting discussion.

It’s no wonder our 16th president continues to capture our imagination. Like millions of people around the country, I saw the new Steven Spielberg movie Lincoln last week and loved the insightful portrayal Daniel Day-Lewis brought to the role. Day-Lewis humanized the president, taking him from the icon we see on currency and in monuments and reminding us that he was a real human being. I came away from the film with renewed dedication to the importance of protecting the remaining physical links to this great man. The connection one feels while standing on a battlefield or in a historic home cannot be replicated, and is gone forever with the loss of the land. These places—if properly protected—can remain as tangible links to America’s history for generations to come.

One such landmark that Congress could easily save is the famous train station in downtown Gettysburg where Lincoln arrived before giving his storied address 149 years ago. This beautifully restored building also served as a field hospital during the battle itself. If protected, visitors will be able to follow the physical trail of the president as he prepared to give the most famous speech in American history. The Pennsylvania congressional delegation is working to include this building—as well as 45 acres of a historic battle site, Big Round Top—in the formal boundaries of the national military park.

So don’t just watch it on the big screen. Take action to preserve these sites on the ground! It just takes a minute on our website.

-Nick Lund, Civil War Associate

• Boston National Historical Park, Massachusetts. Think you know all about the American Revolution? Walk the Freedom Trail through downtown Boston and experience 16 different historic sites, from the site of the Boston Massacre to Paul Revere’s house to the Bunker Hill Monument. You can almost feel the iconic figures from U.S. history books coming to life in one of the country’s oldest cities.
• The National Mall, Washington, D.C. The Park Service maintains a trove of iconic memorials within easy walking distance in the heart of the nation’s capital, including the World War II and Korean War Memorials honoring thousands of war heroes. Perhaps most famous is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial featuring more than 58,000 names etched into walls of granite in honor of those who died while in service in Vietnam or were still unaccounted for when the wall was constructed in 1982.
• Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park, Virginia. This Civil War park is not as well-known as others in the region, yet it preserves the history of four major battles between Union and Confederate troops from 1862 to 1864 and is described by the Park Service as “the bloodiest ground in all North America.” Just an hour south of Washington, D.C., visitors can experience several chapters in one of the great stories that shaped America.
• Fort Davis National Historic Site, Texas. If you’re curious about life on the frontier, this park will give insight into what it was like to serve in a remote military outpost in the 1800s. Once housing more than 400 enlisted men and officers, the views at this park are as much a part of the visitor experience as its historic buildings, and the landscape still looks much like it did to a soldier in the 19th century.
• Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park, California. Commemorate the great efforts civilians played in World War II, including the country’s famous “Rosies” who kept factories humming after soldiers left to fight in the 1940s. This Richmond park includes a historic ship, an educational center with Park Ranger tours, and a unique memorial to the hard-working women of the era, modeled after the style of a liberty ship. See a few images from this park, and portraits of a few of the nation’s many “Rosies,”  in NPCA’s recent slideshow.

Of course, whether you head to Yellowstone or Dry Tortugas, Rocky Mountain or Antietam, you can feel patriotic about your trip. The Park Service released this short video earlier this week featuring a veteran of the U.S. Marines who now works at Yellowstone, to give you a little more inspiration as you pack your bags:

We thank all of our veterans and park employees for their service as we enjoy our national parks this weekend.

-Jennifer Errick, Editor, Online Communications

Note: This is NPCA’s third and final story in our series on the upcoming presidential election. You can sign NPCA’s petition urging the candidates to pledge their support for national parks.

By day, I work as an editor for NPCA on issues that affect our national parks. Then, when I have a few vacation days lined up, I often find myself heading… you guessed it, to a national park.

Earlier this month, I had a long weekend with nothing planned, so I convinced my husband to take a road trip with me to Antietam National Battlefield in western Maryland, the site of one of the bloodiest single days on American soil. By chance, we showed up at the visitor center just as a Park Ranger was about to give a presentation, and we sat down for an insightful overview of the history of the Civil War engagements commemorated around us, how the terrain played a critical role in the warfare, strategies Union and Confederate soldiers used, and how the battle led President Lincoln to issue a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation the following day. The ranger stood in front of several large windows overlooking battlegrounds to the north, east, and south of us, bringing those fields to life with stories. After the presentation, my husband and I spent four whole hours driving and hiking around the quiet farmland, mesmerized by the cornfields and country roads steeped in so much history.

My husband was so moved by the visit that he suggested we spend the next day at Gettysburg. Why? A day at a national park is more than just a hike or a history lesson for us. It’s a transformative experience.

The truth is, I’m far from alone: Americans love national parks. NPCA commissioned a poll this past June and found overwhelming support across the political spectrum for preserving these inspirational public lands. Some of the major findings:

• A whopping 95 percent of voters see “protecting and supporting the national parks” as an appropriate role for the federal government.
• 92 percent of voters think that federal spending on national parks should be maintained or increased.
• Nearly 90 percent of voters think that political candidates who prioritize national parks are seen as forward-looking and patriotic.
• 81 percent of voters report having visited a national park at some point in their lives, and nearly nine in 10 say they are interested in visiting in the future.
• Few voters (6 percent) think national parks are in good shape today, while many more (80 percent) express concern that funding shortages are damaging national parks and marring visitors’ experiences.
• 77 percent of voters say it is important for the next president to ensure that parks are fully restored.

Given this broad public sentiment—and the fact that national parks cost just one-fourteenth of one percent of the federal budget—you might think that funding the National Park Service would be a no-brainer in Washington. Yet both major presidential candidates have endorsed large cuts to federal spending. To make things worse, Congress is currently on a destructive course toward a “sequester”—massive, across-the-board spending cuts slated for January that would severely affect the ability to keep national parks staffed and open. Those amazing Park Rangers that bring history to life? Many of their jobs could be in danger, and many of the natural and historical wonders they protect could face widespread closures. We might not expect our elected officials to be national park nerds, but shouldn’t their priorities reflect the values of the people they serve?

If you’re one of the 95 percent of Americans who feels our government should preserve these irreplaceable public lands, please tell the candidates to support our national parks. Sign NPCA’s petition to Barack Obama and Mitt Romney  letting them know we need a leader who will prioritize our national heritage. It’s not just popular—it’s patriotic.

This story is cross-posted with the Preservation Leadership Forum blog by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Other stories in this series

• Putting National Parks into the Debates: Questions for Obama and Romney (October 9, 2012)
• Why This Election Matters for National Parks (October 3, 2012)

Today, Antietam National Battlefield is one of the best-preserved Civil War sites in the country, a place where visitors continue to honor the legacy of the soldiers who fought there. Earlier this month, park officials and partner groups held a four-day commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the battle filled with tours, speakers, ceremonies, family-oriented programs, and living history demonstrations that brought to life what conditions were like for soldiers of that time.

Learn more about this historic battlefield and other major Civil War sites protected by the Park Service. Many Civil War sites remain only partially preserved, and only 28% have national park protections. You can learn more and take action to save these important parts of American history.

-Jennifer Errick, Editor, Online Communications

We did it! NPCA supporters and thousands of others convinced Old Dominion Electric Company (ODEC) to suspend their plans to build a 1,500-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Surry County, Virginia! NPCA has been fighting this plant for several years. As designed, the Cypress Creek power plant would have been three times larger than the average coal-fired power plant currently in operation. Its pollution would have increased asthma and heart-related illness in Virginia while contributing to hazy skies over our national parks and mercury in park headwaters. Throughout the process, ODEC could not show that demand even existed in Virginia for a coal plant of this magnitude.

More than 9,000 comments were submitted against the plant and many town and city councils passed resolutions against it. In August 2012, ODEC asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to cease the permitting process necessary for the proposed Cypress Creek plant to proceed. NPCA is heartened by this news but will remain vigilant, as ODEC still owns the land and could decide to revive this plant in the future. Thank you for working alongside us to protect clean air, pristine water, and all the treasures of our national parks for our children and grandchildren.

Why is protecting air quality in Virginia’s national parks important?

The pollution from this plant would have threatened protected historic sites such as Petersburg and Richmond National Battlefields, and contributed to unhealthy air many days of the year at Colonial National Historical Park, each established to honor and remember our nation’s heritage. Air pollution harms local streams and the Chesapeake Bay. The pollutants have significant impacts locally, and also can travel on the wind for many miles, thereby affecting a large ecological area. Power plant pollution contributes to smoggy haze that reduces scenic views, and the enjoyment of hikers or anyone active outdoors, as well as threatening human health, plants, and animals. Virginia’s tourism and agricultural economies depend on clean air.

What was the threat?

According to ODEC’s own air pollution control permit application, by stopping this plant in its tracks, we’ve stopped these estimated emissions from entering the atmosphere each year:

• 3,000 tons of nitrogen oxides
• 2,100+ tons of particulate matter
• 3,600+ tons of sulfur dioxide
• 44 pounds of mercury
• 1,000 pounds of lead
• 12 million tons of carbon dioxide

Learn more

You can learn more about NPCA’s Clean Air work on our website, and more about the ODEC plant in this recent story by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation: “A Coal Plant’s Drain on Health and Wealth.” Be sure to sign up for NPCA’s email list for more opportunities to take action on issues affecting national parks.