WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Tuesday, June 10, 2014, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis will host a panel discussion including leading historians and scholars to discuss ways to celebrate and interpret lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history in the context of broader American history. Prior to the panel discussion, U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Ambassador to Australia John Berry will deliver kick-off remarks.
The discussion is the first step in the LGBT Heritage Theme Study that Secretary Jewell announced on May 30th at the Stonewall Inn in New York City to identify places and events associated with the story of LGBT Americans for inclusion in the parks and programs of the National Park Service. The theme study is part of a broader initiative under the Obama Administration to ensure that the National Park Service reflects and tells a more complete story of the people and events responsible for building this nation.
The goals of the heritage initiative include: engaging scholars, preservationists and community members to identify, research, and tell the stories of LGBT associated properties; encouraging national parks, national heritage areas, and other affiliated areas to interpret LGBT stories associated with them; identifying, documenting, and nominating LGBT-associated sites as national historic landmarks; and increasing the number of listings of LGBT-associated properties in the National Register of Historic Places. Click here to view the kick-off announcement of the LGBT Heritage Theme Study.
The public will be invited to take part in next week's panel discussion to learn more about the initiative and to ask questions and share comments on its initial phases.
WHO:
Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Nancy Pelosi, U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Leader
John Berry, U.S. Ambassador to Australia
Jonathan B. Jarvis, National Park Service Director
LGBT Scholars
WHAT:
Scholars Panel Discussion on LGBT Heritage Theme Study
WHEN:
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Media Check-in: 2:15 p.m. EDT
Panel Discussion: 2:30 p.m. EDT
WHERE:
U.S. Department of the Interior
Sidney Yates Auditorium
1849 C Street NW, Washington D.C.
RSVP:
Credentialed members of the media interested in covering the event are encouraged to RSVP HERE by June 9, 2014, at 6:00 p.m. EDT
For more information on the LGBT Heritage Initiative and theme study, click here.
Source: Department of Interior
