African-American Heritage Sites

Capt. Charles Young

The National Park System preserves the history and contributions of African Americans and is part of the nation's history. Over the years, staff of the National Park Service has reflected the nation's social history. Among the first African Americans who influenced the course of the National Parks were:

• Early Superintendents (not fully inclusive)
  • Charles Young: He served as an early Superintendent of Sequoia National Park in 1903. As a Captain in the 9th Cavalry Regiment, he was directed to take two troops of Buffalo soldiers to the Giants Grove of Sequioa and protect the trees and the park from damage. While there, the two companies completed construction of a road to the Giant's Grove, making public access possible.^[1]
  • Robert Stanton, National Capital Parks (East) (1970–1971)^[2]
  • Georgia Ellard, Rock Creek Park (1977–1988)^[2]
  • Garry Traynham, Allegheny Portage (1990–1995)^[2]
• Deputy Directors
  • Donald Murphy, (2002–2005)^[2]
• Director
  • Robert Stanton, (1997–2001)^[2]

Parks

• African Burial Ground National Monument, New York, NY
• Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, Arlington, VA;
• Booker T. Washington National Monument, Hardy, VA; Boston NHS, Boston, MA; George Washington Carver NHS
• Boston African American National Historic Site, Boston, MA;
• Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, Topeka, KS
• Cane River Creole National Historical Park, Natchez, LA;
• Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock, AR;
• Colonial National Historical Park, Yorktown, VA (Jamestown African Americans);
• Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, Dayton, OH (Paul L. Dunbar House);
• Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, Washington, D.C.;
• Fort Davis National Historic Site, Fort Davis, TX (Buffalo Soldiers);
• Fort Scott National Historic Site, Fort Scott, KS (Kansas 1st Colored Dragoons);
• Fort Smith National Historic Site, Fort Smith, AR (from slavery to Parker’s Court);
• George Washington Birthplace National Monument, Washington’s Birthplace, VA (Washington’s Slaves, Indentured Servants, & Free Blacks;
• George Washington Carver National Monument, Diamond, MO;
• Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Salt Flat, TX (Buffalo Soldiers)
• Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Harpers Ferry, WV; (Frederick Douglass Visit)
• Harpers Ferry TC, Storer College, Harpers Ferry, WV; (Free Black School)
• Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, Hopewell, PA; (African Americans)
• Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, New Orleans, LA;
• Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, St. Louis, MO (Black Frontiersman)
• Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Springfield, IL;
• Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.;
• Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site, Richmond, VA;
• Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, Atlanta, GA;
• Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site, Washington, D.C.;
• New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, New Orleans, LA;
• Nicodemus National Historic Site, Nicodemus, KS;
• Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial, Put-in-Bay, OH; (Black Sailors)
• Petersburg National Battlefield, Petersburg, VA;
• Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial, Concord NWS, Concord, CA;
• Richmond National Battlefield Park, Richmond, VA;
• San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, San Francisco, CA; (African American Maritime History)
• Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail, Montgomery, Lowndes & Dallas Counties, AL;
• Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, Jacksonville, FL; (Kingsley Plantation)
• Tuskegee Airman National Historic Site, Tuskegee, AL;
• Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, Tuskegee, AL;
• Virgin Islands National Park, St.Johns, VI.

See also

• Canada
  • African-Canadian Heritage Tour
  • List of black Canadians
  • North American Black Historical Museum
  • Slavery in Canada
• United States
  • African American Historic Places
  • African Americans in France
  • Buffalo Soldier
• General
  • African diaspora
  • Black people
  • List of topics related to Black and African people

References

1. Sequoia National Park
2. Historic Listing of National Park Service Officials, USDI, NPS, May 1, 1991, by Harold Danz. Updates after publication by Public Affairs.

• National Park Service, Special Topic, Webpage, and

Bibliography

• Savage, Beth L. (Ed.); African American Historic Places, National Register of Historic Places; National Park Service, Preservation Press, 1994