Historically black sites helped to tell the story of africanamerican migration. They argue for additional efforts and resources to preserve such places for current and future generations. This discussion was part of the association for the study of africanamerican life in history annual meeting. Hello, and welcome. Hello and welcome to the association for the study of africanamerican life and histories 104th annual conference. How the National Park service tells the story of black migrations. My name is madeleine, and im the Senior Executive assistant at the National Parks Conservation Association. Is this better . Sorr sorry about that. On behalf of theresa and the president and ceo, thank you for taking the time to join us and welcome. For those of you not familiar with the National Parks Conservation Association, weve been a powerful, independent voice working to strengthen and protect americas National Parks for 100 years. Through our nationwide network of offices and with our more than 1. 3 million members and supporters, npca speaks up for our parks, history and cultural on capitol hill. And the successful advocacy work could not be done without partners like asalh. Theyve partnered together for decades to make sure our park service tells the story of all americans, with the designation of Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument to eliminating important stories of american stories and the first africanamerican union at pullman National Monument, npca and asalhs effort will have a Lasting Impact on our National Park system for generations to come. Because of this partnership, we awarded the executive director our Leadership Award this past spring. It recognizes Public Officials who have made an outstanding contribution towards ensuring that the National Parks are ready and well prepared for their second century of service to the american people. Sylvias leadership and dedication to the birmingham National Monument campaign and asalhs role in guiding the Park Services rehabilitation of the woodson home are examples of their commitment to protecting and preserving the africanamerican experience within the National Park system. As many of you may know, the National Park service is one of the largest stewards of africanAmerican History and culture in the United States. Around 40 of the 419 National Park system units are africanamerican experience sites from places like fort monroe in virginia, to the Frederick Douglass house in washington, d. C. , to the medgar evers National Monument in jackson, mississippi, one of our newest National Park units, to reconstruction era right here in South Carolina. These places tell the stories of africanamerican experience in the United States and its for this very reason ncpa has sponsored previous sessions focused on the National Park system. While the National Park service is charged with managing these units, they do not do so in isolation. Like the Advocacy Partnership with asalh, the National ParkService Partners with organizations, institutions, individuals, and communities in their protection, preservation and interpretation of africanamerican sites. Tonight well hear valuable stories about black migration, how the park service is bringing this complex history to light at Historic Sites and through the underground railroad. Well hear how preservationists are working to preserve Historic Sites and culture and how advocates and scholars are pushing for the creation of new National Park designations and to tell the full story of africanAmerican History in this country. Youll also have the pleasure of hearing a discussion moderated by alan spears, senior director of Cultural Resources. Alan has dedicated over two decades to ncpa and has been known as the resident historian and to many like me, a friend, a mentor and a fabulous colleague. With that, i want to turn it over to alan. Thank you. [ applause ] i keep seeing people in the audience like rock star, rock stair, rock star, to go with the pan he wielists up here. It is wonderful to see everybody. Thank you for being here. For those who have a background with the association for the study 6 africanamericof africa and history, you know this conference always begins with a plenary session. So just would also like to point out mr. David thalis here with us. Welcome. And thereat the back running around always taking care of everything, sylvia, executive director of the association for the study of africanamerican [ applause ] and here in the second row, dr. Higgenbothan. Very nice to see you all. And my job is to just get out of the way, so ill do that real quick. And thanks madeline for coming up here and if you have a cellphone, make sure that it is off or on vibrate. We are happy to have colleagues from cspan here. We would like to record the panel. And not your ring tone. Everybody up here is a friend and so that making this special. And i appreciate having this group of people here. And i think the talent that we have as is acceassembled is ref by the fact that we have a sellout crowd. So thank you all. And john w. Franklin, recently retired from a distinguished career at the smithsonian where he was senior manager in the office of external affairs, he is a very good man and friend of mine. And we have historian with the National Park service where she served for the net wok to freedom program. And agina rogers, from ll lmagg walker historical site. And also i was told where he could refer to him as ranger e. And he is some superintendent in kansas. And has about seven collateral duties and does exceptional work. So proud to have him with us today. And Stephanie Deutsche is a historian that you need a schoolhouse. Stephanie will be with us thursday at the authors exhibit area. And she will have some books there for you to purchase. And if you dont have a changce to speak with her today, please make sure that you visit her thursday. And last my good friend brent laggs, this is an important guy, executive director of the africanamerican Cultural Heritage fund for the National Trust for historic presentation. Brent led the campaign to designate birmingham civil rights. And now thanks to all our work and all the Great Community partners, we have that important civil rights story protected for the inspiration of the american people. And what well do, well hear individual presentations from the panelists, well go one by one. And then towards the end, ill come back up for maybe guided questions and conversation. And if i dont get too selfish with the time, well have opportunities to hear from folks in the audience. And well do our best to end promptly at 6 30 because we do have afterparty events and people have other prailaces to. So john w. Franklin, please. Thank you. Good afternoon. It is wonderful to be here. As i was preparing yesterday, i wanted to thank my parents for giving me the exposure to the United States and the world that gave me the perspective for the work that i have done and the work that im continuing to do. My late father as you may know attended the association as we called it in our home for 70 years. From 1937 to 2007, he met carter g. Woodson at that first meeting in petersburg. And so i thought that it was just normal to acknowledge him and my mother who had that childrens library. She was a librarian and next it my bed there were books from as early as i can remember. And there were atlases and maps and books that they brought back to me from india, from europe, we traveled the nation as my father was a visiting professor. And in doing so, i saw the nation and the complexity of the people who live here. I wanted to start with the big picture of migration, notcentur. So we must also remember that our knowledge is based on those who preceded us. My father taught at howard from 47 it 56 when he arrived in 47, and one of his students was Joseph Harris. Tit 56 when he a 47, and one of his students was Joseph Harris. Oit 56 when he a 47, and one of his students was Joseph Harris. T 56 when he arr 47, and one of his students was Joseph Harris. 56 when he arri 47, and one of his students was Joseph Harris. Joseph harris created this map in 1990. And i want you to look at the right hand side of the man which those how you the africans are taken by the east africa trade into the persian gulf, into the red sea, into the indian ocean over the last 1500 years. Right now there is a project in made require issues, it is populate the by people brought from india as indentured ser vaptss. And 30 were brought as enslaved people from east africa. We have dont think of the india ocean, we dont think of south asia when we think of the african dias practicer are a, b must. We think we know the left hand side of the map. French end up with the north coast and of course louisiana. We are celebrating last yeerz 300 yirs of african presence in louisiana. Focus this year is on virginia. But you what is now the United States also includes puerto rico, which was spanish, florida, which doesnt become part of United States until the 1830s. So we ignore 300 years of african presence in florida because it is not u. S. History. They walked across to ships waiting to take them down the west coast of colombia, ecuador, peru and chile. We forget canada. And so Joseph Harris goes to these places, he goes to iraq, goes to the middle east, he goes to southern india. And looking for these traces of people from africa. And by 2010, they have the databases of all of the slave ships. And i like to remind people that the insurance records of these ships help tell the story because efrp eveevery one of these ships is eninjured sured and lloyds of london and other companies we dont need to mention by name. But that is why we have such rich records. A out of West Central Africa are close to 6 million africans being taken. The big green swatches from the die as pore are a are 2 million people. And remember people are brought from deep into the interior to the coastal the ports from where they will be exported to the americas. I saw people coming from europe, from brazil, from across the continent. To understand our history. And then were taken in these floating prisons to every point of the americas. We are in charleston, what an important place. The place where more africans are brought then any other part of the United States. The figure here is 211,000. I live in the chesapeake region. Of course new england was a harbor and as well as the gulf coa coast. And then there is an inset showing all the caribbean island islands. The dutch, danish, french, the spanish bringing africans there. South carolina is very important in this story. Because if you are not the first son in barbados, you dont have a future. So you move to south care daolc. Weve seen the path africans have made across the sahara, into libya, into egypt, 800,000 out of somalia into saudi. Into the persian gulf, the red sea and all of the places in the indian ocean. Fewer than 5 of the 12. 5 million come to the United States. So when we think of migrations in the hemisphere, we must remember that every person coming from central america, south america, and crib bran, come from slave based societies with laws that limit the opportunities that have african deskrent descent. They come here with sx poe sure to laws and tuts aattitudes and practices that they bring with them into the United States. Exp laws and attitudes and practices that they bring with them into the United States. Finally i want to share with you a man that i got in france. This shows the emancipation dates in the help physiclmisphh. Emancipation day is august 1, but that is from 1833. If you have the misfortune of being from one of the french colonies, you know that the french revolution freed us in 1794, but napoleons first wife is a sugar planter in martinique, so napoleon reinstates slavery for her and the second emancipation is not until 1848. The netherlands and United States share 1863 as the date of emancipation. B puerto rico doesnt become free until 1973 and of course brazil is last at 1888. And so i want to big with the big picture so we remember that everyone coming to the hemisphere come with their own legacy of slavery and freedom. Thank you. [ applause ] thank you, john, for that, for setting up the big picture. And i cant see. There we are. Hello. Well, alan said that i was going to tell you the story about growing up in the National Park service. I didnt quite grow up tall enough. So we will go for it at any rate. So john set us up with the big picture of black migration. And for me, it is my turn to bring it down to a smaller size. How black migration and the National Parks affected me. When i was a teenager growing up in roanoke, virginia, i would have said this statement. Black high grace amigration and parks have nothing to do with me. How many of you secretly would have thought that yourselves . Good, im seeing some nods and a hand raise. Yes. That is because as some of our surveys even most recently show, when she surveyed people who go to National Park, you come out it comes out saying that people of color dont go to National Parks. That they dont go outside. That they dont travel obviously, again, it differs on that. But they dont travel except to go visit with family. That when they go to National Parks, they dont feel welcome, they dont see their stories there. And so when i was young, i fit right into that same demographic, that criteria there. But for the next few minutes, i will tell you a little bit about how i helped how i found a personal connection to our collective stories such as black migration through my experiences with the National Parks. When i was agreeigrowing up, i smart. And for me i was kind of an oddball. I had white friends and i had black friends, but i never felt like i fit in well with any of them. Yet at home, it was different. At home i would be with my grandmother who would sit on the porch and tell me stories about growing up in South Carolina. Or i would travel to visit my own grandmother in newport news and she would tell us how james fields her grandfather was in the first class of Hampton Institute and was a leader and shaker and mover. And then at home in roanoke with my family, we would go and we wouldnt go to the National Parks, though my dad would dream about gathering us and taking in a big rv out to grand canyon and yosemite and yellowstone. Those were the National Parks, but we never got there. Instead we would go to Roanoke Mountains and watch the hang gliders hangxlid oglide off the Mountain Side or do small visits like that. But it wasnt until one day one of my High School Teachers gave me a call and she said to me, how would you like to be a park ranger on the Blue Ridge Parkway . And i was just coming out of my first semester at jmu in college, i hadnt traveled anywhere and i thought great, what is a park ranger and where is the park . Little did i know that Roanoke Mountain where my family had been going on their trips and visits was a part of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I had been going there all my young life. But never knew that it was a National Park. I never saw a park ranger there when we were walking on the t m trails outside. Until i became a park ranger. I never saw an arrowhead on Roanoke Mountain until i wore one on my shoulder myself. So unbeknownst to me, i already hard a personal connectihad a p i just needed to be shown. So after that, i was really excited. My sin blings and i would visit all the places that we could. And at one point we scooped up my grandmother and we tooker will to booker t. Washington National Monument which was a natio