The National Park Service is the steward of many of America’s most important cultural resources. These resources are categorized as archeological studies, cultural landscapes, ethnographic resources, historic and prehistoric structures, and museum collections. The Service’s cultural resource management program involves:

• Research to identify, evaluate, document, register and establish basic information about cultural resources and traditionally associated peoples.
  
• Planning to ensure that management processes for making decisions and setting priorities integrate information about cultural resources and provide consultation and collaboration with outside entities; and
  
• Stewardship to ensure that cultural resources are protected, receive treatments to achieve desired conditions, and are made available for public understanding and enjoyment.

The cultural resources at Independence National Historical Park include icons such as the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, a large archeological collection, fine and decorative arts and special places and spaces such as Independence and Washington Square and the uninterrupted areas between the Liberty Bell, our public dissent area and Independence Hall. We approach cultural resources management in an interdisciplinary manner to ensure that all resources receive proper professional attention. Many of the methods of inventory, collection, analysis and preservation of cultural resources in common use today were developed at Independence.