Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is most widely known today for the attempted slave revolt led by John Brown in 1859, the nucleus for the interpretation of the current national park. Here, Teresa S. Moyer and Paul A. Shackel tell the behind-the-scenes story of how this event was chosen and preserved for commemoration, providing lessons for federal, state, local, and non-profit organizations who continually struggle over the dilemma about which past to present to the public. Professional and non-professional audiences alike will benefit from their important insights into how federal agencies interpret the past, and in turn shape public memory.
A New York Times Notable Book for 2011 A Library Journal Top Ten Best Books of 2011 A Boston Globe Best Nonfiction Book of 2011 Bestselling author Tony Horwitz tells the electrifying tale of the daring insurrection that put America on the path to bloody war Plotted in secret, launched in the dark, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was a pivotal moment in U.S. history. But few Americans know the true story of the men and women who launched a desperate strike at the slaveholding South. Now, Midnight Rising portrays Brown's uprising in vivid color, revealing a country on the brink of explosive conflict. Brown, the descendant of New England Puritans, saw slavery as a sin against America's founding principles. Unlike most abolitionists, he was willing to take up arms, and in 1859 he prepared for battle at a hideout in Maryland, joined by his teenage daughter, three of his sons, and a guerrilla band that included former slaves and a dashing spy. On October 17, the raiders seized Harpers Ferry, stunning the nation and prompting a counterattack led by Robert E. Lee. After Brown's capture, his defiant eloquence galvanized the North and appalled the South, which considered Brown a terrorist. The raid also helped elect Abraham Lincoln, who later began to fulfill Brown's dream with the Emancipation Proclamation, a measure he called "a John Brown raid, on a gigantic scale." Tony Horwitz's riveting book travels antebellum America to deliver both a taut historical drama and a telling portrait of a nation divided—a time that still resonates in ours.
NATIONAL PARK JUNIOR RANGER PROGRAMS Description: "Explore, Learn, and Protect!" The Junior Ranger motto is recited by children around the country; each taking an oath of their own to protect parks, continue to learn about parks, and share their own ranger story with friends and family. The NPS Junior Ranger program is an activity based program conducted in almost all parks, and some Junior Ranger programs are national. Many national parks offer young visitors the opportunity to join the National Park Service "family" as Junior Rangers. Interested youth complete a series of activities during a park visit, share their answers with a park ranger, and receive an official Junior Ranger patch and Junior Ranger certificate. Junior Rangers are typically between the ages of 5 to 13, although people of all ages can participate. Park Rangers help to protect your parks by enforcing the rules and by helping you to understand why parks are important and why it is important to care for them. About the Centennial: On August 25, 2016, the National Park Service turns 100! The Centennial will kick off a second century of stewardship of America's national parks and engaging communities through conservation, recreation, and historic preservation programs, and will celebrate achievements of the past 100 years. Audience - Key Information Users: Parents of preschool through Pre-teen children, Children Age 5-13, Teachers, National Park Promoters and Commercial Operators near sites. Other related products: Haleakala Junior Ranger Activity Booklet can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/024-005-01319-9?ctid=222 The White House Junior Ranger Activity Guide Book can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/024-005-01317-2 Junior Park Ranger Redwood National & State Parks Activity Booklet, Ages 4 and Up, 2015 can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/024-005-01316-4 Upper Farmington Wild and Scenic River: Junior River Ranger Activity Booklet can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/024-005-01310-5 Herbert Hoover Ranger Activity Book can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/024-005-01309-1 Discovering the Underground Railroad: Junior Ranger Activity Book can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/024-005-01296-6 Guardabosques Junior de Refugios del Sur de Nevada: Refugios Nacionales de Vida Silvestre del Sur de Nevada (Spanish Language Publication) can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/024-005-01318-1
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is a jewel of America's National Park Service. Established by legislation and signed into law by President Roosevelt in 1944, today the park encompasses thousands of acres spanning three states as well as the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. While the town was ravaged by repeated floods and war, it rose like a phoenix from the ashes. As a Civil War soldier presciently wrote, "In future years travelers and tourists will eagerly resort [here] . . . and history will point out [this] spot where many acts of the great tragedy, not yet closed, took place." This book chronicles the creation and development of the national park in Harpers Ferry, a park that now affords hundreds of thousands of visitors each year the opportunity to marvel at the same scenery Thomas Jefferson said was worth a voyage across the Atlantic to see and to be able to walk the old streets where so many major acts of American history took place.
Recognizing the lives of the enslaved at the historic site of Mount Clare Enslaved African Americans helped transform the United States economy, culture, and history. Yet these individuals' identities, activities, and sometimes their very existence are often all but expunged from historically preserved plantations and house museums. Reluctant to show and interpret the homes and lives of the enslaved, many sites have never shared the stories of the African Americans who once lived and worked on their land. One such site is Mount Clare near Baltimore, Maryland, where Teresa Moyer pulls no punches in her critique of racism in historic preservation. In her balanced discussion, Moyer examines the inextricably entangled lives of the enslaved, free Black people, and white landowners. Her work draws on evidence from archaeology, history, geology, and other fields to explore the ways that white privilege continues to obscure the contributions of Black people at Mount Clare. She demonstrates that a landscape's post-emancipation history can make a powerful statement about Black heritage. Ultimately she argues that the inclusion of enslaved persons in the history of these sites would honor these "ancestors of worthy life," make the social good of public history available to African Americans, and address systemic racism in America. Publication of the paperback edition made possible by a Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
