News Release

Naturalization Ceremony 2018

Twenty-five new citizens were welcomed at a Naturalization Ceremony in 2017 at the park.

NPS Photo

News Release Date: September 10, 2018

Contact: Superintendent, 828-693-4178

Twenty candidates will become new citizens during a ceremony at Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site on Tuesday, September 18 at 10:00 a.m. The ceremony will take place at the park’s new amphitheater, near the main visitor parking lot. The public is invited and welcome to observe this moving experience.

“Carl Sandburg and his wife, Paula, were each born to immigrant families. Carl’s parents came here from Sweden; Paula’s, from Luxembourg.” noted park Superintendent Polly Angelakis. “Carl Sandburg’s experiences as a first generation American shaped his writings and are an integral part of the Sandburg legacy. It is fitting to host this ceremony at the Sandburg family home.”

The keynote speaker for the ceremony will be Dr. Richard Labunski, a retired journalism professor from the University of Kentucky. Labunski has a Ph.D in political science with a specialty in constitutional law from the University of California. For many years, he taught television news and First Amendment law. He is the author of five books, the most recent of which is James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights published by Oxford University Press.  He has written 90 newspaper commentaries that have appeared in major papers around the country, and has been interviewed on C-SPAN’s “Book TV” and other media outlets.

The National Park Service and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) have a formal partnership to conduct citizenship ceremonies in national parks throughout the country. This partnership introduces new citizens to some of the nation’s most spectacular natural and cultural resources. Local support of this ceremony is also provided by the Village of Flat Rock, Eastern National - the park’s non-profit bookstore partner, the League of Women Voters, Hendersonville Family YMCA and the Daughters of the American Revolution Abraham Kuykendall Chapter.

“Because the national park system belongs to all U.S. citizens, park units are often called ‘democracy in action,’” said Angelakis. “Parks such as Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site provide an ideal backdrop for citizenship ceremonies, where new citizens can learn about and reflect on our shared heritage.”

Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, authorized on October 17, 1968, is a unit of the National Park Service and celebrates its 50^th Anniversary this year. The park is located three miles south of Hendersonville off U.S. 225 on Little River Road, and is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. For further information please telephone [phone], or visit our website at:

www.nps.gov/carl