Transcripts For CSPAN3 Black Migration National Park Servic

Preserve such places for current and future generations. This discussion was part of the association for the study of africanamerican life and history annual meeting. Hello, and welcome. Hello and welcome to the association for the study of africanamerican life and historys 104th annual conference. We have of people moving, how the National Park service and preservation is how the story of black migration. My name is madeline, and the Senior Executive assistant at the National Parks conservation association. Louder . Is that better . Sorry about that. Im so proud to be with you this afternoon. On behalf of teresa 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, we have been a powerful independent voice working to strengthen and protect americas National Parks for 100 years. Through a nationwide network of offices, and with more than 1. 3 million members and supporters, npca speaks up for our parks, history, culture, and communities on capitol hill. Our advocacy work cannot be done without our partners. We have partnered together for decades to make sure the National Park system tells the story of all americans, from preserving a critical chapter in the Civil Rights Movement with the designation of birminghams Civil Rights National monument, to the important stories like the first africanamerican union at the Pullman National monument. We will have a lasting and positive impact on our National Park system and its visitors for generations to come. Because of this partnership, we have privileged to award sylvia our centennial Leadership Award this past spring. [applause] npca centennial Leadership Award recognizes Public Officials or private citizens 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 and Pullman National monument campaign, and a solid role in guiding the National Park Services Rehabilitation and reopening of the Carter G Woodson home in washington d. C. Are true examples of her commitment to protecting and preserving the africanamerican experience within the National Park system. As many of you 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 Parks are africanamerican experience sites. From places like fort monroe National Monument in hampton, to the Frederick Douglass house in washington, d. C. , to the reconstruction era park in South Carolina. These places tell the story of the africanamerican experience in the United States. And it is for this very reason that previous sessions have been sponsored at the conference focused on the National Park system. And while the National Park service is in charge of managing these parks, they do not do so in isolation. Like our advocacy partnership, the National Park Service Partners with organizations in their protection, preservation, and interpretation of africanamerican sites. Tonight we will hear valuable stories about black migration, how the National Park service is bringing this complex and significant history to life. We will hear how preservationists are working across the country with communities to preserve their Historic Sites and cultures, and how advocates and scholars are pushing for the creation of new National Park designations and for National Institutions to tell the full story of africanAmerican History in this country. You will also have the pleasure of hearing a discussion moderated by alex pierce, the senior director of cultural resources. Allen has dedicated two decades to the organization and has become to be known as the resident historian, and to many like me a friend, mentor, and colleague. With that i want to turn it over to alan. Thank you. [applause] alan i keep seeing people in the audience and im like rockstar, rockstar, rockstar, rockstar, even with the panelists up here. Its wonderful to see everyone here. Thank you for being here for the opening plenary. For those with the background and have studied africanamerican life and history, you know this annual conference always begins with the Plenary Session related to or about the National Park service. I would also like to point out david is with us, the newly appointed director of the National Park service. Welcome. [applause] and at the back, running around and always taking care of everything is sylvia. [applause] and in the second row, dr. Evelyn is here, its nice to see you all here. My job as a moderator for this panel is to get out of the way. So im going to do that real quick. Thank you madeline, for coming up here and Getting Started. Quick housekeeping stuff, if you have a cell phone make sure it is off or on vibrate. We are happy to have colleagues from cspan here who would like to record the panel and not your ringtone. The panelists up here. Is a friend,ere that makes this special for this evening and i appreciate having this group of people here. I think the talent that we have assembled for this plenary on black migration is reflected in the fact that we have a sellout crowd. Thank you all for being here. John w franklin, recently retired from a distinguished career at the smithsonian where he served as the cultural historian senior manager in the office of external affairs of the National Museum of africanAmerican History and culture. Hes a very good man and a friend of mine and its great to have him here. Dave johnson is a historian at the National Park service, she has served as the midwest regional manager for the National Underground Railroad Network freedom program. Regina rogers is a supervisory park ranger at the Maggie Walker National Historic site in richmond, virginia. We hope to hear about how she grew up in National Parks. And did i get anywhere close . He told me if i failed with the pronunciation we could all refer to him as ranger e, hes a superintendent at nicodemus National Historic site in kansas and the chief of interpretation at brown v. Board of education. He has about seven other collateral duties he has done exceptional work and we are proud to have him with us today. Stephanie deutsch is a historian and author of the book you need a schoolhouse, booker t. Washington, julius rosen wall and the building of schools in the segregated south. She will be at the authors pavilion and exhibit area, she will have books to purchase. If you do not have a chance to speak with her today or at the reception afterwards, please visit her on thursday at the authors reception. And at last, my good friend, brent, this is an important guy. The executive director of the africanamerican Cultural Heritage fund for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He led the campaign to designate birmingham civil rights, i tried to back them up as best i could, and now thanks to our work and the park service and interior department and all the great commuting partners in birmingham, we have had an important civilrights story protected in perpetuity. We will hear individual presentations from these panelists we will go one by one , and towards the end i will come back up here for some guided questions and conversation. If i do not get too selfish with the time we have today, we will have opportunities to hear from folks in the audience with questions. We will do our best to end promptly at 6 30 because we do have after party events and people have other places to go. I would like to bring up john w franklin. Thank you. [applause] john good afternoon. Good afternoon. John its 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 in the work that im continuing to do. My late father, 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. So i thought it was just normal to acknowledge him. And my mother, who had that childrens library, she was a librarian, and next to my bed there were books from as early as i could remember. And there were atlases, and maps, and books that they brought back to me from india, europe, we traveled the nation as my father was visiting professors at cornell, wisconsin, berkeley, hawaii, maryland, 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, not the 20th century. We will look at some maps. We must always remember that our knowledge is based on those who preceded us. My father taught at howard from 1947 to 1956. When he arrived at 1947 and one of his students was joseph harris. Joseph harris created this map of the African Diaspora in 1990. And i want you to look at the right hand side of the map, which shows how africans are taken by the east african trade controlled by the sultan of oman out of zanzibar and into the persian gulf, into the red sea, into the indian ocean over the last 1500 years. Long before americas socalled discovery. Right now theres a project in the indian ocean, populated by people brought from india as indentured servants, and 30 were brought as enslaved people from east africa. We do not think of the indian ocean, we dont think of south asia when we think of the African Diaspora, but we must. We think we know the lefthand side of the map. You will notice that every country in the hemisphere received africans from 1500 on. The french are trying to take over brazil from the portuguese in the 1530s, the french only end up with French Guiana on the north coast, as well as martinique, guadalupe, haiti, san dominquez, and louisiana. We were celebrating last years 300 years of african presence in louisiana. The focus this year has been on virginia, but we must remember that what is now the United States also includes puerto rico, which was spanish. Florida, which does not become part of the United States until the 1830s. We ignore 300 years of african presence in florida because its not u. S. History. Notice how the africans cross panama. They walked across the isthmus to ships waiting to take them down the west coast of colombia, ecuador, peru, and chile. We have been there since the 1530s and 1540s. We forget canada, where we are not free until britain frees its slaves in 1833. We will come back to that in a moment. Joseph harris, inspired by his colleagues at howard, goes to these places in the African Diaspora, he goes to iraq, the middle east, southern india, and of course he goes across all of the americas, looking for these traces of people from africa. David elvis and david richardson, by 2010, have the databases of all of the slave ships. And i like to remind people that the insurance records of these ships tell the story, because every one of these ships is insured by lloyds of london, and American Insurance Companies we dont need to mention by name. But that is how we have such rich records. I know its too far for you to see the dates and the numbers. But out of West Central Africa are close to 6 million africans being taken. Those big green swatches are 2 Million People from each of those sections. And people are brought from deep in the interior to the coastal ports from where there will be exported to the americas. I lived on an island for four years and dakar for a total of eight, and saw people coming from europe, brazil, and across the continent to understand our history. And we are taken in these floating prisons to every point in the americas. We are in charlston, the place were more africans are brought than any other part of the United States. The figure heres 211,000, i live in the chesapeake region, less than 200,000 in new england, as well as the gulf coast, biloxi and new orleans. And then you can see the caribbean islands, the dutch, the danish, the french, the spanish bringing africans there. South carolinas very important in the story. If you are not the first british son in barbados, you do not have a future. So you moved to South Carolina and begin the importation of africans here in the carolinas. We also must see how africans are taken across the sahara into morocco, algeria, libya, close to 2 million from southern sudan into egypt, 800,000 out of somalia into saudi. Into the persian gulf, the red sea, and all of these places in the indian ocean. Fewer than 5 of the 12. 5 million come to United States. When we think of migrations in the hemisphere, we must remember that every person coming from central america, south america and the caribbean come from slavebased societies. With laws that limited the opportunities of people of african descent. There is the same confluence of native people, african people, and europeans in each of these countries before the people come here. They come here with exposure to laws and attitudes and practices that they bring with them in the United States. Finally, i want to share with you a map that i got in france. This shows the emancipation in the hemisphere. If you are from the English Speaking caribbean you know emancipation day is august 1, from 1833. If you have the misfortune of being from one of the french colonies you know the french revolution freed us in 1794, but napoleons first wife, the empress josephine is a sugar planter in martinique, so he reinstates slavery for her in 1802, and the second emancipation is 1848. The netherlands and the u. S. Share 1863. But puerto rico does not become free until 1873, cuba not until 1886, and brazil as last at is last at 1888. I wanted to begin with the big picture of migration, so we remember that everyone coming from other parts of the hemisphere to the United States comes with their own legacy of slavery and freedom. Thank you. [applause] thank you john, for that, for setting up the big picture. And i cannot see. Here we are. Hello. [laughter] allen said that i was going to tell you the story about growing up in the National Park service. I did not quite grow up tall enough. But we will go forward at any rate. John set us up with the big picture of black migration. For me, its my turn to bring it 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 migration and National Parks have nothing to do with me. How many of you secretly would have thought that yourselves . Oh good, im seeing some nods and hand raising. Thats because, as some of our surveys, even most recently show, when they surveyed people who go to National Parks, it comes out saying that people of color do not go to National Parks. That they dont go outside. [laughter] that they dont travel. Obviously the franklins are different on that. But they dont travel, except to go visit with family. But when they go to National Parks, they dont feel welcomed. They dont see their stories there. When i was young, i fit right into that same demographic. That criteria there. For the next few minutes i will tell you a little bit about how i found a personal connection to our collective stories, such as black migration, through my experiences with the National Parks. When i was growing up, i was very smart. I came up in the class of roanoke, virgi