What will be National Park Site #426?
This past winter I wrote a blog post about the top 5 areas most likely to be named the next national park site. On July 25, the Biden administration established the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, which made it the 425th park of the National Park Service. This monument, which is located over multiple sites in Mississippi and Illinois, preserves and interprets locations that were involved in the death of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley’s attempts to bring about justice for her son after he was tortured and lynched for a “crime” he did not commit. My February blog post only ranked this site as the 4th most likely area to be named the 425th park. I was surprised by how effectively organizations such as the National Parks Conservation Association lobbied the Biden Administration, and that was key to getting this park established over parks like Blackwell School National Historic Site and Amache National Historic Site (which were already established by Congress but need property transferred to the government before they can become official park sites). So now I will make an attempt at ranking the top 5 areas most likely to become park site number 426:
Amache National Historic Site
Amache ranked number 2 on my February list. The site would preserve the Granada Relocation Center in Colorado and would interpret the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II over fears that they would assist the Japanese war effort. It along with Blackwell School are just a couple of procedural events away from becoming official units (legally acquiring the property necessary to be converted to units of the National Park Service could still take a couple of years though). However, what gives it the edge over Blackwell is the continued efforts by Colorado politicians such as Joe Neguse to keep this area in the news. The active support by local politicians could help in getting past those last few procedural hurdles.
2. Blackwell School National Historic Site
Blackwell School ranked number 1 on my February list. Blackwell School would preserve and interpret a historic school that segregated hispanic students from the white population in Texas. Press releases at the time from the Department of Interior made it seem like Blackwell School would have a quicker path to transferring the necessary land to the federal government than Amache. However, the support that the site had received from local politicians has gone quiet and the area hasn’t received any national news coverage over the past few months. That leads me to believe it’s behind in the race to become park site number 426.
3. Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial
The Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial, which would be a memorial in Washington DC honoring those who served in the Gulf War, has been authorized by Congress since 2014. However, construction on the memorial finally began last year, and the organization funding its construction believes it is on pace to be established as an official unit of the National Park Service sometime during 2024. Delays with these types of things are to be expected (it took 8 years to go from authorization to groundbreaking) so I wouldn’t expect this unit until late 2024 at the earliest.
4. Julius Rosenwald & Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park
A unit preserving and interpreting the Rosenwald schools (a series of schools for African-Americans in rural areas that was established by the Jewish philanthropist, Julius Rosenwald, during the early 20th century) is far off from being established by Congress. Congress passed a law requiring the National Park Service to conduct a feasibility study to see if this idea for a park meets the requirements for an actual future park, but that could take years to be completed and would require Congress to vote again to actually establish the park. However, if we are to take any lessons from the establishment of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, the main lesson is that the National Park Conservation Association clearly has the ear of the Biden administration. The NPCA listed the Till Monument as one of its top priorities, and another one of its current priorities is the establishment of the Rosenwald park. It would not surprise me if the Biden administration bypasses Congress by using the Antiquities Act to establish this as a National Monument instead of a National Historical Park.
5. Global War on Terrorism Memorial
The Global War on Terrorism Memorial is another future DC memorial that has already been approved by Congress. The area ranked at number 3 on my February list. The memorial was approved in 2017, but it and a lot of other future memorials in DC that are up for approval by Congress are facing a hurdle wherein a previous law passed by Congress prohibits future construction on the National Mall. The organization handling construction of this memorial wants it to be located on the Mall. This topic has come up a lot in recent congressional committees (the main committees that oversee the National Park Service are the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Natural Resources) so it looks like a congressional resolution to this dispute is imminent as both Republican and Democratic members are in favor of allowing further construction on the Mall. It will still be years before this Memorial is completed, though.
