American Battlefield Protection Program, NPS

12/22/2020

National Park Service

One of the strange ways #historicpreservation and memory work is that places of suffering, such as battlefields and associated sites like Valley Forge National Historical Park, can become so much for so many people: places of mourning and remembrance, of peace and enjoyment, and of possibility to revisit the conflicts of the past toward greater understanding and healing.

We hope historic places help you find the peace you need this season, and every season. And if you want to foster memory work, public access, and relevance at a site of armed conflict, we hope you'll consider applying for a Battlefield Preservation Planning Grant to help: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=329813

Gather round the fire!

Don't have a fireplace at home? Don't worry! Warm up your holidays with a crackling fire in a hearth of one of the soldier huts at Valley Forge National Historical Park. Many people find peace in remarkable places. As winter settles in and many of us dream about hibernating, explore how parks can be places of healing, inspiration, and peace at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/npscelebrates/find-peace-in-parks.htm

#2020TimeOut #FindingPeace #WinterSolstice

12/17/2020

Friends of the Stones River National Battlefield

Thanks to the American Battlefield Trust and grants from the Tennessee Historical Commission and American Battlefield Protection Program, NPS, an effort that began with efforts of our past President Mike Liles and our board has come to fruition. We're proud to have been part of the process resulting in preservation of this important piece of the Stones River Battlefield.

https://www.battlefields.org/news/remarkable-confluence-events-yields-preservation-miracle-stones-river

Stay tuned for more information on efforts to care for this property while a plan for its long term management and interpretation takes shape.

12/16/2020

The story of Ann Stokes, the first African American woman to serve on a U.S. military vessel, is a profile in daring and courage.

During the American Civil War, Ann was classified as “contraband” (the Union Army's word for southern freedom seekers) and taken aboard a Union Naval vessel in January of 1863. That same month, Ann enlisted as a nurse onboard the United States first hospital ship, the USS Red Rover. The first African American woman to serve on a U.S. military vessel, Ann would soon be joined by four others; Ellen Campbell, Alice Kennedy, Sarah Kinno and Betsy Young. These five women would serve as part of the Union’s brown water navy in campaigns against Vicksburg, MS and Fort Hindman at Arkansas Post. Ann received a pension in recognition of her military service.

Today, increasing scholarship tells the groundbreaking stories of Black women in the Civil War. Battlefield Preservation Planning Grants can help. If you know of battlefield or historic site associated with a historic armed conflict, and in need of funding to conduct research, interpretation, or education about the lives of people like Ann Stokes, check out our website or contact us to learn more:
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/battlefields/battlefield-planning-grants.htm

(Image: USS Red Rover (1862-1865). Line engraving after a drawing by Theodore R. Davis, published in "Harper's Weekly", January-June 1863, page 300)

12/14/2020

What do you see in this picture?

Some might see a beautiful place to visit. Others might recognize the Shenandoah Valley, a pivotal and contested corridor during the Civil War. People who live there call it home.

The Shenandoah Valley is one of many places where people's connections to battlefields are layered with their own life experiences. For local communities, preserving battlefields is part of preserving well-loved landscapes and contributing to a healthy regional economy and environment. The Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley is an organization created by the merger of three grassroots nonprofits in 2018. The Alliance has won two Battlefield Preservation Planning Grants to help local communities participate in planning for the present and future of the valley. Their projects bring citizens together to share their visions and amplify their voices.

What do you envision for the future of your community?

Learn whether a Battlefield Preservation Planning Grant can help you make this vision real:
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/battlefields/battlefield-planning-grants.htm
Apply on grants.gov (P21AS00206): https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=329813

12/09/2020

Have you ever experienced a landscape you couldn't forget?

At battlefields, history and landscape come together, stories deepen the meaning of places, and new generations discover the past. The 1795 Battle of Nu'uanu in O'ahu, a site of King Kamehama I's campaign to unify the Hawai'ian islands, is one such place. Here, histories of violence coexist with recognition of Hawai'i's long and rich Indigenous heritage and the site's stunning beauty.

The University of Hawai'i received a 2017 Battlefield Preservation Planning Grant to research the landscape of this battle. These grants can support preservation and interpretation of sites of conflict from periods before places like Hawai'i were part of "American soil," and representing the histories of Native people prior to or apart from colonization. (Image by Jiang via Wikimedia Commons)

We welcome proposals centering Indigenous perspectives, places, and stories like Nu'uanu Pali. Join us for a webinar at 7 PM EST today exploring success stories and how to apply:
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/battlefields/battlefield-planning-grants.htm

12/08/2020

"Does the word 'battlefield' really apply to this place?" "How do you define 'preservation,' anyway?" "Are these grants really only for planning? I want to do something different..."

If you find yourself asking questions like these about our grants, we have answers! Spaces are available in three webinars demystifying Battlefield Preservation Planning Grants this week:

1. TODAY: "A New Tide: Armed Conflict through the Eyes of Black America," December 8, 2:00 PM EST
2. "Amplifying Indigenous Voices in Battlefield Preservation," December 9, 7:00 PM EST
3. "2021 Battlefield Preservation Planning Grant Overview," December 10, 2:00 PM EST

Sign up or learn how to reach a grant specialist here: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/battlefields/battlefield-planning-grants.htm

Apply on grants.gov (P20AS00206): https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=329813.

12/03/2020

Yesterday, the National Park Service announced $2,208,110 in grants from the American Battlefield Protection Program to protect 169.03 acres of America’s Civil War battlefields. The grants will be used to acquire portions of Mississippi’s Brices Cross Roads, Raymond, and Vicksburg battlefields, as well as tracts at Bentonville Battlefield in North Carolina and at Virginia’s Petersburg and Williamsburg battlefields.

Congratulations to the recipients and their preservation partners: Mississippi Department of Archives & History, NC Department of Natural & Cultural Resources, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, American Battlefield Trust, and Virginia Land Conservation Fund!

Read more about the battles and grant awards here: https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/blag_dec_2020.htm

Learn more about our grant programs here:
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/battlefields/american-battlefield-protection-program-grants.htm

(Image: A line of cannons at the Raymond Battlefield by Mark Hamilton)

12/01/2020

Have you ever been inspired to feel part of an important narrative of American history?

Battlefield Preservation Planning Grants can fund research and interpretive activities to help tell the full story of American history. For example, a 2019 grant to the state of North Carolina will help the state incorporate the wealth of recent historical scholarship on African Americans in the Civil War in a study the US Colored Troops in action at North Carolina's 20 Civil War battlefields. This may inform new approaches to preservation planning, nominations for the National Register of Historic Places, and interpretation of battlefields that recognizes the important contributions of Black soldiers and says to Black residents and visitors, “you are part of the story of this place.”

Join us to talk about the possibilities for preserving and sharing African American places and stories in our fall webinar series: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/battlefields/battlefield-planning-grants.htm
Apply for a grant by February 12, 2021: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=329813

(Image: 4th US Colored Troops, Library of Congress)

11/30/2020

View Opportunity | GRANTS.GOV

This month Guilford Courthouse National Military Park has been sharing overlooked stories of Revolutionary War veterans and asking important questions about how and why we remember the American Revolution. Tune in for this thoughtful series!

As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, our grants also support local, state, tribal, and non-profit organizations sharing new perspectives on the armed conflicts leading to American independence. Apply for a Battlefield Preservation Planning Grant now via grants.gov (P21AP00206): https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=329813

11/26/2020

The national holiday of #Thanksgiving has its origins in the #CivilWar. As we observe today, we remember that this first national Thanksgiving came during a time of hardship, loss, and separation for American soldiers, their families, and many others the war impacted. You can read about President Lincoln's proclamation from Lincoln Home National Historic Site : https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historyculture/lincoln-and-thanksgiving.htm

11/25/2020

Sand Creek Massacre Statue To Replace Torn Down Soldier Monument At Colorado’s Capitol

Words matter. A Colorado monument will no longer describe the Sand Creek Massacre as a "battle," and will center the suffering and loss of Cheyenne and Arapaho people. https://www.cpr.org/2020/11/21/sand-creek-massacre-statue-to-replace-torn-down-soldier-monument-at-colorados-capitol/

While our name and mission is to preserve battlefields, we recognize that we need other words to describe many of the sites of armed conflict that shaped American history. In response to questions about sites like Sand Creek, we clarified definitions of eligible projects for Preservation Planning Grants based on the legislation establishing the program. These grants can be one tool for local and descendant communities working to preserve and share painful histories. Visit our website to learn more: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/battlefields/battlefield-planning-grants.htm

Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #grants

The issue now goes before the legislature to iron out how big the monument and its pedestal will be and how it will get to Colorado from Oklahoma.

11/23/2020

Has your community shared losses, struggles, or successes?

Historic places help us remember the fights that shaped our communities and nation. Multiple National Park Service grants are available now to help protect these places and tell their stories.

Some struggles were hard-won through historic armed conflicts. Battlefield Preservation Planning Grants can fund preservation of these places. Many other incredible fights for independence, equality, and a better future occurred off the battlefield. @HHPreservItNPS has announced the expansion of the African American Civil Rights Grant Program (#AACR) and the new History of Equal Rights Grant Program (#HER), which will preserve sites related to the struggle to achieve the ideal of equal rights in America.

Learn more about these grant opportunities:
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/battlefields/battlefield-planning-grants.htm
https://www.nps.gov/preservation-grants/civil-rights/
https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1623/history-of-equal-rights.htm

#PreservationThroughPartnership #historicpreservation #grants #blackhistory #civilrights #equalrights #battlefields

11/20/2020

The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom is sharing fascinating histories of the intersections of #NativeAmericanHeritage and #BlackHistory this month. Learn about the #CivilWar in Indian Territory and the American Indian Home Guard:

In winter 1861, Muskogee leader Chief Opothleyahola - pictured here - led 9000 Union loyalists, with hundreds of Black Americans (including escaped slaves to whom he promised freedom), from Oklahoma into Kansas. Their desperate winter time escape, pursued by Cherokee Stand Watie and other Native American Confederates, resulted in three major battles and the loss of nearly a third of the fleeing American Indians and many of the Black Americans. Stand Watie’s troops finally routed Opothleyahola’s warriors at Bird’s Creek in late December 1861. In one of the coldest winters on record, survivors without food and clothes left corpses and blood from Indian Territory to Kansas.

Substantial numbers of the refugees joined the Union army as early as April 1862 and became the core of the First Indian Home Guard and the First and Second Kansas Colored Regiments. Opothleyahola’s promise of freedom to all freedom seekers who accompanied him was kept and codified in a new treaty in 1863.

To learn more about Opothleyahola and other forgotten Native Americans from the Civil War Era, check out this article: https://www.nps.gov/articles/aihomeguard.htm

Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

#NativeAmerican Heritage #NPSNetworkToFreedom #FindYourPark #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth

11/17/2020

Important things happened here – what stories can you tell about this land?

The American Battlefield Protection Program provides grants to communities and organizations looking to tell their story of conflict. Battlefield Preservation Planning Grants can help you tell a land’s story through artifact curation, display cases, educational curriculum development, oral history activities and supplies, exhibits and signage, and more.

To learn more about how to apply and hear success stories from past recipients, visit our website or join one of our webinars this week https://www.nps.gov/subjects/battlefields/battlefield-planning-grants.htm

Image: Summer storms roll across the open grasslands at Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site (NPS) #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth

11/16/2020

The 2021 Battlefield Preservation Planning Grant application period is now open! We'll be highlighting more stories about what these grants can do until the proposal deadline of February 12, 2021.

The funding announcement and application materials are available on grants.gov: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=329813

Visit our website for an overview of the program, or to sign up for a webinar. This week's webinars spotlight Native American stories and possibilities for preserving African American history:
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/battlefields/battlefield-planning-grants.htm

11/13/2020

Whose stories shaped your ideas of what it means to be American? Whose stories do you hold to pass on to others?

The stories of #BlackVeterans like Isaac Hawkins, who fought and suffered through imprisonment in the #CivilWar, show us what ordinary people sacrificed to preserve these United States. We're grateful national parks like Boston African American National Historic Site exist to share them.

We also know that many historians and storytellers research and preserve places and stories for communities outside of the National Park Service. Battlefield Preservation Planning Grants can support non-federal projects that research, plan for, protect, and interpret places associated with #AfricanAmerican #military heritage.

Join a webinar Wednesday, November 18, at 3 PM Eastern time to learn how: https://doilearn2.webex.com/doilearn2/j.php?RGID=r5a74fdbfe2f9e4939a2ad247c08b6839

This year's grant competition begins in November 2020, and applications will be due in November 2021. Visit our website to learn more: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/battlefields/battlefield-planning-grants.htm

This week, we’re recognizing the service of military veterans affiliated with Boston African American National Historic Site. These individuals believed in the promise of our country, and they fought to protect and expand the rights and liberties of all Americans.

During the Civil War, many men of the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Regiments became prisoners of war. One individual, Isaac Hawkins, suffered greatly at Andersonville, receiving 250 out of 500 lashes for forging a pass. In spite of his treatment and the terrible conditions at Andersonville, Hawkins survived. He later supported other veterans as a member of the Shaw Regiment Union Veterans.

Learn more about his suffering and survival here or at the link in our profile: https://www.nps.gov/articles/isaac-s-hawkins.htm.

Thanks to Ranger Steve Phan for taking this photograph for us!

#VeteransDay #MilitaryHeritage #Andersonville #PrisonerOfWar #IsaacHawkins #54thMassachusetts #54thRegiment #blackhistory