新澳门六合彩内幕信息

Mapping the Reconstruction Era

One 新澳门六合彩内幕信息聽Davis professor is on a mission to create a new dialogue about an oft-ignored period of U.S. history

As the National Park Service turns 100 in August, one 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis professor is on a mission to create a new dialogue about an oft-ignored period of U.S. history 鈥 the Reconstruction era. Gregory Downs, along with Northwestern University鈥檚 Kate Masur, currently is finishing up a yearlong study for the service focused on those years after the Civil War, when the federal government attempted to remake the nation. The study aims to better define how the parks can address the complicated history. The duo also edited a park service handbook on Reconstruction that came out earlier this spring. 鈥淎lmost every place in the South has a strong current of Reconstruction history,鈥 Downs said. Of course, only Congress or the president can establish a national park, but a renewed conversation could help show how the war set in motion a radical transformation in the South. Added Downs, 鈥淚 think there should be at least one and possibly several parks that are dedicated to Reconstruction. There are some amazing stories.鈥 Here are just a few.

 

Memphis, Tenn.

An effort to commemorate the Memphis riots of 1866 has set in motion discussions about this location, said Downs. The riots centered on an attack on decommissioned black U.S. soldiers that led to days of terror.

Vicksburg, Miss.

The area had a large contraband camp on the river during the war and a surviving courthouse that became the site of important trials in Reconstruction.

 

Natchez, Miss.

Already home to several historic parks, Natchez has plantations that show how lives were reconstructed after the war. For example, Hiram Revels, the first African American in the U.S. Senate, set up his political base there.

New Orleans, La.

Reconstruction history here leads to a series of street battles and riots. 鈥淣ew Orleans is an obvious place because of the Plessy vs. Ferguson case, which accepts 鈥榮eparate but equal鈥 in 1896.鈥

Robert Smalls

 

Beaufort, S.C.

The old southern port city remains largely intact, with old homes, an armory and other relevant sites. Robert Smalls, a former slave who became a sea captain and politician, was born and died there. 鈥淭he town gives insight into the depth of the reconfiguration of black political life, family life on the Sea Islands, and commercial life.鈥

National parks by the numbers

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400+ sites


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75K archaeological sites


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84M+ acres


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27K historic structures


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300M+ visitors


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167M museum items


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