History & Culture National Park Service: Places

Stories

QUICKLINKS:
Park Histories
Landmark Theme Studies

Stories are the big picture…or a snapshot in time. They provide the basics – who, what, where, when, why, and how – and may offer context and analysis. Stories can evolve, expand, and change over time as more is learned through new technology or new scholarship.

Stories include the personal – memories of immigrants who passed through Ellis Island – and the impersonal recitation of data and dates. They can be thousands of years old – the petroglyphs of the Rio Grande Valley – and as fresh and raw as the events of 9/11.

Stories recount the challenges and opportunities faced by individuals, communities, and nations.

Stories are shared history. Read them here.

Archeology
of Fort Pulaski

Image of Paradise Gatehouse, Mt. Rainier National Park

Parkitecture

image of a Japanese American student at Manzanar Camp during World War 2

Japanese
Americans in
World War II

Underground
Railroad

Did You Know?
The African custom of creating songs to transmit information was adapted by enslaved Africans in North America. Follow the Drinking Gourd is a coded song that provided the route for an escape from Alabama and Mississippi. more...