WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, Jan. 10, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will sign a memorandum formally establishing the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park (NHP) in Auburn, New York as a unit of the National Park System. National Park Service Acting Director Michael T. Reynolds, U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Congressman John Katko and Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. Executive Director Karen V. Hill will attend the ceremony along with community and park partners.
The new park will commemorate the work of Harriet Tubman, the fearless Underground Railroad conductor, especially focusing on her later years in life when she was an active proponent of women’s suffrage and other causes. The park is located at the site where Tubman lived and worshipped, caring for family members and other formerly enslaved people seeking safe haven in the North. The National Park Service will work in partnership with Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. and the AME Zion Church to operate the park.
Congress authorized the Harriet Tubman NHP on Dec. 19, 2014 as part of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act. Once formally established, the park will join the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park in Maryland as a sister national park commemorating this remarkable figure in American history.
Who:
Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Michael T. Reynolds, Acting Director, National Park Service
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, New York
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, New York
U.S. Congressman John Katko, 24th District of New York
Karen V. Hill, Executive Director, Harriet Tubman Home, Inc.
Community and Park Supporters
What:
Signing Ceremony Establishing Harriet Tubman National Historical Park
When:
Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017
8:30 a.m. EST – Signing ceremony followed by a brief media availability
Where:
U.S. Department of the Interior
South Penthouse
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C
Media:
RSVP is required to facilitate building access for media. Please contact thomas_crosson@nps.gov by 5 p.m. on January 9. Media wishing to cover this event must meet at Interior’s C Street entrance no later than 7:30 a.m. on January 10. Media must have a government issued photo ID to enter the building. For those who cannot attend, the ceremony will be live-streamed at doi.gov/live.
Source: Department of Interior
