Embedded Files
Dates: Tuesday, December 16th OR Thursday, Dec 18th
Location: Online - see your e-mail for details
Website: https://www.nps.gov/home/index.htm
Parks and Monuments and Forests, Oh My
Parks and Monuments and Forests, Oh My
This week we are talking to the Homestead National Historic Park in Nebraska! Like our National Parks, Historic Parks are protected spaces and important to our national identity. We will get to learn more about homestead stories and why we protect them and the spaces. Down below, you will be able to explore some stories from homesteaders.
So, what exactly makes an area a National Park, or a National Monument, or even a National Forest? Aren’t they all the same thing? Turns out, no! We have a myriad of ways we protect and designate lands and places. Read on to learn what’s what in the National Landscape.
National Park
A National Park doesn’t just happen overnight! There is a lengthy process to determine if an area should become a park. But to even begin, an area must meet the standards below.
According to the National Park Service, national parks are “Areas added to the National Park System for their natural values are expanses or features of land or water of great scenic and scientific quality and are usually designated as national parks, monuments, preserves, seashores, lakeshores, or riverways. Such areas contain one or more distinctive attributes like forest, grassland, tundra, desert, estuary, or river systems; they may contain windows on the past for a view of geological history; they may contain imposing landforms like mountains, mesas, thermal areas, and caverns; and they may be habitats of abundant or rare wildlife and plantlife.”
Generally, a national park contains a variety of resources and encompasses large land or water areas to help provide adequate protection of the resources.
To read more about the process for becoming a National Park, click here: http://npshistory.com/brochures/criteria-parklands-2005.pdf
National Historic Park
While National Parks usually contain a natural feature like lakes or forests, others are designated to commemorate something important to our national story. Over half the areas of the National Park System preserve places and commemorate persons, events, and activities important in the nation’s history. These range from archeological sites associated with prehistoric Indian civilizations to sites related to the lives of modern Americans. Historical areas are customarily preserved or restored to reflect their appearance during the period of their greatest historical significance. To view of list of National Historic Parks (and see where you want me to try to go next), click here:
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/heritagetravel/national-parks.htm
National Monument
Unlike National Parks, which are created by an act of Congress, national monuments are established or expanded through executive action, designated by a president of the United States. The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorized the president to proclaim national monuments on federal lands that contain “historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest.” So, national monuments are nationally significant lands and waters set aside for permanent protection. While some monuments are natural landscapes, some are buildings or culturally important places. However, some places that begin as national monuments can actually become National Parks later! President Roosevelt designated the Grand Canyon as a national monument in 1908 and Congress designated the site as a national park in 1919.
To read more about the differences between parks and monuments, click here:
National Forests
The mission of the USDA Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The greatest difference between parks and forests is that parks are for the purposes of preservation, while national forests may be managed and used for resources, in responsible ways.
To read more about national forests, click here: https://www.nationalforests.org/blog/what-are-the-differences-between-national-parks-and-national-forests
To read more about the different designations of important areas in our country, read more here: https://www.nps.gov/articles/nps-designations.htm
homesteading
homesteading
The Homestead Act of 1862 had a profound impact on the way our country took shape and how people spread across the land ‘from sea to shining sea’. Of course, this movement impacted some people much more positively than others, as many indigenous people were driven from their ancestral homelands to make way for the expanding colonizers who sought to own and farm the lands.
Nearly 4 million people became homesteaders, staking their claim on the lands courtesy of the U.S. government and attempting to carve out a new life. The National Historic Park has sought to collect the stories of these homesteaders and preserve them for generations to come. You can click below to see the incredibly diverse groups of people who chose to homestead and read their individual stories. What group do you want to learn about most? What stories catch your attention? Take note and we will discuss in class!
https://www.nps.gov/home/learn/historyculture/the-mosaic-of-homesteader-backgrounds.htm
from our hosts
from our hosts
Our ranger, Amber, has thoughtfully provided us with some pre-reading and resources! Feel free to peruse through!
Pre-Reading
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (1900), available free through Project Gutenberg. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum | Project Gutenberg
Pre-Viewing – Films
The Wizard of Oz (1939). You can find where it is here: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-wizard-of-oz
The Wiz (1978). You can find where it’s available here: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-wiz
Wicked (film adaptation) or Wicked the stage musical. You can find it here: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/wicked-2021-0
Pre-Viewing – Television
Emerald City (NBC). You can find it here: https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/emerald-city
After our class, there are some
Post-Reading
“Women, Church, and State” by Matilda Joslyn Gage. The Project Gutenberg eBook of Woman, Church and State, by Matilda Joslyn Gage.
“The Republic for Which It Stands” by Richard White.
“The Real Wizard of Oz: The Life and Times of L. Frank Baum” by Rebecca Loncraine.
Planted in the Soil by Jonathan Fairchild.
Tune in this week to hear about Homesteading, women’s suffrage, and the Wizard of Oz!
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works cited
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