Title image for nps.gov, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
40th Anniversary, National Historic Preservation Act Title

40th Anniversary Home

NPS History & Culture

 

 

Return to
Highlights:
Preserving Our Heritage
Revitalizing Our Communities
Enhancing Learning Opportunities
Improving Our Quality of Life
Experiencing Our Heritage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enhancing Learning Opportunities

The preservation of [our] irreplaceable heritage is in the public interest so that its vital legacy of cultural, educational, aesthetic, inspirational, economic, and energy benefits will be maintained and enriched for future generations of Americans."

--Title 1, Section 1(b)(4) of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended

The National Park Service, federal, tribal, state, and local preservation offices and commissions offer hundreds of formal and informal learning opportunities for people of all ages. These education programs serve professional preservationists, practitioners and advocates, teachers and students, and those who simply want to know more about the heritage of this land.

Programs range from a single workshop, to a series of technical bulletins, to websites containing more than 100 classroom-ready lesson plans. They all work together to build support for, and understanding of, the need to preserve the nation's cultural heritage as a living part of the community and foster new generations of stewards for America's irreplaceable legacy of historic places. Through education we can ensure that our children and grandchildren can continue to appreciate our Nation's rich heritage, as the Act intended.

Learn more about these educational resources for preservation professionals, teachers and learners of all ages, and preservation and history enthusiasts.

Section 301 of the National Historic Preservation Act specifically includes education and training in its definition of historic preservation.

Fast Facts:

  • National Park Service offices responsible for historic resources offer more than 200 products and activities related to education.

  • The National Park Service Technical Preservation Services office has distributed more than 2 million copies of more than 40 Preservation Briefs since 1975.
  • Teaching with Historic Places has more than 125 online lesson plans available to teachers and students.

 

scaffold on clock tower
precolumbian pottery from New Mexico

Teachers & Learners

A grave stone next to a tree in a cemetery

Preservation & History Enthusiasts

 

Image of the

Did You Know?
This statue of Paul Bunyan, built in 1936 to attract tourists to Bemidji , Minnesota , is 18 feet tall. It is one of the “Roadside Attractions” featured in a Teaching with Historic Places lesson on the auto revolution of the 1920s and 30s.