The 10 U.S. National Parks Devoted To Women's History

- Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, Richmond, Calif. Honors the estimated 18 mill women who joined defense & support industries during World War II. Park employees also carry the mission of female empowerment forward into the 21st c. through an innovative summer program for middle-school girls.
______

- The 8 National Parks Devoted to Women’s History, 2016, *Updated 2021, Natl. Parks Conservation Assn., NPCA.

-- Women comprise more than half of the population and make history virtually everywhere. Yet, only eight U.S. national park sites specifically commemorate some aspect of women’s history. ~ Editor’s note: Since NPCA published this story, 2 new park sites devoted to women’s history, the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in NY & the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument in Wash., D.C., have become part of the National Park System. Information on more sites is included in the original story below. --

National park sites devoted to women’s history may be few in number, but the lives these places honor are groundbreaking and inspirational.

1. Clara Barton National Historic Site, Maryland. Clara Barton is best known as the founder of the American Red Cross, but this pioneering humanitarian also distinguished herself as a dedicated Civil War nurse, an educator, and a government clerk. After the Civil War, she ran the Office of Missing Soldiers, helping to reunite wounded soldiers with loved ones and properly identify and bury the remains of thousands of men who died in battle.

2. Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site, Washington, D.C. Mary McLeod Bethune rose from a childhood of poverty and hard work to become the only child in her family to receive an education. She went on to start a school for African American girls, serve as an advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and found her own influential civil rights organization, the National Council of Negro Women.



- Educational & civil rights pioneer Mary McLeod Bethune, c. 1905, with students at the school she founded in Daytona, Fla.

3. First Ladies National Historic Site, Ohio. Though numerous national park sites honor presidents, none explored the lives of their influential wives until Mary Regula, wife of a former Ohio congressman, helped establish a bibliography on these leaders. Her efforts led to a national library and eventually a historic site, which archives a wealth of information on the women who served in this rare and distinctive role in American politics and society.

4. Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, New York. America’s longest-serving first lady distinguished herself during her husband’s presidency as a newspaper columnist and an outspoken proponent of human rights. In the years following her husband’s death, Eleanor Roosevelt served as American ambassador to the United Nations and chair of its Human Rights Commission, helping to write the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...

- Read More,
https://www.npca.org/articles/1142-the-8-national-parks-devoted-to-women-s-history



- Eleanor Roosevelt holding a Spanish translation of the Declaration of Human Rights she helped to write, 1949. (Photo from NARA, the National Archives & Records Administration).
_____________
~ Visit and support your local, state and national parks. They're wonderful resources for recreation, enjoying nature and the environment and learning about history:

- FIND A PARK, National Park Service
https://www.nps.gov/findapark/index.htm