Overview

News Release

National Parks that Preserve or Commemorate African American Heritage or Related Themes

Additional National Park Sites that Preserve or Commemorate African American Heritage or Related Themes

National Park Service Web Sites about African American Heritage or Related Themes

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“Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.” -- Carter G. Woodson

The sweep of American history is like that of most nations, audacity and valor, hatred and cowardice, compassion and cruelty, justice and oppression. Unlike most nations though, the United States was built on a background of diversity with contributions from many cultures. Americans, often think of themselves in terms of where they are from as much as they do where they are now. In America we are Irish Americans, Chinese Americans, German Americans, Mexican Americans, Italian Americans, Korean Americans, African Americans, and a multitude of other equally important cultures – but all Americans. As Americans we are proud of our diverse cultural heritage and proud of the many Americans, celebrated and not, who played an important part in building this nation.

The National Park Service has the honor of managing and preserving many areas that commemorate African American heritage. That heritage is celebrated in areas as diverse as Booker T. Washington National Monument in Virginia, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site in the District of Columbia, Natchez National Historical Park in Mississippi,Nicodemus National Historical Site in Kansas, Fort Davis National Historic Site in Texas, Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site in Washington, DC and African Burial Ground National Monument, in New York City. In addition to these sites, many other parks commemorate the important contributions to this nation by African Americans.

With the many treasured areas that are in the National Park System, what better way to celebrate African-American History this month and all year, than to visit a National Park.

Visit our Celebrate African American Heritage in America’s National Parks website at: http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/african_am/celebrate.htm to learn more about African American Heritage, past, present, and future.