BlackPast.org Blog: African Americans have been closely associated with the National Park Service since its founding

Buffalo Soldiers, 25th Infantry, Fort Keough, Montana 1890

GLADSTONE COLLECTION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHS/
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

BlackPast.org Blog

Hazel Singer
Friday, August 9, 2013

The Geography of Landmarks

BlackPast.org recently launched a new section called National African American Historic Landmarks. These landmarks have been certified by the National Park Service and are organized by state. As you peruse this list and notice any omissions, please let us know.

There two other aspects of the National Park Service that require us all to pay attention. First, from the very inception of the National Park Service, and the difficulties in getting it established (much attention is paid to this in the excellent book The Big Burn:Teddy Roosevelt and the Saving of America by Tim Egan, purchasing it here benefits BlackPast.org), African Americans have been closely associated with its success. Buffalo Soldiers, like their white counterparts, were among the first park and back country rangers in the years following the Civil War, as rangers were an outgrowth of the military.  Colonel Charles Young (died 1923), the third African American graduate of West Point, is considered by many to be the first African American Superintendent of a National Park. For more great photos of African Americans in the National Park Service, click on this link