NHL-NPS photograph
The National Park Service cares for America's more than 400 national parks…and works in almost every one of her 3,141 counties. We are proud that tribes, local governments, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individual citizens ask for our help in revitalizing their communities, preserving local history, celebrating local heritage, and creating close to home opportunities for kids and families to get outside, be active, and have fun. Find a few selected important places outside the parks here and explore the links for more. Then explore what you can do to share your own stories and the places that matter to you.
Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area: African American fought as both freed men and slaves in the Boarder Wars and Civil War.During the "Exoduster Movement" in the 1870s, hundreds of African Americans settled in Kansas.Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ended racial segregation in public schools in 1954 and helped expand the Civil Rights Movement.
Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area: This area is home to Rust College, the second university founded for African Americans, as well as Baptist Industrial College, one of the earliest African American private schools.The Mississippi Hills were also the site of one of the largest sieges ever conducted in the western hemisphere and the Crossroads of the Confederacy.
Champlain Valley National Heritage Area: The geography and canals of the Champlain Valley National Heritage Area made the area an important part of the Underground Railroad used by enslaved African Americans.
National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom: This program coordinates preservation and education efforts nationwide and integrates local historical places, museums, and interpretive programs associated with the Underground Railroad into a mosaic of community, regional, and national stories.The NPS project builds upon and is supported by community initiatives around the country.