The National Park System preserves the history and contributions of African Americans as part of the nation's history. Over the years, the staff of the National Park Service has reflected the nation's social history. Among the first African Americans who influenced the course of the National Parks were:

  • Early Superintendents (not fully inclusive)
    • Charles Young: He served as an early Superintendent of Sequoia National Park in 1903. As a Captain in the 9th Cavalry Regiment, he was directed to take two troops of Buffalo soldiers to the Giants Grove of Sequoia and protect the trees and the park from damage. While there, the two companies completed construction of a road to the Giant's Grove, making public access possible.[1]
    • Robert Stanton, National Capital Parks (East) (1970–1971)[2]
    • Georgia Ellard, Rock Creek Park (1977–1988)[2]
    • Garry Traynham, Allegheny Portage (1990–1995)[2]
  • Deputy Directors
    • Donald Murphy, (2002–2005)[2]
  • Director
Capt. Charles Young

Parks

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The National Park Service has preserved many sites that are directly related to African American History, Heritage, or Culture.

Name City State
African Burial Ground National Monument New York New York
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial Arlington County Virginia
Booker T. Washington National Monument Hardy Virginia
Boston African American National Historic Site Boston Massachusetts
Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site Topeka Kansas
Cane River Creole National Historical Park Natchez Louisiana
Colonial National Historical Park (Jamestown African Americans) Yorktown Virginia
Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park (Paul L. Dunbar House) Dayton Ohio
Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument (Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ) Chicago Illinois
Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument (Graball Landing on the Tallahatchie River and Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse) Tallahatchie County Mississippi
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site Washington D.C.
Fort Davis National Historic Site (Buffalo Soldiers) Fort Davis Texas
Fort Scott National Historic Site (Kansas 1st Colored Dragoons) Fort Scott Kansas
Fort Smith National Historic Site (from slavery to Parker's Court) Fort Smith Arkansas
Gateway Arch National Park (Black Frontiersman) St. Louis Missouri
George Washington Birthplace National Monument (Washington's Slaves, Indentured Servants, & Free Blacks) Washington's Birthplace Virginia
George Washington Carver National Monument Diamond Missouri
Guadalupe Mountains National Park (Buffalo Soldiers) Salt Flat Texas
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Harpers Ferry West Virginia
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site Berks County Pennsylvania
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve New Orleans Louisiana
Lincoln Memorial Washington D.C.
Little Rock Central High School Little Rock Arkansas
Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site Richmond Virginia
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site Atlanta Georgia
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Washington D.C.
Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site Washington D.C.
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park New Orleans Louisiana
Nicodemus National Historic Site, Nicodemus Kansas
Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial (Black Sailors) Put-in-Bay Ohio
Petersburg National Battlefield Petersburg Virginia
Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial, Concord California
Richmond National Battlefield Park Richmond Virginia
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park (African American Maritime History) San Francisco California
Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail Montgomery, Lowndes, & Dallas Counties Alabama
Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve (Kingsley Plantation) Jacksonville Florida
Tuskegee Airman National Historic Site Tuskegee Alabama
Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site Tuskegee Alabama
Virgin Islands National Park St. John Virgin Islands

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Sequoia National Park
  2. ^ a b c d e Historic Listing of National Park Service Officials, USDI, NPS, May 1, 1991, by Harold Danz. Updates after publication by Public Affairs.

Bibliography

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  • Savage, Beth L. (Ed.) African American Historic Places, National Register of Historic Places National Park Service, Preservation Press, 1994
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