Audio
“Champions of the Trace,” Highway 82 Exhibit Shelter, Milepost 204, Panel C
Transcript
Advocates of Natchez Trace Parkway, gathered around a shrouded commemorative marker during a public unveiling, provide the central image on this exhibit titled “Champions of the Trace.” The text focuses on the creation and early history of Natchez Trace Parkway. Along the panel’s right edge, there is an illustrated timeline with significant dates in Parkway history.
[Text] In the early 1900s, a group of women mounted a long, sophisticated, yet homespun campaign to create the Natchez Trace Parkway. They focused on two goals: to memorialize the Natchez Trace and build a modern parkway along its route.
Success came gradually. Led by Elizabeth Jones, Mississippi’s Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) began placing commemorative markers along the Trace.
In the 1930s, the politically savvy Roane Fleming Byrnes and members of the Natchez Trace Association joined the effort. As Byrnes recalls, she used “meatloaf and moonshine” to court allies that included US Congressman Jeff Busby. It was Busby who introduced a successful bill to survey the Natchez Trace, the first step in creating the Parkway. Although the last section of the Natchez Trace Parkway was completed in 2005, the National Park Service and its partners continue to protect the Parkway today.
The illustration shows seven smiling, adult white women and one man posed next to a chest-high stone marker. The man and a woman hold the ends of a cloth draped on the ground in front of the marker. The marker is light gray with roughly chiseled edges. On the front, there is an inscription and an early 1900s DAR logo.
The women vary in age but all wear hats, mostly wide brimmed, and more formal clothing—waistcoats, long dresses, jewelry, and gloves.
There is a group of over a dozen spectators facing the memorial. Most are men dressed in suits and a variety of hats—caps, fedoras, and bowlers.
The stone marker sits in a mowed grassy area with trees in the distant background.
[Text] Timeline: 1908 The DAR began placing granite markers along the route of the Natchez Trace. A photo shows a granite, DAR commemorative marker.
[Text] 1916 A “Pave the Trace” campaign proposed an improved highway along the Trace.
1934 The Natchez Trace Association organized to memorialize Trace history.
Congress approved a survey of the Trace route.
A photo shows a two-story building with Greek revival columns supporting a porch. Flags hang from the second floor balcony. An elevated platform in front of the building is draped with bunting. Several individuals stand atop the platform while others stand on the lawn, on the building’s front steps, and on the porch.
[Text] Elizabeth Jones and Roane Fleming Byrnes at a Natchez Trace Association gathering.
A photo shows Elizabeth Jones and Roane Fleming Byrnes seated behind a table in front of a flag-draped memorial. Both older white women are smiling. Jones wears a fur coat and pillbox hat. Byrnes has a large broach pinned to her coat lapel. Other members of the Natchez Trace Association gather around and look toward the camera.
[Text] 1938 Congress created the Natchez Trace Parkway as part of the National Park Service.
There are two other exhibits to your left, and one to your right.
Description
Advocates of Natchez Trace Parkway, gathered around a shrouded commemorative marker during a public unveiling, provide the central image on this exhibit titled “Champions of the Trace.” The text focuses on the creation and early history of Natchez Trace Parkway. Along the panel’s right edge, there is an illustrated timeline with significant dates in Parkway history.
Duration
4 minutes, 4 seconds
Credit
NPS
Copyright and Usage Info