Deb Haaland Secretary at U.S. Department of Interior | Official website
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has authorized the National Park Service to prepare a potential nomination for 11 U.S. Civil Rights Movement sites to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The proposed sites are located in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, Virginia, and Washington, DC.
If designated, these sites would join other cultural and natural sites of universal importance on the World Heritage List. The Department has also authorized the preparation of a possible nomination for the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia. Currently, there are 1,199 World Heritage Sites in 168 countries, including 25 in the United States. The National Park Service manages all or part of 19 of these U.S. sites.
“The U.S. sites that mark the civil rights movement are integral in helping us tell a full and complete story of American history,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “We are honored to be entrusted with the responsibility of preserving these stories as part of our enduring effort to pursue a more perfect union. A nomination of these sites to the World Heritage List would further recognize the pain, redemption and healing associated with these historical sites and honor the civil rights heroes who bravely sat, marched and fought to secure equality for all Americans.”
The following are the 11 U.S. Civil Rights Movement Sites included in the proposed nomination:
- Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama
- Bethel Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama (part of Birmingham Civil Rights National Historic Site)
- 16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama (part of Birmingham Civil Rights National Historic Site)
- Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, Alabama (part of Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail)
- Greyhound Bus Terminal, Anniston, Alabama (part of Freedom Riders National Monument)
- Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site), Little Rock Arkansas
- Ebenezer Baptist Church (Heritage Sanctuary), Atlanta Georgia (part of Martin Luther King Jr., Historical Park)
- Monroe Elementary School Topeka Kansas (part Brown v Board Education National Historical Park)
- Medgar Myrlie Evers Home Jackson Mississippi Medgar Myrlie Evers Home Monument
- Robert Russa Moton High School/Museum Farmville Virginia
-Lincoln Memorial Grounds Washington District Columbia part Mall Parks
The Department will collaborate with partners and consult with the Federal Interagency Panel for World Heritage on completing this document before making a final decision on whether to submit it to UNESCO's World Heritage Committee. If submitted inclusion will be decided by representatives from nations elected members advised International Council Monuments Sites.
The NPS is principal government agency responsible implementing Convention behalf cooperation State Inclusion does not affect management remain subject law Detailed information Program process selection can found https://www.nps.gov/subjects/internationalcooperation/worldheritage.htm.
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