Arrowhead Fall 2000 • Vol. 7 • No. 4 The Newsletter of the Employees & Alumni Association of the National Park Service Published By Eastern National FROM THE DIRECTOR New Exhibit of Nation's Founding The Discovery 2000 Conference Documents at Independence NHP s I write this n June 15, Independence Nation­ Acolumn from Oal Historical Park opened "Great Discovery 2000,1 Essentials," a major new exhibit fund­ have the opportu­ ed with a $930,000 grant by the Pew nity to reflect on the successes of Charitable Trusts, and managed by the National Park Eastern National. The exhibit, located Service and the in the West Wing of Independence challenges we will face in the future. Hall, includes the Philip Syng inkstand The Discovery Conference has truly and the park's copies of the Declara­ been a visionary event, a gathering of people with strong ideas about tion of Independence, the United the current and future role of the States Constitution and the Articles of National Park Service. We came Confederation. together to examine our present Much of the Pew grant has funded challenges and peer into the future state-of-the-art protective cases for the to imagine a vision for how this great organization will evolve. inkstand and the documents, providing the latest in preservation and security As I shared memories with friends technology. Also included are explanato­ during the conference, I was remind­ ed of the strength of the National ry panels and a publication on the items. Park Service family. One of the The Philip Syng inkstand is believed greatest assets of this organization by historians to have been used for the George Feder is our commitment not only to the ceremonial signing of both the Decla­ parks themselves, but also to one INDEPENDENCE NHP SUPERINTENDENT MARTHA AIKENS shows President ration of Independence and the U.S. another as friends. I am honored to Clinton the "Great Essentials" exhibit. Clinton visited historic Congress Hall in the park Constitution. Of the documents, the be a part of this family, and truly, you are a part of me. to electronically "sign" the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act. working copy of the Articles of Con- continued on page 9 I encourage every National Park Service employee to be a part of the ongoing Discovery dialogue, to examine your values and critically think about our parks' and programs' Booker X Washington NM Family Reunion roles in the life of the nation. We all share in the stewardship and owner­ ship of our collective future. Do not n June 24, over 400 people wel­ believe, however, that these are just Ocomed 100 family members, many questions for the new century. We of them direct descendants of Booker T. need to think of what the 22nd and Washington, "home" to Dr. Washing­ 23rd centuries will bring to the parks. ton's birthplace where he was enslaved as We will have dishonored our legacy if we are not prepared to pass on the a child and emancipated in 1865. Direc­ parks to succeeding generations. So tor Robert Stanton gave the keynote visit the Discovery 2000 Web site, at address. Also on hand to pay tribute were www.nps.gov/discovery2000, read Marie Rust, NPS northeast regional the keynote speeches, the sum­ director; Wayne Angell, chairman, maries of breakout sessions and other materials. Franklin County Board of Supervisors and Allen Dudley, Virginia House of Del­ President Thomas Jefferson egates, 9th District. wrote, 'The strength and character A sculpture of Washington donated by of our nation are determined by how we care for the resources." We in the artist James Barnhill was unveiled by national parks have a great advan­ Edith Washington Johnson, one of tage in that we tell the stories of Washington's granddaughters. Visitors places and resources that have attended numerous interpretive pro­ already been recognized as deserv­ grams, most notably a costumed per­ ing the attention we give them. But it DR. LARRY WASHINGTON OF RICHMOND, VA, GREAT-GRANDSON OF BOOKER is up to us to demonstrate that they formance by Valley Forge NHP Park T. WASHINGTON, presents Director Stanton with a collection of Booker T. Washington have continuing relevance in a Interpreter Ajena Rogers entitled quotations and writings. changing world and that they are "Rachel Hatcher: Looking to Freedom." available for the education, enjoy­ The family also attended a reenactment vigil at the cabin site. One cannot separate his years of enslave­ ment, and inspiration of all the citi­ called "Tears of Freedom," about the Dr. Washington's visual legacy can be ment with his intense thirst for knowl­ zens of our great nation. moment of Washington's emancipation, witnessed at Tuskegee Institute NHS and edge. Nor can one understand his desire which he wrote about so movingly in his Tuskegee University, but it was his expe­ to free people from the chains of igno­ autobiography, Up From Slavery. Later riences at this birthsite that laid the foun­ rance without understanding the joy and the Washington family held a candlelight dation for the man he would become. apprehension of his own emancipation. Demolishing the Gettysburg National Tower: The Inaugural Event for the Restoration of the Gettysburg Battlefield On July 3, the National Park Service, in coordination restore the famous battlefield to its appearance at the CDI and the Loizeaux family of Baltimore, Maryland with Controlled Demolition Inc. (CDI) and the Friends time of the momentous 1863 clash between the donated their services to demolish the tower with explo­ of the National Parks at Gettysburg took a giant step Union and Confederate armies. Over the next 15-20 sives. The donation, valued by NPS at $1 million, was toward restoration of the viewsheds and the historic years, a battlefield restoration is proposed, including made through the non-profit preservation group, landscapes of the 1863 Gettysburg battlefield by demol­ removal of non-historic trees, management of wood­ Friends of the National Parks at Gettysburg. CDFs ishing the 307-foot Gettysburg National Tower. lands and thickets and restoration of missing fences donation is the single largest corporate contribution The demolition is the start of a major effort to and orchards. toward preservation in the park's 105-year history. 2 Arrowhead • Fall 2000 Focus on the Parks • Two beach-access wheelchairs were bonytails in the lower Yampa River and Colorado, who recently completed a recent years to help protect river banks by recently donated to Cape Hatteras NS another 5,000 bonytails near the Gates book titled West Side Stories. The book managing water flow, while also creating by the Easter Seals Society. The chairs of Lodore in Dinosaur NM and the focuses on how the history of the west and sustaining fish habitat. All work will are constructed from a PVC-type mate­ lower reaches of Browns Park National side of Albuquerque has been shaped by be completed by the U.S. Army Corps of rial and have large balloon-type tires Wildlife Refuge. Additional releases storytelling and myth. A section of the Engineers under a cooperative agreement that allow disabled visitors an opportu­ are planned over the next two years. book is also devoted to the politically with the NPS and in consultation with nity to visit areas where traditional Hopes are that they will reoccupy his­ charged history of the monument. the Hoh Tribe. wheelchairs cannot reach. One chair is toric habitats in the canyons of the Since the designation of Petroglyph located at the Coquina Beach facility park once they acclimate to the river NM, Congress has provided funding to • In July, Shenandoah NP presented a (across from the Bodie Island Light­ and begin to mature. acquire more than 1,500 acres of pri­ seminar on the life cycles of butterflies house). The other chair is at the Buxton vate land within the boundaries of the and their value to the ecosystem. Partic­ Maintenance Office. They are available • The "Sunrise to Paradise" exhibit monument. As part of the $15.5 billion ipants learned how to identify butter­ for visitor use on a first-come-first-serve opened in July at the Jackson Visitor fiscal 2001 Interior Appropriations bill, flies and to design a garden that will basis. Visitors will need some proof of Center at Paradise, Mount Rainier the Senate Appropriations Committee attract them. Butterflies were counted identification to check out a beach- NP. The exhibit, originally developed recently approved $2.7 million to com­ within a 15-mile circle between Luray access wheelchair. If the chairs become by the Washington State History Muse­ plete land acquisition at the monument. and Stanley, Virginia. The Shenandoah more popular, time restrictions may be um in Tacoma, premiered at the muse­ NP butterfly count is one of several applied until additional chairs can be um in celebration of the park's • Charles Pinckney NHS hosted a national counts conducted in associa­ acquired. centennial in 1999. Washington's volunteer work day in June as part of a tion with the North American Butterfly National Park Fund helped raise money project to examine the science of Association. The count helps monitor • Bonytails, the rarest of endangered for the original exhibit and other major growing rice in the South Carolina low trends in butterfly population, habitat fish in the Colorado River system, centennial projects; KCTS TV in Seattle country during the Charles Pinckney and diversity of species. were reintroduced into the Green and developed the audiovisual programs era (1757-1824). Last year, the park Yampa Rivers within Dinosaur NM in that complement the exhibit. The was awarded a $25,000 grant from • Denali NHP & PRES marked a sig­ July.