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The Superintendent's Letter
By Cynthia MacLeodYou will see in this edition of our newsletter that the theme is African-American history and contributions to our nation's culture. of course, through the National Park Service stewardship of the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site, we promote African-American history every day, not just the month of February. And, in our Civil War exhibits and on some of the battlefields, we highlight African-American contributions to our nation's history. To some, these contributions are part of the nation's previously hidden history; to others, they are part of a proud heritage unjustly ignored or denigrated by the country's mainstream. We cannot afford to be ignorant of each other's history or blind to the intertwining of all our histories, European, African, Hispanic, Asian, and so on. We cannot afford to misrepresent the traditionally famous as perfect icons, nor can we afford to assume that the unfamiliar is unimportant. I believe that education promotes understanding, and I fervently hope that we can all become more educated, more appreciative of history unfamiliar to us, and more understanding of those around us. If you cannot visit National Park System sites to explore their diversity in person, you can at least go to their websites at www.nps.gov for over 370 places in the System and there experience your America.
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