WASHINGTON – On Thursday, Feb. 11, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will host an event at Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Alabama to announce a public-private partnership between the National Park Service and Google to share the diverse history and culture of America with a global audience. Google’s Senior Counsel on Civil and Human Rights Malika Saada Sar will join Secretary Jewell for the announcement.
Connecting with and creating the next generation of park visitors, supporters, and advocates is a key goal of this year’s National Park Service Centennial, celebrating the 100-year milestone of America’s national parks. The unique partnership with the Google Cultural Institute will bring together in one place American stories and histories that inform and inspire – and that are too often inaccessible to the general public.
Jewell will make the announcement at Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site during African-American History Month. The site tells the story of the first African-Americans trained to fly combat aircraft for the Army Air Corps. Almost 1,000 aviators were trained, and more than 10,000 military and civilian African-American men and women served in a variety of support roles, opening a door for greater inclusion in the military.
While at Tuskegee, Jewell will be joined by local fourth graders for a virtual reality flight simulation activity as part of the Every Kid in a Park initiative. The initiative is part of an overall Obama Administration effort to connect young people to the outdoors. The program allows fourth graders nationwide to go to www.everykidinapark.gov and obtain a pass for free entry for them and their families to more than 2,000 federally managed lands and waters nationwide for an entire year, starting earlier this school year on Sept. 1, 2015.
Who:
Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Sandy Taylor, Superintendent, Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site
Malika Saada Sar, Senior Counsel on Civil and Human Rights, Google
What:
Public-private partnership announcement
When:
Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016
12:30 p.m. CST – Media check-in
12:45 p.m. CST – Every Kid in a Park activity with 4th-grade students
1:30 p.m. CST – Google partnership announcement followed by a brief media availability
Where:
Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site
Hangar 2 Auditorium
1616 Chappie James Avenue
Tuskegee, AL 36083
Media:
Credentialed members of the media are encouraged to RSVP here.
Source: Department of Interior
