Congressional Hearing Today: Parks Group Supports Legislation to Establish Two New National Park Sites to Commemorate the Life of Harriet Tubman
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PRESS RELEASE
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | |
| Date: | July 15, 2009 |
| Contact: | Alan Spears, Legislative Representative National Parks Conservation Association Phone: 202.454.3384 |
Congressional Hearing Today: Parks Group Supports Legislation to Establish Two New National Park Sites to Commemorate the Life of Harriet Tubman
Washington, D.C.—The nation’s leading voice for the national parks, the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) today voiced support for legislation under consideration in Congress (S. 227) to establish the new Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn, New York, and the new Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park on the Eastern shore of Maryland—the first sites in the National Park System to specifically honor Tubman.
“Harriet Tubman is one of the most widely recognized icons in American history, but myth and misinformation have obscured the true significance of her contributions to this country,” said NPCA Legislative Representative Alan Spears. “Establishment of these sites would provide the public with a clearer understanding of two critical but poorly understood periods in Tubman’s life, and place the responsibility for preserving and interpreting that history in the capable hands of the National Park Service.”
The proposed Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in New York would include Tubman’s home; the home she established for elderly Blacks; the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; the Fort Hill Cemetery where she is buried; a memorial garden, and walking paths.
The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park in Maryland would include nearly 5,700 acres of historically important landscapes in Dorchester, Caroline, and Talbot counties, including the Poplar Neck Plantation from which Tubman escaped in 1849, a memorial garden, and walking paths. The park site would also be connected with the existing Blackwater Wildlife Refuge.
For more information about this legislation, click here.
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