National Monuments

Black Lives Matter, Diversity, Interview, National Monuments, National Parks, The Joy Trip Reading Project, Unhidden / 28.08.2023

A few minutes before our online discussion, National Park Ranger (Retired) Betty Reid Soskin and I spent some time getting reacquainted. She was to be a guest on The Joy Trip Reading Project to talk about her memoir “Sign My Name To Freedom”. After her daughter Di’Ara got her settled in front of her computer, we smoothed out a few minor technical difficulties with our Zoom connection. We then chatted amiably as one by one the attendees populated the waiting room....

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#BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter, Diversity, Essays, National Monuments, National Parks, Outdoor Recreation / 10.04.2023

On April 3, 2023, the National Park Service formally announced two groundbreaking reports that detail the history and progress of equitable access to public land from 1916 to 1965. Spanning the time from the creation of the NPS through the height of the Civil Rights movement, these studies offer great insight into the “tragedy and resilience of Black recreation”. https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/national-park-service-publishes-two-historical-studies-surfacing-tragedy-and-resilience-in-black-recreation.htm As I’m pouring though these remarkable documents on this beautiful Easter Sunday Morning, I was reminded by historian Christina Pronenza Coles that on this day, April 9, 1939, contralto Marian...

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Black Lives Matter, Essays, National Geographic, National Monuments, National Parks, Unhidden / 06.04.2023

Our journey through American history is often an exploration that reveals not just the cultural artifacts of the past that have been hidden, but those that have been taken away. On our way to the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historic Site, we decided to make a stop in Easton, Maryland. My friend National Geographic photographer Kris Graves and I went searching for the space that was once occupied by the state’s last Confederate Civil War memorial. Our drive from Washington D.C. to this little town north of the...

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#BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter, Commentary, Essays, National Geographic, National Monuments, National Parks, Public Land, Unhidden, Yellowstone, Yosemite / 13.02.2023

On a recent visit to Yellowstone National Park, I had the chance to see with my own eyes for the first time the inscription carved over the Roosevelt Arch. Previously I had only seen pictures. I have the rare privilege to be among the many writers and scholars who serve as topic experts on National Geographic Expeditions to remote areas around the world. This landmark in particular was a gap in my pedigree that I was very happy to fill. It's in these moments when I am happy...

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Diversity, Interview, National Geographic, National Monuments, National Parks, Podcast, Public Land / 19.12.2022

The protection of public land requires the broad ranging vision and leadership of federal service professionals at the highest levels. As the 19th Director of the National Park Service Charles F. Sams III is guiding the management of a complexed agency that oversees the protection of 63 National Parks and more than 420 individual monuments, battlefields, lakeshores and grasslands. A member of the Confederate Tribes of the Umatilla Indians, Sams is the first Native American to serve as the administrator of the memorial sites that preserve our natural history...

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Adventure Activism, Everyone In A Park, National Forests, National Monuments, National Parks, Public Land, Sierra Club, U.S. Forest Service / 07.10.2022

Every year on my birthday I renew my annual National Park pass. This small monetary investment of $80 provides me with access to hundreds of federally managed recreation areas and historic monuments across the United States. I am truly grateful for a lifetime of joy and adventure in the exploration of our public lands and national heritage sites. To assure their continued protection for years to come I make a gift of a second park pass to someone in our community who can truly use it. This year...

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