The Struggle for Civil Rights:

U.S. Monuments and Historic Sites

Compiled and Edited by

Michael Erbschloe

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©2017 Michael Erbschloe

Table of Contents

About the Editor

Introduction

African American Civil War Memorial

Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument

Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument

Boston African American National Historic Site and the Museum of African American History.

Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument

César E. Chávez National Monument

Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

Freedom Riders National Monument

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park

Maggie Lena Walker National Historical Site

Manzanar National Historic Site

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site

Nicodemus National Historic Site

Reconstruction Era National Monument

Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail 

Stonewall National Monument

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site

Women’s Rights National Historic Park

About the Editor

Michael Erbschloe has worked for over 30 years performing analysis of the economics of information technology, public policy relating to technology, and utilizing technology in reengineering organization processes. He has authored several books on social and management issues of information technology that were published by McGraw Hill and other major publishers. He has also taught at several universities and developed technology-related curriculum. His career has focused on several interrelated areas:

Technology strategy, analysis, and forecasting

Teaching and curriculum development

Writing books and articles

Publishing and editing

Public policy analysis and program evaluation

Books by Michael Erbschloe

Social Media Warfare: Equal Weapons for All (Auerbach Publications)

Walling Out the Insiders: Controlling Access to Improve Organizational Security (Auerbach Publications)

Physical Security for IT (Elsevier Science)

Trojans, Worms, and Spyware (Butterworth-Heinemann)

Implementing Homeland Security in Enterprise IT (Digital Press)

Guide to Disaster Recovery (Course Technology)

Socially Responsible IT Management (Digital Press)

Information Warfare: How to Survive Cyber Attacks (McGraw Hill)

The Executive's Guide to Privacy Management (McGraw Hill)

Net Privacy: A Guide to Developing & Implementing an e-business Privacy Plan (McGraw Hill)

Introduction

To live freely and participate in society is a right many take for granted. Achieving and maintaining those civil rights have been a struggle for different groups throughout U.S. history. Civil rights mean more than the protests of the 1950s and 1960s and reach beyond racial and ethnic groups. Today, the struggle has gone from an issue of racial equality to equality for all and new voices are engaging in the discussion, helping to define who we are as a people and a nation.

What does the term "civil rights" mean to the American public? As stated in the Declaration of Independence “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” sets the ideal of human rights due to all people. In regards to the rights of people in a society, those rights are defined by the government and conferred upon citizens of a nation or state. For the purposes of these discussions, civil rights are those rights guaranteed to individuals as citizens of a nation, irrespective of gender, race and ethnicity, physical/mental ability, or sexual preference. This roots the examination of civil rights in the process of people exercising those rights within a societal framework and the resistance to those individuals.

Years after the Declaration of Independence, the newly formed United States government ratified the Constitution of 1789, which in addition to codifying the rights of its citizens, formalized the process of disenfranchisement of Native Americans, and further marginalized African-descend people. Congress passed the Naturalization Act of 1790, which stated that to become a citizen, a person must be “a free white person, of good character, living in the United States for 2 years.” Those people born in the U.S. to fathers born in the U.S., or who had been naturalized, were citizens. And while women could be citizens, they were unable to vote in the majority of states and had limited property rights, particularly if married.

Westward expansion introduced new groups to the civil rights discussion. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 promised Mexican citizens that suddenly found themselves in the U.S. after the Mexican American War, the rights of U.S. citizens. In short order, their property rights, as well as access to the political process, were legally erased and blunted. Much of the same rationale causing the marginalization of the Mexican-American population was directed toward the Chinese population in the U.S. Once the Chinese population became permanent fixtures in Western mining towns and as labor for the railroads, anti-Chinese agitation led to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, denying citizenship to a group that helped develop one-third of the nation. The Dred Scott decision in 1857 removed any vestiges of civil rights for African Americans by legally denying any claim of citizenship. All of these actions left free and enslaved African Americans, Chinese Americans, Mexican Americans, and Native Americans effectively disenfranchised in a growing and expanding nation.

The passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments in the second half of the 19th century resolved the issue of citizenship for many groups, granting them the same rights as the rest of society. Native Americans, however, were not given citizenship until 1924. Within a short time, social practices, policies, and laws created barriers to the full realization of their rights as citizens. Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, immigration quotas, and the denial or repeal of citizenship to groups already ensconced in the U.S. undermined the amendments. Groups that gained citizenship found their rights abrogated, denied, or simply ignored. The 19th Amendment in 1920 gave women the right to vote, but did not provide equal rights. For African Americans, Latinos, and Asians, becoming or being born citizens did not ensure full access to these rights. Disenfranchised groups had to fight to regain their civil rights.

The fight of disenfranchised or marginalized groups to regain their civil rights is generally referred to as a “civil rights struggle.” The use of the term is instructive as it indicates that although rights of citizenship, “inalienable rights,” are granted, for many they have to be wrested from society.  Over time, the ranks of marginalized citizens in the U.S. has expanded to include Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual people and disabled people. The civil rights struggle takes place within the existing framework of laws, in particular the Bill of Rights, and has gone from being an issue of racial equality to one of equality for all groups.

A “national monument” established by the President protects “objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated on lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government” (54 U.S.C. § 320301, known as the Antiquities Act). If the national monument is administered by the National Park Service (NPS), as many national monuments are, it is subject to the same laws and policies as govern other units of the National Park System. Thus, an NPS national monument established by the President is a protected area similar to a national park, administered for the protection and enjoyment of its resources and values.

To be established by the President, the area must meet the criteria of the Antiquities Act (54 U.S.C § 320301), including having objects of historic or scientific interest located on land already owned or controlled by the Federal government. The views of the public are carefully considered in the process. National monuments can also be created by Congress under their own enabling statutes, rather than the Antiquities Act. National monuments can be administered by Federal agencies other than NPS. The Presidential proclamation or Congressionally-enacted statute creating the national monument typically indicates which Federal agency will administer it.

Writer and historian Wallace Stegner called national parks "the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst."

For nearly 100 years, this best idea has been nurtured by the National Park Service. Over time, the number of national parks has increased and our mission has become more complex as the range of services we offer has grown beyond parks to meet the needs of thousands of towns and cities across the country.

The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.

The National Park Service is a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Interior and is led by a Director nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The Director is supported by senior executives who manage national programs, policy, and budget in the Washington, DC, headquarters and seven regional directors responsible for national park management and program implementation.

Quotes from Inaugural Addresses

“And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

– John F. Kennedy, January 20, 1961

“Justice requires us to remember that when any citizen denies his fellow, saying, ‘His color is not mine,’ or ‘His beliefs are strange and different,’ in that moment he betrays America, though his forebears created this nation.”

 – Lyndon B. Johnson, January 20, 1965

“The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker. This honor now beckons America — the chance to help lead the world at last out of the valley of turmoil and onto that high ground of peace that man has dreamed of since the dawn of civilization.”

 – Richard M. Nixon, January 20, 1969

“I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our government but civilization itself.”

 – Gerald R. Ford, address after taking the oath of office on August 9, 1974

“To be true to ourselves, we must be true to others. We will not behave in foreign places so as to violate our rules and standards here at home, for we know that the trust which our Nation earns is essential to our strength.”

 – Jimmy Carter, January 20, 1977

“America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle. We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the nation and gentler the face of the world.”

 – George H. W. Bush, January 20, 1989

“There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”

– Bill Clinton, January 20, 1993

“Through much of the last century, America’s faith in freedom and democracy was a rock in a raging sea. Now it is a seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations.”

 – George W. Bush, January 20, 2001

“Our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

– Barack Obama, January 20, 2009

(Link: https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/)

The history of the United States is vast and complex, but can be broken down into moments and time periods that divided, unified, and changed the United States into the country it is today:

1700-1799

The American Revolution (sometimes referred to as the American War of Independence or the Revolutionary War) was a conflict which lasted from 1775-1783 and allowed the original thirteen colonies to remain independent from Great Britain.

American politician and soldier George Washington became the first President of the United States in 1789, serving two terms.

Beginning in Great Britain in the late 1790s, the Industrial Revolution eventually made its way to the United States and changed the focus of our economy and the way we manufacture products.

1800-1899

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson agreed to the Louisiana Purchase, successfully adding 530 million acres of land to the United States. The area was purchased from France for $15 million. The following year, President Jefferson assigned Meriwether Lewis (who asked for help from William Clark) to head west and explore the newly purchased land. It took about a year and a half for the duo to reach the west coast.

The American Civil War divided the United States in two – the Northern States versus the Southern States. The outcome of the four year battle (1861-1865) kept the United States together as one whole nation and ended slavery.

1900-1999

On December 17, 1903, brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright became the first people to maintain a controlled flight in a powered, heavier-than-air machine. The Wright Flyer only flew for 12 seconds for a distance of 120 feet, but their technology would change the modern world forever.

On April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I by declaring war on Germany.

After nearly 100 years of protests, demonstrations, and sit-ins, women of the United States were officially granted the right to vote after the 19th Amendment was ratified on August 26, 1920.

The worst economic crisis to happen in the United States occurred when the stock market crashed in October 1929 resulting in the Great Depression. 

World War II officially begins in September 1939 after Germany invades Poland. The United States didn’t enter the war until after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

On August 6 and August 9 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, effectively ending World War II.

After World War II, an agreement was reached to divide Korea into two parts: a northern half to be controlled by the Soviet Union and a southern half to be controlled by the United States. The division was originally meant as a temporary solution, but the Soviet Union managed to block elections that were held to elect someone to unify to country. Instead, the Soviet Union sent North Korean troops across the 38th parallel leading to the three-year long (1950-1953) Korean War.

From 1954-1968, the African-American Civil Rights movement took place, especially in the Southern states. Fighting to put an end to racial segregation and discrimination, the movement resulted in the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the 1968 Fair Housing Act.

The Vietnam War was a nearly 20 year battle (November 1, 1955–April 30 1975) between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam won the war and Vietnam became a unified country.

The Apollo 11 mission (July 16-24, 1969) allowed United States astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin to become the first humans to walk on the moon’s surface.

2000-Present

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, changed the United States forever. Less than a month later (October 7, 2001) the United States began the War in Afghanistan, which is still happening today.

On March 20, 2003, the United States invaded and occupied Iraq. The war lasted for more than eight years before it was officially declared over on December 18, 2011.

In 2008, Barack Obama became the first African-American to be elected President of the United States.

Operation Neptune Spear was carried out on May 2, 2011, resulting in the death of long-time al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

(Link: https://www.usa.gov/history#item-37632)

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/civilrights/civil-rights-overview.htm)

African American Civil War Memorial

Over 200,000 African-American soldiers and sailors served in the U.S. Army and Navy during the Civil War. Their service helped to end the war and free over four million slaves. The African American Civil War Memorial honors their service and sacrifice.

Lincoln's proclamation to establish a "Bureau of Colored Troops"

On September 22, 1862, five days after the Battle of Antietam, President Lincoln announced that he would issue a formal emancipation of all slaves in any of the Confederate States that did not return to Union control by January 1, 1863. No states rejoined the Union, so Lincoln implemented the Proclamation by establishing a "Bureau of Colored Troops" to facilitate the recruitment of African-American soldiers to fight for the Union Army.

The United States Colored Troops (USCT) were regiments of the Army during the Civil War that were composed of over 200,000 soldiers. First recruited in 1863, the men of the 175 regiments of the USCT constituted approximately one-tenth of the Union Army. These men and their officers are remembered here as Freedom Fighters who won in the struggle for their own liberation.

At the beginning of the American Civil War there were many that felt the conflict should solely be a struggle to preserve the Union and exclusively a white man's fight. As the war progressed though, and runaway slaves continued to flee to Federal armies in greater numbers, more began to feel that something should be done about this "curious institution" known as slavery. Early on, Congress forbade the enlistment of free African Americans and only allowed the use of former slaves as workers in the military. With the passage of the 2nd Confiscation Act and Militia Act in July 1862, African Americans from anywhere in the country were now sanctioned to join the United States military and contribute to the cause that some now saw as a struggle for a "new birth of freedom". Through their valor, service, and sacrifice during the war, black soldiers and sailors disproved the claims of African American inferiority and laid the groundwork for the future struggles in citizenship and voting rights that would continue for over one hundred years.

By supporting the Union, slaves and free blacks, living in the North and South, courageously advanced the cause of freedom for more than four million enslaved people. The African American Civil War Memorial commemorates the military service of hundreds of thousands of Civil War era African American soldiers and sailors. Etched into stainless steel panels of the memorial are names identifying 209,145 United States Colored Troops (USCT) who responded to the Union's call to arms. In 1865, President Lincoln said, "without the military help of the black freedmen, the war against the south could not have been won".

Wall of Honor

Inscribed on the Wall of Honor are the names of 209,145 soldiers of the USCT 175 regiments, 7,000 white Officers and 2,145 Hispanic surnames. Also honored are the approximate 20,000 Navy sailors whose names are not yet on the wall because the Navy was not segregated.

Spirit of Freedom Sculpture

Ed Hamilton's sculpture 'Spirit of Freedom' depicts three infantrymen and a sailor defending freedom. Above them is the face of the Spirit of Freedom watching over like an angel with her arms crossed. The other side of the statue shows a scene of a soldier with his family. Inscribed on the sculpture base: 'Civil War to Civil rights and Beyond. This Memorial is dedicated to those who served in African American units of the Union Army in the Civil War. The 209,145 names inscribed on these walls commemorate those fighters of freedom.'

Contact the Park:

Physical Address

1925 Vermont Avenue Northwest

Washington, DC 20001

Mailing Address:

900 Ohio Drive SW 

Washington, DC 20024

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/afam/learn/historyculture/index.htm)

Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument

Tucked behind the U.S. Capitol, this 200-year-old house stands as a testament to our nation's continued struggle for equality. Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument tells the story of a community of women who dedicated their lives to the fight for women’s rights. The innovative tactics and strategies these women devised became the blueprint for civil rights progress throughout the 20th century.

Home to the National Woman's Party for nearly 90 years, this was the epicenter of the struggle for women's rights. From this house in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court, Alice Paul and the NWP developed innovative strategies and tactics to advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment and equality for women. President Barack Obama designated the national monument on April 12, 2016.

Built on Capitol Hill in 1800, the house that today is Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument is among the oldest residential properties in Washington, D.C. The original house was destroyed by British forces during the War of 1812. In the 20th century, the house became the headquarters of the National Woman’s Party, a political movement that fought for equal rights for women.

Robert Sewall, a member of one of Maryland’s most influential and prominent families, built the original house at 2nd Street and Constitution Avenue, NE in 1800. Sewall rented the house to Albert Gallatin from 1801 until 1813. Gallatin served as Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Jefferson and Madison. During the War of 1812, the house was destroyed by fire during the British invasion of Washington in August 1814. It was one of the only buildings from which the occupants made an attempt to resist the British Army. Sewall rebuilt the house by 1820.

The Sewall family descendants owned the house for over 120 years. In 1922, Senator and Mrs. Porter Dale of Vermont purchased and rehabilitated the house after it had been vacant for a decade.

The Dales sold the house to the National Woman’s Party (NWP) to use as their headquarters in 1929. The NWP renamed the property the “Alva Belmont House” in honor of Alva Belmont, NWP President from 1920-1933 and its primary benefactor. Belmont donated thousands of dollars to the women’s equality movement and gave the NWP the ability to purchase the new headquarters. The house also functioned as a hotel and second home for some members up until the 1990s.

National Woman's Party

Alice Paul founded the NWP in 1916 to address women’s suffrage and equality. Under Paul’s leadership, the NWP refocused the women’s suffrage movement from a state-by-state effort to a push for a constitutional amendment. In 1923, the NWP introduced the Equal Rights Amendment and launched a campaign to win full equality for women. They successfully pushed for the inclusion of gender equality language in both the United Nations Charter and the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In 1997, the NWP ceased lobbying activities and became a 501(c)3 educational organization. Today, the NWP focuses on educating the public about the women's rights movement.

Alice Paul was one of the most prominent members of 20th-century women's rights movement. An outspoken suffragist and feminist, she tirelessly led the charge for women's suffrage and equal rights in the United States. Born to a New Jersey Quaker family in 1885, young Alice grew up attending suffragist meetings with her mother. She pursued an unusually high level of education for a woman of her time, graduating Swarthmore College in 1905 and receiving her master's in sociology in 1907 and a Ph.D. in economics in 1912 from the University of Pennsylvania.

While continuing her studies in England, she made the acquaintance of militant British suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters, Christabel and Sylvia. Paul was arrested and imprisoned many times for her involvement with Pankhurst’s group, whose disruptive and radical tactics included smashing windows and prison hunger strikes. Forever changed by her experiences, Paul returned to the United States in 1910 and turned her attention to the American suffrage movement. After the deaths of Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1902 and Susan B. Anthony in 1906, the suffrage movement was languishing, lacking focus under conservative suffrage organizations that concentrated only on achieving state suffrage. Paul believed that the movement needed to focus on the passage of a federal suffrage amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In 1916, Paul founded the National Woman’s Party (NWP). Paul adopted the Pankhursts’ imperative to “hold the party in power responsible.” The NWP would withhold its support from  existing political parties until women had gained the right to vote and “punish” those parties in power who did not support suffrage. Through dramatic protests, marches, and demonstrations, the suffrage movement gained popular support.

In 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, giving women the right to vote. Paul believed the vote was just the first step in the quest for full equality. In 1922, she reorganized the NWP with the goal of eliminating all discrimination against women. In 1923, she wrote the Equal Rights Amendment, also known as the Lucretia Mott Amendment, and launched what would be a lifelong campaign to win full equality for women. Concerned not only with the rights of American women, but the rights of women around the world, Paul founded the World Woman’s Party, which until 1954 served as the NWP’s international organization. In 1945, she was instrumental in incorporating language regarding women’s equality in the United Nations Charter, and in the establishment of a permanent U.N. Commission on the Status of Women. Alice Paul is remembered as a tireless, devoted pioneer in the fight for women’s rights, and her legacy is still felt by women around the world today.

Women's Suffrage

Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument tells the story of a century of activism by American women. In 1929, the National Woman’s Party (NWP), with financial support of suffragist Alva Belmont, purchased the house to establish a Washington base of operations.  Alice Paul founded the NWP in 1916 as a lobbying organization to promote women's suffrage. The house served not only as the headquarters for the massive political effort to obtain equality, but also as a second home for the hardworking women of the organization.

Nonviolent, dramatic protests were the hallmark of the NWP’s operations in Washington. Suffrage marches, daily picketing and arrests at the White House, and speaking tours raised the public profile of the movement. Protesters faced daily violence from both passers-by and the police, including having their banners ripped from their hands and being physically attacked and arrested. While imprisoned for their activism, some women protested through highly-publicized hunger strikes that resulted in forced feedings and even worse prison conditions. The brutality with which the women were treated created enormous public support for suffrage.

In 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, granting women the right to vote. With this hard-won, long-awaited victory, the NWP focused on the next step: complete equality of the sexes under law. The group’s headquarters at the Alva Belmont house provided the backdrop for many of the defining moments in this struggle. Alice Paul authored the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1923, which reads simply, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States on account of sex.” In 1972, Congress passed the ERA, but the amendment remains three states short of ratification today. For over 50 years, the ERA has been introduced in every session of Congress.

In 1997, the National Woman's Party ceased its lobbying efforts and became a nonprofit educational organization. Today the NWP continues to occupy the house, along with its historic library and archives, to educate the public about the women’s rights movement. Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument is one of the premier women’s history sites in the country, housing archives as well as one of the most important collections of artifacts from the women’s suffrage and equal rights movements.

Physical Address›

144 Constitution Ave NE

900 Ohio Drive SW

 Washington, DC 20002

Mailing Address:

900 Ohio Drive SW 

Washington, DC 20024

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/bepa/index.htm)

Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument

Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument is a new unit of the National Park System that encompasses roughly four city blocks in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. The National Monument includes the A.G. Gaston Motel, which served as the headquarters for the Birmingham campaign. In April through May of 1963 leaders of the civil rights movement, including Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., took up residence at the motel where they strategized and made critical decision about the non-violent campaign that targeted Birmingham’s segregation laws and practices. In addition to the day in, day out work of the campaign that occurred at the motel, several key events of the campaign publicly unfolded at the property.

In 1963, images of snarling police dogs unleashed against non-violent protesters and of children being sprayed with high-pressure hoses appeared in print and television news across the world. These dramatic scenes from Birmingham, Alabama, of violent police aggression against civil rights protesters were vivid examples of segregation and racial injustice in America. The episode sickened many, including President John F. Kennedy, and elevated civil rights from a Southern issue to a pressing national issue.

The confrontation between protesters and police was a product of the direct action campaign known as Project C. Project C—for confrontation—challenged unfair laws that were designed to limit freedoms of African Americans and ensure racial inequality. Leaders from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) along with Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) took up residence at the A.G. Gaston Motel in April through May of 1963 to direct Project C. From the motel, which served as their headquarters and also as an area to stage events and hold press conferences, the movement’s leaders strategized and made critical decision that shaped national events and significantly advanced the cause of the civil rights movement. In addition to the day in, day out work of the campaign that occurred at the motel, several key events of the campaign publicly unfolded at the property.

Public outrage over the events in Birmingham produced political pressure that helped to ensure passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The struggle for equality is illustrated by places, like the A.G. Gaston Motel, located throughout Birmingham, where civil rights activists organized, protested, and clashed with segregationists. Also visible throughout the city are African American institutions and business that knit together Birmingham’s black community and laid a critical foundation for the fight for civil and political rights.

American civil rights movement sites are within walking distance or a short drive from the A.G. Gaston Motel:

 16th Street Baptist Church, target of September 1963 bombing that killed four young girls who were preparing for Sunday school. This act of domestic terrorism became a galvanizing force for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

 Kelly Ingram Park, where protesters, including many children, were violently disrupted by police dogs and powerful water cannons. Images of the brutal police response to peaceful protesters spread across the country through the news media, shocking the conscience of the nation and the world.

 4th Avenue Historic District sites, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, as the retail and entertainment center for black-owned businesses serving African American customers during Birmingham's extended period of forced segregation.

 Bethel Baptist Church, located six miles north of the city center, noted for its significant association with Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth. It was the historical headquarters of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights led by Shuttlesworth and was bombed three times – in 1956, 1958 and 1962.

Next to the A.G. Gaston Motel is the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, a cultural and educational research center opened in 1992 that presently reaches more than 140,000 annual visitors, and whose exhibits provide an overview of the struggle for civil rights in Birmingham.

The National Park Service has partnered with the City of Birmingham to restore the A.G. Gaston Motel to its appearance during the Birmingham campaign of 1963. In the coming years the A.G. Gaston Motel will be developed to accommodate visitors, but it is currently closed.

What constitutes the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument?

The Gaston Motel, located in downtown Birmingham, encompasses an approximately one-acre parcel. The City donated property interests in the Gaston Motel to the National Park Service for the establishment of the monument. These donated property interests include a fee simple interest in the original 1954 wing to the motel (approximately 0.23 acres), including the suite where Dr. King and Rev. Abernathy stayed in the spring of 1963, and a preservation and conservation easement in the remaining parts of the motel (approximately 0.65 acres). The City retains fee ownership of those remaining parts of the motel, subject to the NPS easement. NPS and the City intend to cooperate in the management and operation of the Gaston Motel

The boundary for the monument includes a number of other historic properties that are part of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Register Historic District. These properties are significant with regard to the civil rights organizing and protests that occurred in downtown Birmingham between 1956 and 1963. Significant contributing sites within the boundary include Kelly Ingram Park, 16th Street Baptist Church, St. Paul United Methodist Church, and portions of the 4th Avenue Historic District. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, located in a non-historic building, is also within the boundary, and is a potential partner in research and interpretation associated with the monument. NPS does not have a property interest in these City-owned or privately-owned buildings, nor does NPS law or regulations affect these non-NPS properties within the boundary. Their inclusion in the boundary will facilitate cooperation and partnerships in managing and interpreting the Birmingham civil rights properties, and allow opportunities over time for acquisition of additional lands or interests in lands for the monument from willing sellers or donors.

Is Bethel Baptist Church (associated with Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights) included in the boundary of the national monument?

The Bethel Baptist Church, designated a National Historic Landmark in 2005, is an important part of the Birmingham civil rights story. It is located six miles from the A.G. Gaston Motel and the other historic properties in downtown Birmingham. Although not included in the monument boundary, Bethel Baptist Church is a key part of the Birmingham civil rights story. The Church is mentioned in the proclamation establishing the monument, laying the basis for partnership and interpretation, and possibly subsequent action by the President or Congress to include it in a park unit boundary if circumstances allow.

What happens now that the area has been designated a national monument?

The National Park Service is beginning to work on the development of a management plan, to ensure that the new national monument preserves the site’s resources and provides for an outstanding visitor experience. The National Park Service’s planning for the new park will be done with full public involvement and in coordination with the City of Birmingham and other stakeholders. Open houses and public meetings will be held to discuss the management plan and invite the public to share ideas for the future of the monument.

Is there a plan for restoring or reconstructing the A.G. Gaston Motel?

The City of Birmingham has developed a comprehensive redevelopment plan for the Gaston Motel. The initial construction and use of the motel occurred over a period from 1954 to 1968. The current redevelopment proposal includes exterior restoration of the original 1954 Motel, including the 1955 expansion of the restaurant, to its appearance in 1963. A portion of the original 1954 motel (e.g., master suite, hotel lobby, select rooms) would also undergo interior reconstruction to include period furnishings from 1963. These areas would be the focus for interpretive purposes. The exterior and interior of the remainder of the 1968 motel additions would be rehabilitated for adaptive reuse in accordance with different options being considered by the City of Birmingham. Details as to the history and treatment and use of the Gaston Motel have been documented in a Historic Structure Report (HSR) prepared in November 2016. Cooperative management of the Gaston Motel would be consistent with the HSR.

Would the City of Birmingham and NPS work in partnership on the preservation and management of the Gaston Motel property?

The City of Birmingham and NPS share the common vision and goal that the parcels comprising the Gaston Motel shall be managed and operated in cooperation so as to ensure that members of the public visiting the site will experience the preserved resource in a seamless fashion. Accordingly, both the City and NPS will cooperatively manage and operate the Gaston Motel so that the public will experience the park as reflective as possible of a motel of the era and type that it was from 1954 to 1968. It is anticipated that the interpretive footprint would include significant portions of the original 1954 motel, including the master suite and other rooms actually used by Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, courtyard, hotel lobby and office, and restaurant. This approach would allow NPS to interpret the interrelated private and public spaces of the motel’s civil rights and community organizing story as they relate to the period of significance.

The Gaston Motel occupies a site immediately adjacent to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and within easy walking distance of the 16th Street Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park, and the 4th Avenue Historic District, all of which are part of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Register District listed in the National Register.

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/bicr/planyourvisit/index.htm)

Boston African American National Historic Site
and the Museum of African American History

Boston's Second Revolution

Centered on the north slope of Beacon Hill, the African American community of 19th century Boston led the city and the nation in the fight against slavery and injustice. These remarkable men and women, together with their allies, were leaders in Abolition Movement, the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, and the early struggle for equal rights and education.

The Robert Gould Shaw and Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial, located across Beacon Street from the State House, serves as a reminder of the heavy cost paid by individuals and families during the Civil War. In particular, it serves as a memorial to the group of men who were among the first African Americans to fight in that war. Although African Americans served in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, northern racist sentiments kept African Americans from taking up arms for the United States in the early years of the Civil War. However, a clause in Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation made possible the organization of African American volunteer regiments. The first documented African American regiment formed in the north was the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry, instituted under Governor John Andrew in 1863. African American men came to enlist from every region of the north, and from as far away as the Caribbean. Robert Gould Shaw was the man Andrew chose to lead this regiment.

The Massachusetts 54th Regiment became famous and solidified their place in history following the attack on Fort Wagner, South Carolina on July 18, 1863. At least 74 enlisted men and 3 officers were killed in that battle, and scores more were wounded. Colonel Shaw was one of those killed. Sergeant William H. Carney, who was severely injured in the battle, saved the regiment’s flag from being captured. He was the first African American to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Abiel Smith School and African Meeting House are open to the public year round, six days a week, Monday-Saturday: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. National Park Rangers are available there throughout the day for historic talks.

Contact the Park
Mailing Address:

15 State Street

9th Floor 

Boston, MA 02109

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/boaf/index.htm)

Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument

March 25th, 2013, the date which officially established the long-awaited Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument. However, the work that went in to reaching the monumental achievement began long before March 25th, 2013 and incorporated myriad people and organizations who believed that this true American hero's story should be known to all and cherished forever.

Two of the biggest supporters of the legacy of Charles Young, Omega Psi Phi fraternity and the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center (NAAMCC), went to great lengths and expenses to ensure that the house of Colonel Charles Young would remain intact and presentable in the hopes of becoming the centerpiece of a national park. The commitment, dedication and resolve that these organizations and the countless number of people who supported the Young legacy, culminated on Monday, March 25th, 2013 as President Barack Obama utilized the powers given to him under the 1906 Antiquities Act and signed the proclamation establishing Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument. The proclamation set aside nearly 60 acres of land that includes the former home of Colonel Young. The house, more affectionately known as "Youngsholm" also serves as the current face of the newest national park addition.

Early in his career in 1894, Charles Young received a detached service assignment as an instructor of military science and tactics at Wilberforce University. He developed the curriculum and served as a role model for the young men in the program. In 1907, the Young's purchased a large house about a mile from the campus which he later named "Youngsholm." The house was built in 1839 and was once used as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Young's residence quickly became the social hub for friends, university colleagues and even strangers alike. Frequent and notable visitors from around the area often visited the house. Although his military career took him across the globe, Young considered "Youngsholm" his sanctuary where he raised a family, mentored a successive generation of leaders, and found intellectual refuge. Even after his untimely death, "Youngsholm" would remain in the Young family for over another half century.

One part of the story at every national park site is the people who comprise the story. Here at Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument, you'll discover more about two of the main characters in this inspiring and dramatic story.

Charles Young overcame countless amounts of stifling obstacles throughout his life to earn the respect of his racial counterparts and peers. In doing so, he paved the way for future generations of African-Americans who would follow in his footsteps.

The African-American soldiers that made up the famed "Buffalo Soldiers" would serve in countless U.S. conflicts throughout their 80 year plus span as segregated regiments. Fighting for a country that marginalized who they were based on the color of their skin, these men would valiantly fight on for the honor, the respect and the dignity they deserved, on and off of the battlefield.

African Americans served in the U.S. Military during the Civil War and continued to serve afterwards. Many of these soldiers went on to fight in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War. Although the pay was low, only $13 a month, many African Americans enlisted because they could earn more and be treated with more dignity than they often received in civilian life.

In 1866, Congress established six all-black regiments (consolidated to four shortly after) to help rebuild the country after the Civil War and to fight on the Western frontier during the "Indian Wars." It was from one of these regiments, the 10th Cavalry, that the nickname Buffalo Soldier was born. American Plains Indians who fought against these soldiers referred to the black cavalry troops as "buffalo soldiers" because of their dark, curly hair, which resembled a buffalo's coat and because of their fierce nature of fighting. The nickname soon became synonymous with all African-American regiments formed in 1866.

In addition to their military duties, the Buffalo Soldiers also served as some of the first care takers of the national parks. Between 1891 and 1913, the U.S. Army served as the official administrator of Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. The soldiers were stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco during the winter months and then served in the Sierra during the summer months. While in the parks, soldier's duties included fighting wildfire, curbing poaching of the park's wildlife, ending illegal grazing of livestock on federal lands, and constructing roads, trail and other infrastructure. In 1903, Captain Charles Young led a company of Buffalo Soldiers in Sequoia and General Grant (now Sequoia and King's Canyon) National Parks. Young and his troops managed to complete more infrastructure improvements than those from the previous three years. They completed a road to the Giant Forest and a road to the base of Moro Rock. Their work on these new roads now allowed the public to access the mountain-top forest for the first time.

The Buffalo Soldier regiments went on to serve the U.S. Army with distinction and honor for nearly the next five decades. With the disbandment of the 27th Cavalry on December 12, 1951, the last of the storied Buffalo Soldiers regiments came to an end.

Contact the Park›
Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 428 

Wilberforce, OH 45384

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/chyo/index.htm)

César E. Chávez National Monument

In 2012, President Obama signed a presidential proclamation creating César E. Chávez National Monument to mark the extraordinary achievements and contributions to the history of the United States made by César Chávez and the farm worker movement. On the same day that President Obama created César E. Chávez National Monument, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the designation of the Nuestra Señora Reina de la La Paz site as a national historic landmark.

Widely recognized as the most important Latino leader in the United States during the twentieth century, César E. Chávez led farm workers and supporters in the establishment of the country's first permanent agricultural union. His leadership brought sustained international attention to the plight of U.S. farm workers, and secured for them higher wages and safer working conditions.

Under the leadership of César E. Chávez and others such as Dolores Huerta and Larry Itliong, along with support from millions of Americans, the farm worker movement joined forces with other reform movements to achieve unprecedented successes that greatly improved working and living conditions and wages for farm workers. During the 1970s the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) grew and expanded from its early roots as a union for farm workers to also become a national voice for the poor and disenfranchised. The enduring legacies of César E. Chávez and the farm worker movement include passage of California's Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, the first law in the U.S. that recognized farm workers' collective bargaining rights.

Contact the Park›

Mailing Address:

PO Box 201 

Keene, CA 93531

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/cech/learn/historyculture/index.htm)

Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

In his journey from captive slave to internationally renowned activist, Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) has been a source of inspiration and hope for millions. His brilliant words and brave actions continue to shape the ways that we think about race, democracy, and the meaning of freedom.

Frederick Douglass spent his life fighting for justice and equality. Born into slavery in 1818, he escaped as a young man and became a leading voice in the abolitionist movement. People everywhere still find inspiration today in his tireless struggle, brilliant words, and inclusive vision of humanity. Douglass's legacy is preserved here at Cedar Hill, where he lived his last 17 years.

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born into slavery on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in February 1818. He had a difficult family life. He barely knew his mother, who lived on a different plantation and died when he was a young child. He never discovered the identity of his father. When he turned eight years old, his slave owner hired him out to work as a body servant in Baltimore.

At an early age, Frederick realized there was a connection between literacy and freedom. Not allowed to attend school, he taught himself to read and write in the streets of Baltimore. At twelve, he bought a book called The Columbian Orator. It was a collection of revolutionary speeches, debates, and writings on natural rights.

When Frederick was fifteen, his slave owner sent him back to the Eastern Shore to labor as a field hand. Frederick rebelled intensely. He educated other slaves, physically fought back against a "slave-breaker," and plotted an unsuccessful escape.

Frustrated, his slave owner returned him to Baltimore. This time, Frederick met a young free black woman named Anna Murray, who agreed to help him escape. On September 3, 1838, he disguised himself as a sailor and boarded a northbound train, using money from Anna to pay for his ticket. In less than 24 hours, Frederick arrived in New York City and declared himself free.

After escaping, Frederick Douglass first lived at the Nathan and Polly Johnson house in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The home is now a National Historic Landmark.

The Abolitionist Movement

Frederick and Anna married and moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where they adopted the last name "Douglass." They started their family, which would eventually grow to include five children: Rosetta, Lewis, Frederick, Charles, and Annie.

After finding employment as a laborer, Douglass began to attend abolitionist meetings and speak about his experiences in slavery. He soon gained a reputation as an orator, landing a job as an agent for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. The job took him on speaking tours across the North and Midwest.

Douglass's fame as an orator increased as he traveled. Still, some of his audiences suspected he was not truly a fugitive slave. In 1845, he published his first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, to lay those doubts to rest. The narrative gave a clear record of names and places from his enslavement.

To avoid being captured and re-enslaved, Douglass traveled overseas. For almost two years, he gave speeches and sold copies of his narrative in England, Ireland, and Scotland. When abolitionists offered to purchase his freedom, Douglass accepted and returned home to the United States legally free. He relocated Anna and their children to Rochester, New York.

In Rochester, Douglass took his work in new directions. He embraced the women's rights movement, helped people on the Underground Railroad, and supported anti-slavery political parties. Once an ally of William Lloyd Garrison and his followers, Douglass started to work more closely with Gerrit Smith and John Brown. He bought a printing press and ran his own newspaper, The North Star. In 1855, he published his second autobiography, My Bondage and My Freedom, which expanded on his first autobiography and challenged racial segregation in the North.

A black-and-white photograph of Frederick Douglass standing in front of a homeFrederick Douglass standing in front of his house on Capitol Hill, ca. 1870s. He later purchased and moved to the suburban estate in Anacostia that he named Cedar Hill.

Civil War and Reconstruction

In 1861, the nation erupted into civil war over the issue of slavery. Frederick Douglass worked tirelessly to make sure that emancipation would be one of the war's outcomes. He recruited African-American men to fight in the U.S. Army, including two of his own sons, who served in the famous 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. When black troops protested they were not receiving pay and treatment equal to that of white troops, Douglass met with President Abraham Lincoln to advocate on their behalf.

As the Civil War progressed and emancipation seemed imminent, Douglass intensified the fight for equal citizenship. He argued that freedom would be empty if former slaves were not guaranteed the rights and protections of American citizens. A series of postwar amendments sought to make some of these tremendous changes. The 13th Amendment (ratified in 1865) abolished slavery, the 14th Amendment (ratified in 1868) granted national birthright citizenship, and the 15th Amendment (ratified in 1870) stated nobody could be denied voting rights on the basis of race, skin color, or previous servitude.

In 1872, the Douglasses moved to Washington, D.C. There were multiple reasons for their move: Douglass had been traveling frequently to the area ever since the Civil War, all three of their sons already lived in the federal district, and the old family home in Rochester had burned. A widely known public figure by the time of Reconstruction, Douglass started to hold prestigious offices, including assistant secretary of the Santo Domingo Commission, legislative council member of the D.C. Territorial Government, board member of Howard University, and president of the Freedman's Bank.

Post-Reconstruction and Death

After the fall of Reconstruction, Frederick Douglass managed to retain high-ranking federal appointments. He served under five presidents as U.S. Marshal for D.C. (1877-1881), Recorder of Deeds for D.C. (1881-1886), and Minister Resident and Consul General to Haiti (1889-1891). Significantly, he held these positions at a time when violence and fraud severely restricted African-American political activism.

On top of his federal work, Douglass kept a vigorous speaking tour schedule. His speeches continued to agitate for racial equality and women's rights. In 1881, Douglass published his third autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, which took a long view of his life's work, the nation's progress, and the work left to do. Although the nation had made great strides during Reconstruction, there was still injustice and a basic lack of freedom for many Americans.

Tragedy struck Douglass's life in 1882 when Anna died from a stroke. He remarried in 1884 to Helen Pitts, an activist and the daughter of former abolitionists. The marriage stirred controversy, as Helen was white and twenty years younger than him. Part of their married life was spent abroad. They traveled to Europe and Africa in 1886-1887, and they took up temporary residence in Haiti during Douglass's service there in 1889-1891.

On February 20, 1895, Douglass attended a meeting for the National Council of Women. He returned home to Cedar Hill in the late afternoon and was preparing to give a speech at a local church when he suffered a heart attack and passed away. Douglass was 77. He had remained a central figure in the fight for equality and justice for his entire life.

A Brief Summary of the Restoration Project, 2004-2007

This $2.7 million project began in March 2004 and concluded in January 2007. It included HVAC system replacement; design and installation of an environmental monitoring system; window repair; shutter replacement; completion of paint and wallpaper study; the purchase and installation of new reproduction historic wallpaper; exterior painting, window rehabilitation and roof replacement on the caretaker’s cottage; mold remediation; painting of the interior and exterior of the Douglass home; design and installation of a fire protection system; rehabilitation of the park road and parking lot; replacement of underground drainage pipes; and assessment of the entire Douglass book collection and conservation of a portion of that collection.

Between March 2004 and January 2007, the National Park Service (NPS) stored the artifacts that were on display in the Douglass home at an off-site facility in order to protect them from damage. While the restoration work occurred, it was difficult to maintain stable temperature and humidity levels. Some of the work (scraping paint, tearing down old wallpaper, painting, etc.) also generated considerable dirt and debris. The artifacts were returned to the home in January 2007. Approximately 70% of the items on display were in the house when Douglass lived there.

The NPS Historic Architecture Program in Lowell, Massachusetts, completed a “paint analysis and wallpaper documentation report” in June 2004. The report identified the historic interior and exterior colors of the Douglass home. The NPS has changed the exterior color from white to the dark beige that appeared beginning in 1892-93. This was the last color that Frederick Douglass painted his house before his death in 1895. The period of significance and interpretation for the Douglass home is circa 1895. There are also adjustments to the interior paint colors and wallpaper patterns and colors to match more closely what would have been in the house circa 1895.

The Douglass Library Collection includes books, monographs, pamphlets, serials, record books, bound government documents, rare photograph albums, and two bound volumes of the abolitionist newspaper that Douglass published himself, entitled, The North Star, and later, Frederick Douglass’ Paper. Many volumes are signed by Douglass or bear his personal bookplate. There are over 2,500 items in the collection. Currently there are about 800 volumes on display in the library of the house. None of the volumes on display have undergone conservation treatment. However, these are the items that are in the best condition, needing only minimal cleaning. There are currently 117 items at the Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover, Massachusetts, undergoing conservation work. These items are the most historically significant (most have Douglass’ signature in them) and were the ones in the worst shape, hence the reason they were selected for treatment first. The goal is to have all 2500+ items treated.

Contact the Park› Mailing Address:

1411 W Street SE 

Washington, DC 20020

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/frdo/learn/historyculture/index.htm)

Freedom Riders National Monument

In 1961, a small interracial band of “Freedom Riders” challenged discriminatory laws requiring separation of the races in interstate travel. They were attacked by white segregationists, who firebombed the bus. Images of the attack appeared in hundreds of newspapers, shocking the American public and spurring the Federal Government to issue regulations banning segregation in interstate travel.

Through the media the nation and the world witnessed the violence. Images, like that of a firebombed bus burning outside Anniston, Alabama, shocked the American public and created political pressure, which forced the Federal Government to take steps to ban segregation in interstate bus travel.

Although only thirteen Freedom Riders started the journey they inspired hundreds of others to join their cause. In the end there were over 400 Freedom Riders. They succeeded in pressing the federal government to act. On May 29, 1961, Attorney General Kennedy petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to issue regulations banning segregation, and the ICC subsequently decreed that by November 1, 1961, bus carriers and terminals serving interstate travel had to be integrated.

The Freedom Rides and Freedom Riders made substantial gains in the fight for equal access to public accommodations. Federal orders to remove Jim Crow signs on interstate facilities did not change social mores or political institutions overnight, but the Freedom Riders nonetheless struck a powerful blow to racial segregation.

Freedom Riders National Monument is a new national park unit. The park includes the former Greyhound Bus Station located at 1031 Gurnee Avenue in downtown Anniston where segregationists attacked a bus carrying Freedom Riders in May of 1961, and the spot six miles away on the side of the highway where they firebombed the hobbled bus and attempted to trap the Freedom Riders inside it. There are currently no visitor services at the park.

Greyhound Bus Station (1031 Gurnee Avenue) On Sunday, May 14, 1961, a group of segregationists, including members of the Ku Klux Klan, attacked the bus carrying African American and white Freedom Riders. The mob threw rocks, broke windows, and slashed the tires of the bus. Following police intervention the bus was able to depart for Birmingham, with the mob in pursuit. The former bus station is not currently open to the public. Today, the side of the adjacent building that borders the bus station’s driveway features a mural and educational panels about the events of May 14, 1961.

Bus Burning Site (Old Birmingham Highway/State Route 202) At this site, about six miles outside Anniston, the slashed tires of the Greyhound bus gave out and the driver was forced to pull over. The segregationist mob continued its attack, and someone eventually threw a bundle of flaming rags into the bus that exploded seconds later. Joseph “Little Joe” Postiglione, a freelance photographer, captured the scene. Little Joe’s photographs of the burning bus—which appeared in hundreds of newspapers on Monday morning—became iconic images of the civil rights movement. An Alabama Historical Marker identifies the site of the bus burning. Please note that the houses located nearby are private residences (near the intersection of Old Birmingham Highway and Barkwood Dr., Anniston, AL 36201)

The Greyhound Bus Station is part of the Anniston Civil Rights and Heritage Trail, which includes nine sites associated with the struggle for civil rights in Anniston. A self guided driving tour is available online at: annistoncivilrightstrail.org (Please note that website is only accessible with a mobile device). Sites on the Anniston Civil Rights and Heritage Trail, outside the monument, which are associated with the 1961 Freedom Rides include:

Anniston Memorial Hospital (400 East 10th Street) With great trouble the Freedom Riders made their way to the Anniston hospital, which provided little in the way of treatment, and where they found themselves once again under siege by a white mob. Their torment eventually ended when deacons dispatched by Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth of Birmingham’s Bethel Baptist Church, rescued them and drove them to Birmingham. The hospital is part of the Anniston Civil Rights and Heritage Trail and is marked with a sign.

Trailways Station (1018 Noble St.) At this station, a second group of Freedom Riders stopped before departing for Birmingham. During their brief stop, a group of white men boarded and physically forced the Freedom Riders to segregate. The segregationists harassed the Freedom Riders throughout the two-hour ride to Birmingham. In Birmingham, the Freedom Riders were attacked by a mob of segregationists. The former Trailways Station also features a mural and educational panels

Freedom Riders National Monument is a new national park unit located in Anniston, Alabama. It is a park in progress with limited services. In the coming years, services will be added to the park in cooperation with our partners. The national monument does not currently have a visitor center. You can contact the park at:

Superintendent, Freedom Riders National Monument

National Park Service

100 Alabama St. SW, Atlanta, GA 30303

(404) 507-5605

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/frri/index.htm)

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park

The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center will open to the public on March 11, 2017.

Harriet Tubman was a deeply spiritual woman who lived her ideals and dedicated her life to freedom. She is the Underground Railroad’s best known conductor and before the Civil War repeatedly risked her life to guide nearly 70 enslaved people north to new lives of freedom. This new national historical park preserves the same landscapes that Tubman used to carry herself and others away from slavery.

The Underground Railroad refers to the effort of enslaved African Americans to gain their freedom by escaping bondage.

Wherever slavery existed, there were efforts to escape, at first to maroon communities in remote or rugged terrain on the edge of settled areas. Their acts of self-emancipation made them "fugitives" according to the laws of the times, though in retropsect "freedom seeker" seems a more accurate description. While most freedom seekers began their journey unaided and many completed their self-emancipation without assistance, each decade in which slavery was legal in the United States saw an increase in active efforts to assist escape.

In many cases the decision to assist a freedom seeker may have been a spontaneous reaction as the opportunity presented itself. However, in some places, and particularly after the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, the Underground Railroad was deliberate and organized. Despite the illegality of their actions, and with little regard for their own personal safety, people of all races, classes and genders participated in this widespread form of civil disobedience. Spanish territories to the south in Florida, British areas to the north in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and other foreign countries offered additional destinations for freedom. Free African American communities in urban areas in both the South and the North were the destination of some freedom seekers.

The maritime industry was an important source for spreading information as well as offering employment and transportation. Through ties to the whaling industry, the Pacific West Coast and perhaps Alaska became a destination. Military service provided another avenue as thousands of African Americans joined the military, from the colonial era to the Civil War, as a means to gain their freedom. During the Civil War, many freedom seekers sought protection and liberty by escaping to the lines of the advancing Union army.

The National Park Service is implementing a national Underground Railroad program to coordinate preservation and education efforts nationwide and integrate 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 as well as legislation passed in 1990 and the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act of 1998. Historic places and educational or interpretive programs associated with the Underground Railroad will become part of a network, eligible to use or display a uniform network logo, receive technical assistance and participate in program workshops. 

The Network will also serve to facilitate communication and networking between researchers and interested parties, and aid in the development of statewide organizations for preserving and researching Underground Railroad sites.

National Park Service (NPS) involvement with the Underground Railroad began in response to Public Law 101-628, enacted in November 1990, which directed the agency to study alternatives for commemorating and interpreting the Underground Railroad.

Guided by an Advisory Committee[1] as specified in the legislation, the NPS completed a Special Resource Study in 1995. Several alternatives for commemorating the Underground Railroad were evaluated, including establishment of a commemorative and interpretive center, improvement and expansion of interpretive programs, visitor interaction with a concentration of Underground Railroad resources over a broad geographic area, development of a single commemorative monument, and establishment of a series of trails.The Advisory Committee recommended that "all the alternatives … be pursued with equal vigor and simultaneously as appropriate."[2]

Three findings of the study were especially important in setting the stage for the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act of 1998, which established the framework for an on-going NPS program.

No single site or route completely reflects and characterizes the Underground Railroad.The story and resources involve networks and regions rather than individual sites and trails.

There is a tremendous amount of interest in the subject, but little organized coordination and communication among interested individuals and organizations.

A variety of partnership approaches would be most appropriate for the protection and interpretation of the Underground Railroad. These partnerships could include the federal, state, and local governments, along with a variety of private sector involvement.

These findings continue to inform the development of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program, as authorized by P.L. 105-203.

Influenced by the increasing grass roots efforts by communities and descendants across the country to preserve their UGRR heritage and the recommendations of the Special Resource Study, the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act was drafted.

From its inception, the authors conceived of the Network to Freedom Program as a unique effort to honor and commemorate the people of the UGRR, past and present.  A three-pronged program was outlined:

Educate the public

Provide technical assistance for documenting, preserving and interpreting UGRR history

Create a Network of historic sites; interpretive and educational programs; and research and educational facilities with a verifiable connection to the Underground Railroad.

Harriet Tubman did extraordinary work with abolitionist causes and as the Underground Railroad's most famous conductor. Her heroic efforts in personally leading people out of slavery to freedom in the North defined her as the "Moses of her People."

Contact the Park›

Mailing Address:

4068 Golden Hill Road 

Church Creek, MD 21622  

Phone: 410-221-2290

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/hatu/index.htm)

Maggie Lena Walker National Historical Site

Maggie Lena Walker devoted her life to civil rights advancement, economic empowerment, and educational opportunities for Jim Crow-era African Americans and women. As a bank president, newspaper editor, and fraternal leader, Walker served as an inspiration of pride and progress. Today, Walker’s home is preserved as a tribute to her enduring legacy of vision, courage, and determination.

In spite of humble beginnings in post-Civil War Richmond, Virginia, Maggie Lena Walker achieved national prominence as a businesswoman and community leader. Her business acumen, personality, and lifelong commitment to a beneficial burial society fueled her climb to success. She was the first African American woman in the United States to found a bank. As a leader her successes and vision offered tangible improvements in the way of life for African Americans and women.

Achievements

When she was a teenager, Maggie Mitchell joined the local council of the Independent Order of St. Luke. This fraternal burial society, established in 1867 in Baltimore, administered to the sick and aged, promoted humanitarian causes and encouraged individual self-help and integrity.

She served in numerous capacities of increasing responsibility for the Order, from that of a delegate to the biannual convention to the top leadership position of Right Worthy Grand Secretary in 1899, a position she held until her death. Under her leadership the Order's membership and numbers of councils were significantly increased throughout the country and its finances achieved solvency. Through sound fiscal policies, a genius for public relations and enormous energy, she took a dying organization, gave it life and helped it thrive.

In 1902 Mrs. Walker established a newspaper, The St. Luke Herald, to promote closer communication between the Order and the public. In speeches Mrs. Walker had reasoned, "Let us put our money together; let us use our money; Let us put our money out at usury among ourselves, and reap the benefit ourselves." In 1903 she founded the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank. Mrs. Walker served as the bank's first president, which earned her the recognition of being the first African American woman to charter a bank in the United States. Later she agreed to serve as chairman of the board of directors when the bank merged with two other Richmond banks to become The Consolidated Bank and Trust Company. Until 2009, the bank thrived as the oldest continually African American-operated bank in the United States.

In addition to her work for the Independent Order of St. Luke, Maggie Walker was active in civic groups. As an advocate of African American women's rights, she served on the board of trustees for several women's groups. Among them were the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) and the Virginia Industrial School for Girls. To assist race relations she helped to organize and served locally as vice president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and was a member of the national NAACP board. She also served as a member of the Virginia Interracial Commission.

Family Life

Maggie Lena Mitchell was born in Richmond, Virginia July 15, 1864. Her mother, Elizabeth Draper, was a former slave and assistant cook in the Church Hill mansion of Elizabeth Van Lew, a Civil War spy. Later Elizabeth and her husband William Mitchell moved the family to their own home in an alley between Broad and Marshall Streets where Maggie and her brother Johnnie were raised. After the untimely death of William Mitchell, Maggie's mother supported the family by working as a laundress and young Maggie helped by delivering the clean clothes.

Maggie Mitchell was educated in Richmond's public schools. After graduation she taught grade school for three years. Her teaching career ended in 1886 when she married Armstead Walker Jr. She then directed her energies toward caring for her family and strengthening the Independent Order of St. Luke. Life was full and prosperous for the Walkers and their sons, Russell and Melvin.

Tragedy struck in 1915 when her husband was accidentally killed, leaving Mrs. Walker to manage a large household. Her work and investments kept the family comfortably situated. When her sons married they brought their wives to 110 1/2 East Leigh Street. A major addition to the house in 1922 enabled Mrs. Walker to provide a home for her sons and their families, her mother, and the household staff.

Mrs. Walker's health gradually declined, and by 1928 she was using a wheelchair. Despite her physical limitations she remained actively committed to her life's work including chairman of the bank and leader of the Independent Order of St. Luke until her death on December 15,1934.

The House

The residence at 110 1/2 East Leigh Street was built in 1883. The address was a prime location in the heart of Jackson Ward, the center of Richmond's African American business and social life at the turn of the century. The Walkers purchased the house in 1904 and soon began making changes. Central heating and electricity were added, and with the addition of several bedrooms and enclosed porches, the home increased from 9 to 28 rooms. In 1928 an elevator was added in the rear of the house to provide Mrs. Walker access to the second floor.

The Walker family owned the home until 1979, when it and all the contents were purchased by the National Park Service.

The furnishings throughout the home are original family pieces. They are valuable in understanding the 1904-1934 period of her occupancy. Together the house and the furnishings help us to learn more about Maggie Walker and the world in which she lived. Her community of Jackson Ward, a National Historic Landmark District, continues to exemplify the success of African American entrepreneurship.

Contact the Park›

Mailing Address:

3215 E Broad Street 

Richmond, VA 23223

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/mawa/index.htm)

Manzanar National Historic Site

One Camp, Ten Thousand Lives; One Camp, Ten Thousand Stories

In 1942, the United States government ordered more than 110,000 men, women, and children to leave their homes and detained them in remote, military-style camps. Manzanar War Relocation Center was one of ten camps where Japanese American citizens and resident Japanese aliens were interned during World War II.

Manzanar War Relocation Center was one of ten camps at which Japanese American citizens and resident Japanese aliens were interned during World War II. Located at the foot of the majestic Sierra Nevada in eastern California's Owens Valley, Manzanar has been identified as the best preserved of these camps.

Today you may visit Manzanar and learn about the experience of the Japanese Americans at Manzanar and other eras of the site's history. Inside the Manzanar Visitor Center you will find extensive exhibits, a 22 minute film and a bookstore. Just adjacent to the Visitor Center is Block 14 with two reconstructed barracks and a mess hall with exhibits. You may drive a 3.2 mile auto tour and see remnants of orchards, eleven recently excavated rock gardens and ponds, building foundations, and the camp cemetery.

Manzanar's history offers compelling and relevant lessons for today. In addition to primary documents, historic photographs, and more than 60 oral histories, there are standards-based lesson plans for primary and secondary education.

Contact the Park›

Mailing Address:

Manzanar National Historic Site

P.O. Box 426

5001 Highway 395 

Independence, CA 93526  

Phone: (760) 878-2194 x3310

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/manz/index.htm)

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site

A young boy grows up in a time of segregation…A dreamer is moved by destiny into leadership of the modern civil rights movement…This was Martin Luther King, Jr.  Come hear his story, visit the home of his birth, and where he played as a child.  Walk in his footsteps, and hear his voice in the church where he moved hearts and minds.  Marvel at how he was an instrument for social change.

A staffed Information desk is located just inside the front doors of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site Visitor Center. This is the place to stop for a brief orientation to the historic site, which facilities are open, how to sign up for a Birth Home tour, and the location of the nearest restroom.

Located in the lobby of the Visitor Center is the "Children of Courage" exhibit, which is geared towards our younger visitors. This exhibit tells the story about the children of the Civil Rights Movement with a challenge to our youth today.

The featured exhibit entitled "Courage To Lead" follows the parallel paths of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights Movement. Then join in with the marchers on their journey up "Freedom Road". See what's new in the D.R.E.A.M Gallery home of special exhibits that change from time to time. Video programs are presented in the Visitor Center Theater on a continuing basis.

The Behold Monument commemorates the historic principles that guided the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On January 11, 1990 Mrs. Coretta Scott King unveiled this monument as a tribute to her late husband and as an enduring inspiration to all who fight for dignity, social justice, and human rights. Sculptor, Patrick Morelli, was inspired by the ancient African ritual of lifting a newborn child to the heavens and reciting the words "Behold the only thing greater than yourself."

The International World Peace Rose Gardens program is a worldwide effort to help youth recognize the importance and value of peace. In March 1992, the Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have a Dream" World Peace Rose Garden was planted at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. The garden is an artistic interpretation of Dr. King’s life and ideals of peace through nonviolence. The garden’s starburst design brings attention to the brilliance of Dr. King’s ideals using the Official Flower of the United States, the rose.

The Garden borders the Peace Plaza, in front of the Visitor Center. It has 185 roses in a variety of colors and fragrances. The graves of Dr. and Mrs. King can be seen directly across the street if you stand at the Peace Plaza, facing the rose garden. Each year an annual contest is held and students from local, national, and global schools submit poems of peace. Winning poems are selected and installed in the rose garden for the period of a year. There were a total of 27 "Inspirational Messages of Peace" for 2016.

The Atlanta garden is one of five major World Peace Rose Gardens established around the world by International World Peace Rose Gardens. The other gardens are located at other cultural, historical and sacred centers of the world and focus on different aspects of peace.

In 1895 a two-story frame Queen Anne style house was built for a white family at 501 Auburn Avenue. The home was purchased in 1909 by Rev. Adam Daniel Williams, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, for $3,500. Rev. Williams moved into the house with his wife Jennie Celeste and their 6 year old daughter Alberta Christine, their only child of three to survive infancy.

On November 25, 1926 Christine married a minister by the name of Michael Luther King at her father's church. Instead of Chistine moving in with her new husband he moved in with her and her parents in the family home. Over time the King's would have three children born in the home, Willie Christine, Michael Jr. (later known as Martin Luther King, Jr.), and Alfred Daniel. On March 21, 1931 Rev. Williams dies in the home of a heart attack. After Mrs. Willies dies of a heart attack the King's move to a new home at 193 Boulevard.

The home stayed in the family and became rental property for the family. After Dr. King's assassination on April 4, 1968 plans were begun to restore the house as a historic museum. Today visiting the home where Dr. King was born and lived the first twelve years of his life is often the highlight of ones visit to the park. The popular free ranger-led Birth Home Tours of the interior of the home are limited to 15 people and are filled on a first-come, first-served basis on the day of the tour.

Throughout its long history, Ebenezer Baptist Church, located in Atlanta, Georgia, has been a spiritual home to many citizens of the "Sweet Auburn" community. Its most famous member, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was baptized as a child in the church. After giving a trial sermon to the congregation at Ebenezer at the age of 19 Martin was ordained as a minister. In 1960 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. became a co-pastor of Ebenezer with his father, Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr., know as "Daddy" King. He remained in that position until his death in 1968. As a final farewell to his spiritual home Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s funeral was held in the church.

In 2000 a study of the church building resulted in Ebenezer Baptist Church, Historic Structure Report (PFD, 31.5 MB) being issued by the National Park Service. This reports served as a guideline for the restoration of the church.

In 2001, thanks to a Save America's Treasures Grant and the contributions of many individuals and corporations, the National Park Service began the restoration of historic Ebenezer Baptist Church. The restoration was completed in two phases.

Phase I included design and installation of major systems including, electrical, heating, and air conditioning, and fire suppression. Structural repairs were made to the roof system and the historic exterior. The Ebenezer sign hanging over the entrance was repaired and lit for the first time since 1990. A chair lift was installed to provide accessibility to the sanctuary. The funding for Phase I involved a private and public partnership and cost $1,885,000.

Phase II of the project restored the appearance of the sanctuary and fellowship hall to the 1960-68 period when Dr. King served as co-pastor with his father. Special work items included preservation of stain glass windows; restoration/replication of furnishings; repair of balcony structural system; rehabilitation of restrooms; abatement of asbestos-containing flooring; treatment of termite infestation/damage; installation of a lightning protection system; improvement of site drainage; and restoration of a sidewalk, baptistery, and pipe organ and its antiphonal.

Contact the Park›

Mailing Address:

450 Auburn Avenue, NE 

Atlanta, GA 30331  

Phone: (404) 331-5190 x5046

(Links: https://www.nps.gov/malu/index.htm)

Nicodemus National Historic Site

The small town of Nicodemus, Kansas sits quietly on the northwest Kansas plains. Founded by newly freed slaves in 1877, Nicodemus was a refuge from the Reconstruction-era South, a reflection of a mass black migration from the South to the Midwest after the Civil War. Nicodemus was the first black community west of the Mississippi River and is the only predominantly black community west of the Mississippi that remains a living community today. An all-black outpost on the frontier, this “unsettled” land offered a chance for black farmers and their families to start anew. Today, a few people and buildings remain from the original township, a testament to the resolve of the people of Nicodemus to build a new life on the prairie. Between the end of the Civil War and the 1880s, many courageous black settlers sought better lives, better land, and better opportunities in the heartland.

Black settlement of the vast plains began largely after the Civil War and was the result of a series of events. The United States bought the land of the territory (and later State) of Kansas as part of the Louisiana Purchase (1803). The later Missouri Compromise intended that Kansas would be a territory in which African Americans would be free. The 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act, however, allowed popular referenda to determine whether Kansas and Nebraska would be free or slave States. This sense of uncertainty did not encourage the large-scale settlement of Kansas by any groups. Political tensions of the early- and mid-1800s deeply divided Kansas and led to a series of bloody conflicts over slavery in Kansas before the Civil War. These conflicts pitted pro-slavery activists against abolitionists in the race to form a State constitution that would set Kansas as either a slave State or a free State. When Kansas adopted an anti-slavery constitution in 1861, the Civil War had begun. The conclusion of the Civil War ended the debate over slavery and opened the West to many settlers who saw it as a land of opportunity.

In the early 1870s, the first groups to move west after the Civil War were the “sodbusters,” so named because of the houses they built from sod cut from the earth. These settlers faced a drought that caused many to return back east soon after arriving. By the late 1870s, though, weather conditions improved somewhat. Charismatic ex-slaves, who championed the supposed boundless opportunities waiting in the West, encouraged black settlers to move west.

The first groups to populate the town in 1877 came mostly from the Lexington, Kentucky area. Moving west to Nicodemus was no small feat, as the town was a distance from rail and stagecoach routes. Upon seeing the remote and somewhat barren location of Nicodemus, some of the original 380 settlers who left Kentucky to establish the town turned around and went back east.

For those who stayed, the first goal was building a town from the ground up. Construction began immediately to provide housing for the new arrivals. After living in dugouts, the settlers built sod houses. In time, they replaced these with frame houses as the community grew and became more financially successful. At one point, the town had a baseball team, post office, ice cream parlor, and two newspapers. As its size increased so did the political power of Nicodemus within progressive Kansas. Its citizens' votes helped to elect mixed-race slates to county positions, as well as the first black politicians in other county and State offices. Rumors that the railroad promised to add Nicodemus as a station helped the town experience tremendous growth. When this promised station stop failed to materialize in 1887, the town’s fortunes turned. Many moved away. Subsequent droughts did little to reinforce the idea of Nicodemus as an ideal place to settle, but even so, the town continued to grow until 1910, when approximately 400 people lived there.

Despite being much smaller today than it was one hundred years ago, Nicodemus remains an enduring monument to African American westward migration. Desperately seeking opportunities that simply did not exist in the South, former slaves moved west with hope. For some, the long march ended in newly platted Nicodemus, Kansas. They built houses, businesses, clubs, churches, and schools and were able to participate in political and commercial life in ways previously denied to them. Today, visitors to Nicodemus can take a self guided or a ranger guided tour to see the exteriors of some of the historic buildings that document what black settlers accomplished, including the St. Francis Hotel, the AME Church, the First Baptist Church, the Nicodemus School District No. 1 building, and the Nicodemus Township Hall. The Nicodemus Township Hall is the only building open to the public. The Township Hall serves as the visitor center, which offers exhibits, short videos, and the opportunity to learn about the history of Nicodemus and Blacks in the West. Nicodemus is still a living town. A few people, including some descendants of the original settlers, live in the town and surrounding area, and descendant families deserve the credit for keeping the community alive.

The land on which Nicodemus and other black communities stood in Kansas was not the most advantageous for agriculture, and natural drought cycles frustrated efforts to raise crops. Even so, in the decades following the Civil War, this part of the West offered African Americans a chance at a life usually unobtainable in much of the South. The courage and spirit that motivated African Americans to leave their homes and move to the Midwest after the Civil War to places like Nicodemus also helped propel them toward equality of opportunity in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas roughly a century later.

The five historic buildings represent spirit of Nicodemus - church, self government, education, home, and business. They illustrate the individual and collective strength of character and desire for freedom of these early pioneers, who established Nicodemus - one of the oldest and most famous Black towns on the western plains. The five historic buildings were declared a unit of the National Park System on November 12, 1996. Nicodemus National Historic Site was signed into law by former President William J. Clinton.

The U.S. Congress, recognizing the importance of Nicodemus' contribution to America’s history, enacted legislation establishing Nicodemus NHS as a unit of the NPS in November 1996. The legislation directs the NPS to cooperate with the people of Nicodemus to preserve its five remaining historic structures—First Baptist Church, African Methodist Episcopal Church, St. Francis Hotel, the First District School, and Nicodemus Township Hall, and keep alive the memory of the many roles African-Americans played throughout the American West.

Nicodemus NHS preserves, protects, and interprets the only remaining western town established by African Americans during the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War. The town of Nicodemus is symbolic of the pioneer spirit of African Americans who dared to leave the only region they had been familiar with to seek personal freedom and the opportunity to develop their talents and capabilities. The site was named for a legendary African-American slave  who purchased his freedom.

In May and June 2006, students, under the guidance of Dr. Margaret Wood, Washburn University, conducted archeological testing on the Thomas Johnson/Henry Williams farm site (14GH102), located approximately four km north of Nicodemus, Kansas. The objective of this research was to identify and explore archeological sites related to the settlement period and early occupation of Nicodemus.

Thomas Johnson, one of the earliest settlers to Nicodemus, homesteaded a piece of land just outside of the town of Nicodemus in 1878. He and his extended family farmed the land and adjacent properties for over a decade. Johnson’s grandson, Henry Williams continued to farm Johnson’s original claim until the middle of twentieth century and the property is still in the hands of a close family member. This farm became the focus of archeological investigations during the 2006 field season.

Historic Timeline

1877

April 16 Earliest circular promoting Nicodemus predicts it will become the "Largest Colored Colony in America."

April 18 Seven Kansans form the Nicodemus Town Company, six of whom were Black:

W.H. Smith, president

Ben Carr, vice-president

W.R. Hill, (the one White member) treasurer

S.P. Roundtree, secretary

Jerry Allsap

William Edmunds

Jeff Lenze

April 24 End of Reconstruction -- the last Federal troops withdraws from Louisiana.

June W.R. Hill selects the Nicodemus town site.

June 8 Hill files 160-acre town site plat with the government land office in Kirwin, Kansas, giving the town site company first option to buy the proposed site.

June 18 The first settler, the Reverend Simon P. Roundtree, arrives on the town site.

July 2 Roundtree invites "Colored people of the United States" to come and settle in the "Great Solomon Valley" in a circular.

July 30 The initial body of settlers, (numbering around thirty) takes up residence in the area. This group includes the town officers and Z.T. Fletcher and wife, the first woman in the colony.

August Hill spends most of the month in Kentucky enlisting recruits for the settlement.

Fall Z.T. Fletcher founds Nicodemus' first business, a general store. Later, in 1878, he adds a Post Office.

September Hill and Reverend M.M. Bell enroll nearly three hundred freedmen from the vicinity of Lexington, Kentucky for settlement in Nicodemus.

September 17 The Lexington, Kentucky group arrives in the colony. This date is celebrated as the founding of Nicodemus colony.

Winter The first school in Nicodemus is conducted by Mrs. Z.T. Fletcher in her dugout home with 45 students attending.

1878

Spring A second large body of settlers (about 150) from Georgetown, Kentucky arrives in the colony. This group includes Reverend Silas M. Lee, founder of Nicodemus First Baptist Church, along with Reverend and Mrs. Daniel Hickman, who establish Mt. Olivet Baptist Church near Hill City, Kansas.

March Agents from Nicodemus appeal for subsistence aid in eastern Kansas (Manhattan).

May Another group of approximately twenty-five emigrants led by Reverend Roundtree leaves Kentucky for Nicodemus. About 125 Blacks build homes in Nicodemus and the surrounding area.

Fall Reverend Roundtree makes a successful plea for help for the struggling Nicodemus colonists at the Michigan State Fair. Citizens of Michigan donate several train car loads of commodities to Nicodemus settlers.

E.P. McCabe, a New Yorker who had settled in Nicodemus in April 1878, and A.T. Hall, a journalist from Chicago, establish themselves as attorneys and land agents in the town.

1879

William Green and S.G. Wilson, White businessmen, establish general stores in Nicodemus.

C.H. Newth, an English immigrant, sets up a general store, with a pharmacy included. Later, in 1880, he adds a meat shop.

February A Reverend Goodwin of Norton County, Kansas, conducts fifty Mississippi freedmen, the last large group of settlers, to the colony. This group may have been among the "Exodusters" from Louisiana and Mississippi who were migrating to Kansas in great numbers during this time.

An average of seven acres per homestead was put into cultivation.

April The Nicodemus Town Company was abolished.

June School District #1 is established in Nicodemus.

Summer Citizens of Nicodemus petition (with 25 signatures) for township status with Rooks County commissioners.

November 10 Kansas Governor John P. St. John appoints A.T. Hall to conduct the county census.

December 2 Township elections are held in Nicodemus. Nicodemus designated temporary township seat.

Three Blacks are elected:

Granville Lewis, Justice of the Peace

Winn, Township Clerk

Lewis Welton, Road Overseer

1880

The Black population of the County numbers between 500 and 700 (there were two conflicting census reports). The official census of February 1880 counts 700, or 20% of the entire population of the county, being Black. The Federal census of June 1880 reports 484 Blacks, or about 11% of the total county population, with 260 Blacks residing in Nicodemus Township and 224 in Hill City and Wildhorse Townships.

April 1 Governor St. John issues proclamation of organization of Graham County and E.P. McCabe is appointed temporary County Clerk.

June 1 Election of County officers is held. John DePrad of Nicodemus is elected County Clerk.

1881

Statistics for Nicodemus Township include: 275 Blacks, 83 Whites, 31 horses, and 10 mules (averaging one team for every four or five farms). There is an average of 12 acres per homestead in cultivation. Livestock numbers 43 head of cattle, 75 hogs. Crops include 997 acres of corn, 98 acres of millet, 50 acres of sorghum, and 50 acres of rice corn.

Nicodemus contains about 35 structures -- residential and commercial -- including three hotels, two livery stables, a blacksmith shop, a lumber yard, two churches, and two dry goods stores.

August 1 Emancipation Day (an annual celebration which continues to the present) is first observed in Nicodemus.

November E.P. McCabe is elected County Clerk. Later, in 1882, he is elected state auditor of Kansas, possibly the first Black to hold a high elective office in a northern state.

1886

May 13 White businessman, A.G. Tallman, established Nicodemus' first newspaper, The Western Cyclone.

1887

The School District #1 Schoolhouse is erected. Two teachers are employed for a nine-month school term.

A.L. McPherson, White banker, opens the Bank of Nicodemus.

Spring Nicodemus boasts four general stores, a grocery, two druggists, three land companies, a lawyer, two hotels, two livery stables, a blacksmith shop, a harness and boot repair store and an ice cream parlor. It has a baseball team, a literary society and a benefit society, a band and a music teacher.

March Voters of Nicodemus Township approve the issuance of $16,000 in bonds to attract the Missouri Pacific Railroad to the community.

May 2 Union Pacific surveyors run a line through the town while plotting another route elsewhere. Nicodemus is eventually bypassed by the Union Pacific.

May 19 The editor of the Cyclone reports "Real estate in this city is changing hands to a considerable extent and is appreciating in value every day. [There is] a strong, firm and steady tendency which shows the healthy growth of the city."

August 17 White journalist, H.K. Lightfoot, founds a second newspaper, The Nicodemus Enterprise.

Contact the Park›

Mailing Address:

304 Washington Ave. 

Nicodemus, KS 67625-3015 

Phone: (785) 839-4233

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/nico/learn/historyculture/index.htm)

Reconstruction Era National Monument

The Reconstruction era (1861 to 1898), the historic period in which the United States grappled with the question of how to integrate millions of newly freed African Americans into social, political, and labor systems, was a time of significant transformation within the United States. Reconstruction began when the first United States soldiers arrived in slaveholding territories and enslaved people escaped from plantations and farms; some of them fled into free states, and others found safety with U.S. forces. During the period, Congress passed three constitutional amendments that permanently abolished slavery, defined birthright citizenship and guaranteed due process and equal protection under the law, and granted all males the ability to vote by prohibiting voter discrimination based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude (Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments). Congress also passed a series of Reconstruction Acts that divided the former Confederacy into five military districts and laid out requirements for re-admittance to the Union (except Tennessee). The experience of Reconstruction, and the rebuilding of the Union following the Civil War, played out across America and resulted in changes that fundamentally altered the meaning of citizenship and the relationship between Federal and state governments. Central to this drama was the former Confederacy where social, economic, and political changes dramatically transformed the region and where major activities of and resistance to Reconstruction took place. African Americans - across America - faced steep obstacles as they attempted to claim their newly won rights. Ultimately, the unmet promises of Reconstruction led to the modern civil rights movement 100 years later.

The people, places, and events in Beaufort County, South Carolina, reflect on the most important issues of this tumultuous time period.

Despite the importance of Reconstruction, many Americans know very little about it. And what they do know is often outdated or inaccurate. Historians once portrayed the period as a failure and defined it narrowly as the years between 1865 and 1876. Now they see its broad triumphs and also its long reach. During this period Americans debated profound questions: What did freedom mean? What kind of country would this be? What kind of political system should govern it? What were the rights of citizenship, and who could be a citizen? They struggled earnestly – if not always successfully – to build a nation of free and equal citizens. Small wonder that Reconstruction is often called the country’s Second Founding. To this day the outcomes of the vast political and social changes of the Reconstruction era remain visible across the landscape. One place that embodies the themes of Reconstruction with special merit is Beaufort County, South Carolina. The significant historical events that transpired here make it an ideal place to tell critical national, regional and local stories of experimentation, potential transformation, accomplishment, and disappointment. In the Beaufort region, including the City of Beaufort, the town of Port Royal, and Saint Helena Island, many existing historic sites demonstrate the transformative effect of emancipation and Reconstruction.

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/reer/learn/historyculture/historyculture.htm)

Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail

Until 1965, counties in Alabama used preventive measures in order to prevent African-Americans from registering to vote. Because of this, only 2% percent of the African-American population of Dallas County at that time was able to vote and 0% in Lowndes County. However, civil rights activists began to protest in Selma in order to bring attention to this injustice. These protests were often met by violence from the local sheriff's department, leaving many wondering what was going to happen next.

On the evening of February 18, 1965 during a protest to free SCLC supporter Rev. James Orange from the Perry County Jail, located in Marion, AL, Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot in the abdomen. Jackson died from his wounds on February 26. On March 7, approximately 600 non-violent protestors, the vast majority being African-American, departed from Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma with the intent on marching 54-miles to Montgomery, as a memorial to Jimmy Lee Jackson and to protest for voter's rights. As they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, they were met by a column of State Troopers and local volunteer officers of the local sheriff's department who blocked their path.

The non-violent protesters were told by Maj. John Cloud that they had two minutes to return back to their church and homes. In less than the time allotted, they were attacked by the Law Enforcement Officers with nightsticks and teargas. According to several reports, at least 50 protestors required hospital treatment. The brutality that was displayed on this day was captured by the media; however, the media was held back as the protesters retreated, where the violence continued for some time.

The attack caused outrage around the country, and March 7 became known as "Bloody Sunday". Two days later, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a second march which again had its path blocked by Law Enforcement Officers. This time they decided to turn back and not risk a violent confrontation. However, that evening, three Unitarian ministers who had traveled to Selma in order to join the protest were attacked by a group of white hooligans. On March 11, Rev. James Reeb died from his injuries.

The civil rights protestors sought and received an injunction for a third march, which was granted by Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr. on March 17. On March 21 the official Selma to March began with the final number of supports reaching near 25,000 people on March 25. Five months later, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act which prohibits discrimination in voting practices or procedures because of race and color.

Contact the park

Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail

Lowndes Interpretive Center (LIC)

7002 US Highway 80

 P.O. Box 595

 Hayneville, Alabama 36040

Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail

Selma Interpretive Center (SIC)

2 Broad Street

 Selma, AL 36701

Call:

334/877-1983 LIC

334/872-0509 SIC

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/semo/learn/historyculture/index.htm)

Stonewall National Monument

Before the 1960s almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) person was illegal. New York City laws against homosexual activities were particularly harsh. The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for LGBT civil rights and provided momentum for a movement.

The Stonewall Inn, a bar located in Greenwich Village, New York City, was the scene of events that began the modern struggle for the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans. In a pattern of harassment of LGBT establishments, the New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn in the early hours of Saturday, June 28, 1969. The reaction of the bar’s patrons and neighborhood residents that assembled in the street was not typical of these kinds of raids. Instead of dispersing, the crowd became increasingly angry and began chanting and throwing objects as the police arrested the bar's employees and patrons. Reinforcements were called in by the police, and for several hours they tried to clear the streets while the crowd fought back. The initial raid and the riot that ensued led to six days of demonstrations and conflicts with law enforcement outside the bar, in nearby Christopher Park, and along neighboring streets. At its peak, the crowds included several thousand people.

The events of Stonewall, as the uprising is most commonly referred to, marked a major change in the struggle for "homophile rights" in the U.S., with lesbian women, gay men, bisexual and transgender people beginning to vocally and assertively demand their civil rights. Stonewall is regarded by many as the single most important event that led to the development of the modern LGBT civil rights movement. The riots inspired LGBT people throughout the country to organize and within two years of Stonewall, LGBT rights groups had been started in nearly every major city in the U.S. Stonewall was, as historian Lillian Faderman wrote, "the shot heard round the world...crucial because it sounded the rally for the movement.”

Today, the site of the uprisings in Greenwich Village is recognized as a National Historic Landmark (NHL) by the National Park Service and is considered significant under Criterion 1 because of its association with events that outstandingly represent the struggle for civil rights in America. The NHL includes the bar, Christopher Park, and the streets where the events of June 28-July 3, 1969, occurred. The Stonewall Inn is located at 51-53 Christopher Street, New York City, New York and is open to the public.

Stonewall National Monument is a new national park unit located in Christopher Park, part of New York City's Historic Greenwich Village. It is a park in progress with limited services, and in the coming years services will be added to the park in cooperation with our partners. The monument sits across the street from The Stonewall Inn, a National Historic Landmark known for its involvement in the beginning of the modern struggle for civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) Americans. The Stonewall Inn exists as a private establishment and working bar.

"The world changes in direct proportion to the number of people willing to be honest about their lives." - Armistead Maupin

As America’s storytellers, the National Park Service (NPS) is committed to telling the history of all Americans in all of its diversity and complexity. For many years, the rich histories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Americans have been erased through punishing laws and general prejudice—appearing sporadically in police proceedings, medical reports, military hearings, and immigration records.

Yet, for many LGBTQ groups, preserving and interpreting their past has been an important part of building communities and mutual support. Because of their efforts, we can find LGBTQ histories across the United States—from private residences, hotels, bars, and government agencies to hospitals, parks, and community centers. From the mujerado of the Acoma and Laguna tribes to the drag queens of the Stonewall riots, discover their stories in our nation’s parks, homes, and historic sites.

Contact the Park›

Mailing Address:

26 Wall Street

Federal Hall National Monument c/o Stonewall National Monument 

New York, NY 10005  

Phone: 212-668-2577

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/ston/index.htm)

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site

The name Tuskegee Airmen has become synonymous with Victory. Victory in war abroad. Victory against racism in America. They fought two wars and came off victorious in both. The Tuskegee Airmen challenged America's claim, that "All men are created equal," while she openly practiced gross racial prejudice. She treated her own sons as enemies, and enemies as sons.

The Tuskegee Airmen sprang from an experiment conducted by the US Army Air Corps (Army Air Forces) to see if Negroes (primarily African-Americans) had the mental and physical capabilities to lead, fly military aircraft, and the courage to fight in war.

The Airmen were not limited to pilots, they included technicians, radio operators, supply personnel, medical personnel, parachute riggers, mechanics, bombardiers, navigators, meteorologists, control tower operators/dispatchers, cooks, and much, much, more. Included also were the Caucasian military personnel who oversaw base operations, as well as native-Americans, Caribbean islanders, Latinos, and people of mixed racial heritage.

The women of the Tuskegee Experience worked side-by-side with their male counterparts as mechanics, gate guards, control tower operators, did aircraft body work, secretaries, and clerks. There were three permanent female parachute riggers whose responsibility was to train the hundreds of cadets that filed through the program on the appropriate way to pack and maintain parachutes. Gertrude Anderson served as Assistant to G.L. Washington at Kennedy Field, where Tuskegee's Civilian Pilot Training Program was held. She assumed responsibility for continued operation of the airfield when Washington was transferred to Tuskegee Army Air Field.

The Tuskegee Airmen shared an experience unique to its time. The experiences of these pioneers opened doors that led to corridors of opportunities for others to enter, eventually leading to the Presidency of the United States.

The Tuskegee Airmen and the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site are significant for several reasons:

(1) The struggle of African Americans for greater roles in North American military conflicts spans four centuries. Opportunities for African American participation in the U.S. military were always very limited and controversial. Quotas, exclusion, and racial discrimination were based on the prevailing attitude in the United States, particularly on the part of the U.S. military, that African Americans did not possess the intellectual capacity, aptitude, and skills to be successful fighters. Political pressure exerted by the black press, civil rights groups, historically black colleges and universities, and others, resulted in the formation of the Tuskegee Airmen, making them an excellent example of the struggle by African Americans to serve in the United States military.

(2) In the early 1940s, key leaders within the United States Army Air Corps (Army Air Forces) did not believe that African Americans had the intellectual capacity to become successful military pilots. After succumbing to the pressure exerted by civil rights groups and black leaders, the army decided to train a small number of African American pilot cadets under special conditions. Although prejudice and discrimination against African Americans occurred throughout the nation, it was more intense in the South where it had hardened into rigidly enforced patterns of segregation. Such was the environment that the military chose to locate the training of the Tuskegee Airmen.

(3) The military selected Tuskegee Institute (Tuskegee University) as a civilian contractor for a variety of reasons. These included the school's existing facilities, engineering and technical instructors, and a climate with ideal flying conditions year round; and the racial climate of central Alabama. Tuskegee Institute's strong interest in providing aeronautical training for African American youth was also an important factor, Tuskegee's students and faculty had designed and constructed Moton Field as a site for its military pilot training program and named it for the school's second president Robert Russa Moton.

(4) In 1941, the Army Air Corps (Army Air Forces) awarded a contract to Tuskegee Institute to operate a primary flight school at Moton Field. Consequently, Tuskegee Institute was one of a very few American institutions - and the only African American institution - to own, develop, and control facilities for military flight instruction.

(5) Moton Field was the only primary flight training facility for African American pilot candidates in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. Thus, the facility symbolizes the entrance of African American pilots into the Army Air Corps and the singular role of Tuskegee Institute in providing economic and educational resources to make that entry possible, although on a segregated basis.

(6) The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American soldiers to successfully complete their training and enter the Army Air Corps. Almost 1000 aviators were produced as America's first African American military pilots. In addition, more than 10,000 military and civilian African American men and women served in a variety of support roles.

(7) Although military leaders were hesitant to use the Tuskegee Airmen in combat, the airmen eventually saw considerable action in North Africa and Europe. Acceptance from Army Air Forces units came slowly, but their courageous and, in many cases, heroic performance earned them increased combat opportunities and respect.

(8) The success of the Tuskegee Airmen proved to the American public that African Americans, when given the opportunity, could become effective military leaders and pilots. Modeled on the professionalism of Chief Alfred Anderson, Benjamin O. Davis, and Daniel "Chappie" James, their performance helped pave the way for desegregation of the military, beginning with President Harry S Truman's Executive Order 9981 in 1948. It also helped set the stage for civil rights advocates to continue the struggle to end racial discrimination during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Consequently, the story of the Tuskegee Airmen constitutes a powerful and seminal metaphor for the struggle of black freedom in America.

(9) The Tuskegee Airmen reflect the struggle of African Americans to achieve equal rights, not only through legal attacks on the system of segregation, but also through the techniques of nonviolent direct action aimed at segregation in the military. The members of the 477th Bombardment Group, who staged a nonviolent demonstration to desegregate the officers' club at Freeman Field, Indiana, helped set the pattern for direct action protests popularized by civil rights activists in later decades.

What is the Freeman Field Mutiny? How can you have a mutiny on dry land?

In 1945 the Army Air Corps (Air Forces) formed the all-Negro (African American/Black) 477th Bombardment Group were assigned first to Selfridge Field, outside of Detroit, Michigan. There a Negro officer applied to membership at the base Officer's Club. The response from Gen. Frank O Hunter, Commander of the 1st Air Force was that as long as he was commander of the 1st Air Force, no bases under his command would have racial mixing.

Congress reacted by appropriating $75,000 to build an all-black officer's club. However, the 477th were transferred to Godman Field, near Ft. Knox, Kentucky before this became a reality. Later, the 477th were again transferred to Freeman Field, in Seymour, Indiana, not far from Ft. Knox.

At Freeman Field, segregation was practiced and enforced staunchly at this base under the command of Col. Robert Selway. In order to maintain a certain base protocol, the 400 Negro officers were listed as "trainees", whereas, their 250 White counterparts were listed as "instructors". This base protocol became the focus of one the first of its kind non-violent protest in America to challenge the racist practices of the Army Air Corps.

The base protocol assigned "trainees" to Officer's Club #1, an old dilapidated building badly in need of repairs. Whereas, white "instructors" were assigned to the new, comfortable, and fully functioning Officer's Club #2.

Observing the separate, but unequal facilities, the African American pilots decided to take action. Organized by former labor leader, Lt. Coleman Young, on the evening of April 5, 1945 a group of black officers requested entry into Club #2. They were denied. About one-half hour later another group requested entry into Club #2. When they were denied entry, Lt. Marsden Thompson brushed past the officer on duty and the others followed without incident. Later, other black officers followed.

The next evening, saw the arrest of over 60 black officers for entering or attempting to enter Club #2. This prompted a base order, called Regulation 85-2, to be issued from Gen. Hunter and Col. Selway officially assigning officers to club by race and specifying strict segregation of housing , dining halls, and officer's clubs. It also stated that any violation would result in confinement.

Selway called all the black officers assigned at Freeman Field together and ordered them to sign a statement that they had read and agreed with Regulation 85-2. This was done despite US Army Regulation 210-10 which strictly forbade segregation of public facilities on military installations, thereby requiring officer's clubs to be open to all, regardless of race.

One hundred and one black officers refused to sign the statement. This refusal to obey a direct order from a superior officer in time of war, could have ultimately been punishable by death. Word of the arrests spread and the arrested officers were transferred back to Godman Field and placed under arrest with armed guard and guard dogs. By contrast, the German prisoners of war being held their had complete freedom of movement on the premises. In fact, they mocked the black officers for the treatment they were receiving at the hands of their own country.

As the news spread via the black press, labor unions, and Congress, pressure was put on the War Department to drop the charges against the officers. Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall issued orders to release the officers on April 23, 1941. One hundred and one officers were released with General Hunter placing a letter of reprimand in each of their files.

Three of the officers were held over for trial. Two were fined and released. One, Lt. Roger Terry,was court martialed, fined, suffered loss of rand, and dishonorably discharged from the Army for "jostling". As a result of this incident, Col. Selway was relieved of his command, and was replaced with Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. Two of the 477th bomb squadrons was inactivated, and the 99th fighter squadron was added to the 477th becoming the 477th Composite Group. In 1946 it was reassigned to Lockbourne Air Force Base in Ohio, and deactivated in 1947.

In 1995 under President William H. Clinton, the reprimands were removed from the permanent files of 15 of the officers, and the the Army agreed to remove the others upon request. Terry' received a full pardon, restoration of rank, and fine repaid.

Contact the Park›

Mailing Address:

            1616 Chappie James Ave. 

             Tuskegee, AL 36083  

Phone: (334) 724-0922

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/tuai/learn/historyculture/index.htm)

Women’s Rights National Historic Park

Women’s Rights National Historical Park tells the story of the first Women’s Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, NY on July 19-20, 1848.  It is a story of struggles for civil rights, human rights, and equality, global struggles that continue today.  The efforts of women’s rights leaders, abolitionists, and other 19th century reformers remind us that all people must be accepted as equals.

The park commemorates women's struggle for equal rights, and the First Women's Rights Convention, held at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, NY on July 19 and 20, 1848.

An estimated three hundred women and men attended the Convention, including Lucretia Mott and Frederick Douglass.

At the conclusion, 68 women and 32 men signed the Declaration of Sentiments drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the M'Clintock family.

Declaration of Sentiments

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that which they have hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course.

We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves, by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled.

The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise.

He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice.

He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men - both natives and foreigners.

Having deprived her of this first right of a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides.

He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead.

He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns.

He has made her, morally, an irresponsible being, as she can commit many crimes, with impunity, provided they be done in the presence of her husband. In the covenant of marriage, she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband, he becoming, to all intents and purposes, her master - the law giving him power to deprive her of her liberty, and to administer chastisement.

He has so framed the laws of divorce, as to what shall be the proper causes of divorce; in case of separation, to whom the guardianship of the children shall be given, as to be wholly regardless of the happiness of women - the law, in all cases, going upon the false supposition of the supremacy of man, and giving all power into his hands.

After depriving her of all rights as a married woman, if single and the owner of property, he has taxed her to support a government which recognizes her only when her property can be made profitable to it.

He has monopolized nearly all the profitable employments, and from those she is permitted to follow, she receives but a scanty remuneration.

He closes against her all the avenues to wealth and distinction, which he considers most honorable to himself. As a teacher of theology, medicine, or law, she is not known.

He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education - all colleges being closed against her.

He allows her in Church as well as State, but a subordinate position, claiming Apostolic authority for her exclusion from the ministry, and with some exceptions, from any public participation in the affairs of the Church.

He has created a false public sentiment, by giving to the world a different code of morals for men and women, by which moral delinquencies which exclude women from society, are not only tolerated but deemed of little account in man.

He has usurped the prerogative of Jehovah himself, claiming it as his right to assign for her a sphere of action, when that belongs to her conscience and her God.

He has endeavored, in every way that he could to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life.

Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement of one-half the people of this country, their social and religious degradation, - in view of the unjust laws above mentioned, and because women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of their most sacred rights, we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of these United States.

In entering upon the great work before us, we anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule; but we shall use every instrumentality within our power to effect our object. We shall employ agents, circulate tracts, petition the State and national Legislatures, and endeavor to enlist the pulpit and the press in our behalf. We hope this Convention will be followed by a series of Conventions, embracing every part of the country.

Firmly relying upon the final triumph of the Right and the True, we do this day affix our signatures to this declaration.

 Lucretia Mott

 Harriet Cady Eaton

 Margaret Pryor

 Elizabeth Cady Stanton

 Eunice Newton Foote

 Mary Ann M'Clintock

 Margaret Schooley

 Martha C. Wright

 Jane C. Hunt

 Amy Post

 Catharine F. Stebbins

 Mary Ann Frink

 Lydia Mount

 Delia Mathews

 Catharine C. Paine

 Elizabeth W. M'Clintock

 Malvina Seymour

 Phebe Mosher

 Catharine Shaw

 Deborah Scott

 Sarah Hallowell

 Mary M'Clintock

 Mary Gilbert

 Sophrone Taylor

 Cynthia Davis

 Hannah Plant

 Lucy Jones

 Sarah Whitney

 Mary H. Hallowell

 Elizabeth Conklin

 Sally Pitcher

 Mary Conklin

 Susan Quinn

 Mary S. Mirror

 Phebe King

 Julia Ann Drake

 Charlotte Woodward

 Martha Underhill

 Dorothy Mathews

 Eunice Barker

 Sarah R. Woods

 Lydia Gild

 Sarah Hoffman

 Elizabeth Leslie

 Martha Ridley

 Rachel D. Bonnel

 Betsey Tewksbury

 Rhoda Palmer

 Margaret Jenkins

 Cynthia Fuller

 Mary Martin

 P. A. Culvert

 Susan R. Doty

 Rebecca Race

 Sarah A. Mosher

 Mary E. Vail

 Lucy Spalding

 Lavinia Latham

 Sarah Smith

 Eliza Martin

 Maria E. Wilbur

 Elizabeth D. Smith

 Caroline Barker

 Ann Porter

 Experience Gibbs

 Antoinette E. Segur

 Hannah J. Latham

 Sarah Sisson

The following are the names of the gentlemen present in favor of the movement:

 Richard P. Hunt

 Samuel D. Tillman

 Justin Williams

 Elisha Foote

 Frederick Douglass

 Henry Seymour

 Henry W. Seymour

 David Spalding

 William G. Barker

 Elias J. Doty

 John Jones

 William S. Dell

 James Mott

 William Burroughs

 Robert Smallbridge

 Jacob Mathews

 Charles L. Hoskins

 Thomas M'Clintock

 Saron Phillips

 Jacob P. Chamberlain

 Jonathan Metcalf

 Nathan J. Milliken

 S.E. Woodworth

 Edward F. Underhill

 George W. Pryor

 Joel D. Bunker

 Isaac Van Tassel

 Thomas Dell

 E. W. Capron

 Stephen Shear

 Henry Hatley

 Azaliah Schooley

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) stirred strong emotions in audiences from the 1840s to her death in 1902. Was she catalyst, crusader or crank? Dedicated wife and mother? Privileged white woman, hiding her family's slave-holding past and stealing credit for other's work in the women's rights movement? Feminist firebrand, alienating coworkers with unnecessary controversy and uneasy alliances? Political strategist? popular speaker, philosopher and writer, who returned to the argument of individual rights in her last published speech? Lifelong friend?

For different people and at different times, Stanton was all of these. The fruits of her long life are still under scrutiny and up for debate. One thing is sure: she attracted attention and used it to push her ideas about women, rights and families for more than fifty years.

Stanton got her start in Seneca Falls, New York, where she surprised herself with her own eloquence at a gathering at the Richard P. Hunt home in nearby Waterloo. Invited to put her money where her mouth was, she organized the 1848 First Woman's Rights Convention with Marth Coffin Wright, Mary Ann M'Clintock, Lucretia Mott and Jane Hunt. She co-authored the Declaration of Sentiments issued by the convention that introduced the demand for votes for women into the debate. Her good mind and ready wit, both well-trained by her prominent and wealthy family, opened doors of reform that her father, Daniel Cady would rather she left shut. She studied at Troy Female Seminary and learned the importance of the law in regulating women through her father's law books and interactions with him and his young male law students.

At nearly six feet tall, Stanton's mother, Margaret Livingston Cady, "an imposing, dominant and vivacious figure who controlled the Cady household with a firm hand," modeled female presence. As Elizabeth entered her twenties, her reform-minded cousin Gerrit Smith introduced her to her future husband, Henry Brewster Stanton, a guest in his home. Stanton, an agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society and an eloquent speaker for the immediate abolition of slavery, turned Elizabeth's life upside down. In 1840, they married against her parents' wishes departing immediately on a honeymoon to the World's Anti-Slavery convention in London. There, the convention refused to seat American female delegates. One, though short, slight, and gentle in demeanor, was every bit as imposing as Stanton's mother. Lucretia Mott, a Hicksite Quaker preacher well-known for her activism in anti-slavery, woman's rights, religious and other reforms, "opened to [Stanton] a new world of thought."

At the First Woman's Rights Convention, Mott and her wide circle of fellow Quakers and anti-slavery advocates, including M'Clintocks, Hunts, Posts, deGarmos, and Palmers, opened a new world of action to Stanton as well. Between 1848 and 1862, they worked the Declaration of Sentiments' call to "employ agents, circulate tracts, petition the State and national Legislatures, and endeavor to enlist the pulpit and the press in our behalf." They worked on conventions in Rochester, Westchester, PA, and Syracuse and organized, sent letters to, or attended national conventions between 1850 and 1862. Stanton met Susan B. Anthony, wrote articles on divorce, property rights, and temperence and adopted the Bloomer costume. By 1852, she and Anthony were refining techniques for her to write speeches and Anthony to deliver them. In 1854, she described legal restrictions facing women in a speech to the New York State Woman's Rights Convention in Albany. Her speech was reported in papers, printed, presented to lawmakers in the New York State legislature, and circulated as a tract. Though an 1854 campaign failed, a comprehensive reform of laws regarding women passed in 1860. By 1862, most of the reforms were repealed. The Stantons moved from Seneca Falls to New York City in 1862, following a federal appointment for Henry Stanton.

In the early 1860s national attention focused on the Civil War. Many anti-slavery men served in the Union Army. The women's rights movement rested its annual conventions; but in 1863, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony created the Women's Loyal National League, gathering 400,000 signatures on a petition to bring about immediate passage of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to end slavery in the United States. The war over, the women's movement created its first national organization, the American Equal Rights Association, to gain universal suffrage, the federal guarantee of the vote for all citizens. Elizabeth Cady Stanton's signature headed the petition, followed by Anthony, Lucy Stone, and other leaders. But the political climate undermined their hopes. The 15th Amendment eliminated restriction of the vote due to "race, color, or previous condition of servitude" but not gender. Campaigns to include universal suffrage in Kansas and New York state constitutions failed in 1867. Anthony's newspaper, The Revolution, edited by Stanton and Parker Pillsbury, male newspaperman and woman's rights supporter, published between January 1868 and May 1870, http://www.placematters.net/node/1440 with articles on all aspects of women's lives.

Between 1869 and 1890, Stanton and Anthony's National American Woman Suffrage Association worked at the national level to pursue the right of citizens to be protected by the U.S. constitution. Despite their efforts, Congress was unresponsive. In 1878, an amendment was introduced and Stanton testified. She was outraged by the rudeness of the Senators, who read newspapers or smoked while women spoke on behalf of the right to vote. Between 1878 and 1919, a new suffrage bill was introduced in the Senate every year. Meanwhile, the American Woman Suffrage Association turned its attention to the states with little success until 1890, when the territory of Wyoming entered the United States as a suffrage state. By then, Anthony had engineered the union of the two organizations into the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Colorado, Utah and Idaho gained woman suffrage between 1894 and 1896. There is stayed until well after Stanton and Anthony's deaths.

Nothing seemed to stop Stanton. In the 1870s she traveled across the United States giving speeches. In "Our Girls" her most frequent speech, she urged girls to get an education that would develop them as persons and provide an income if needed; both her daughters completed college. In 1876 she helped organize a protest at the nation's 100th birthday celebration in Philadelphia. In the 1880s, she, Susan B. Anthony and Matilda Joslyn Gage produced three volumes of the History of Woman Suffrage. She also traveled in Europe visiting daughter Harriot Stanton Blatch in England and son Theodore Stanton in France. In 1888, leaders of the U.S. women's movement staged an International Council of Women to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention. Stanton sat front and center. In 1890, she agreed to serve as president of the combined National American Woman Suffrage Society. In 1895, she published The Woman's Bible, earning the censure of members of the NAWSA. Her autobiography, Eighty Years and More, appeared in 1898. Her final speech before Congress, The Solitude of Self, delivered in 1902, echoed themes in "Our Girls," claiming that as no other person could face death for another, none could decide for them how to educate themselves.

Along the way, Stanton advocated for Laura Fair, accused of murdering a man with whom she was having an affair. She allied the movement and her resources to Victoria Woodhull, who claimed the right to love as she pleased without regard to marriage laws. She supported Elizabeth Tilton, a supposed victim of the sexual advances of clergyman Henry Ward Beecher. She broke with Frederick Douglass over the vote in the 1860s and congratulated him on his marriage to Helen Pitts of Honeoye, NY in 1884, when others, including family, criticized their interracial marriage. Stanton was a complicated personality who lived a long life, saw many changes and created some of them. Her writings were prolific. She often contradicted herself as she and the world around her progressed and regressed for the better part of a century.

Amelia Bloomer edited the first newspaper for women, The Lily. It was issued from 1849 until 1853. The newspaper began as a temperance journal. Bloomer felt that as women lecturers were considered unseemly, writing was the best way for women to work for reform. Originally, The Lily was to be for “home distribution” among members of the Seneca Falls Ladies Temperance Society, which had formed in 1848. Like most local endeavors, the paper encountered several obstacles early on, and the Society’s enthusiasm died out. Bloomer felt a commitment to publish and assumed full responsibility for editing and publishing the paper. Originally, the title page had the legend “Published by a committee of ladies.” But after 1850 – only Bloomer’s name appeared on the masthead.

Although women’s exclusion from membership in temperance societies and other reform activities was the main force that moved the Ladies Temperance Society to publish The Lily, it was not at first a radical paper. Its editorial stance conformed to the emerging stereotype of women as “defenders of the home.” In the first issue, Bloomer wrote:

It is woman that speaks through The Lily…Intemperance is the great foe to her peace and happiness. It is that above all that has made her Home desolate and beggared her offspring…. Surely, she has the right to wield her pen for its Suppression. Surely, she may without throwing aside the modest refinements which so much become her sex, use her influence to lead her fellow mortals from the destroyer’s path.

The Lily always maintained its focus on temperance. Fillers often told horror stories about the effects of alcohol. For example, the May 1849 issue noted, “A man when drunk fell into a kettle of boiling brine at Liverpool, Onondaga Co. and was scaled to death.” But gradually, the newspaper began to include articles about other subjects of interest to women. Many were from the pen of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, writing under the pseudonym “sunflower.” The earliest Stanton’s articles dealt with the temperance, child-bearing, and education, but she soon turned to the issue of women’s rights. She wrote about laws unfair to women and demanded change.

Bloomer was greatly influenced by Stanton and gradually became a convert to the cause of women’s rights. Recalling the case of an elderly friend who was turned out of her home when her husband died without a will she wrote:

Later, other similar cases coming to my knowledge made me familiar with cruelty of the laws towards women; and when the women rights convention put forth its Declaration of Sentiments. I was ready to join with that party in demanding for women such change in laws as would give her a right to her earnings, and her children a right to wider fields of employment and a better education, and also a right to protect her interest at the ballot box.

Bloomer became interested in dress reform, advocating that women wear the outfit that came to be known as the “Bloomer costume.” Stanton and others copied a knee-length dress with pants worn by Elizabeth Smith Miller of Geneva, New York. Although Bloomer refused to take credit for inventing the pants-and-tunic outfit, her name became associated with it because she wrote articles about the unusual dress, printed illustrations in The Lily, and wore the costume herself. In reference to her advocacy of the costume, she once wrote, “I stood amazed at the furor I had unwittingly caused.” But people certainly were interested in the new fashion. She remembered: “As soon as it became known that I was wearing the new dress, letters came pouring in upon me by the hundreds from women all over the country making inquiries about the dress and asking for patterns – showing how ready and anxious women were to throw off the burden of long, heavy skirts.”

In May of 1851 Amelia Bloomer introduced Susan B. Anthony to Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Stanton said, "I liked her immediately and why I did not invite her home to dinner with me I do not know."

The circulation of The Lily rose from 500 per month to 4000 per month because of the dress reform controversy. At the end of 1853, the Bloomers moved to Mount Vernon, Ohio, where Amelia Bloomer continued to edit The Lily, which by then had a national circulation of over 6000. Bloomer sold The Lily in 1854 to Mary Birdsall, because she and her husband Dexter were moving again this time to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where no facilities for publishing the paper were available. She remained a contributing editor for the two years The Lily survived after she sold it.

Contact the Park›

Mailing Address:

            136 Fall Street 

            Seneca Falls, NY 13148  

Phone: (315) 568-0024

(Link: https://www.nps.gov/wori/index.htm)

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