November 18, 2019

Tomorrow, November 19, marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of Zion National Park in southwestern Utah in 1919. The park covers nearly 150,000 acres (60,000 hectares) and has many colorful canyons, some of which are extremely narrow and have steep, plunging walls. The Zion National Park Forever Project’s “We the Keepers” centennial campaign included a benefit performance featuring the rock artist Sting and the Utah Symphony. A centennial film also encouraged the park’s 4.3 million annual visitors to care for Zion’s delicate habitat.

A hiker splashes through a fork of the Virgin River in the Narrows, a popular site within Zion National Park. Credit: © Galyna Andrushko, Shutterstock

Zion Canyon is the main feature of the park. It is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) long and from ½ mile (0.8 kilometer) to less than 50 feet (15 meters) wide. Its walls tower as high as 3,000 feet (910 meters), in some places almost straight up and down. Rock formations at Zion National Park range in color from dark red and orange to light purple and pink. These colors change continuously as the light changes. Wild plants and such animals as mule deer and bats flourish there.

Steep cliffs rise behind the visitor center at Zion National Park. Credit: National Renewable Energy Laboratory

The park was originally set aside in 1909 as Mukuntuweap National Monument. In 1918, the park was enlarged, and in 1919 it became Zion National Park. Zion National Monument, a vast area of rugged land adjoining the park, was added in 1956.

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Zion National Park lies in southwestern Utah. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

June 26, 2019

Last month, in May 2019, a new Statue of Liberty Museum opened alongside Lady Liberty herself on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. The museum details the history of the Statue of Liberty, from conception and completion to its current state. It also explains the evolving ideals of American liberty since the statue was completed in 1886, from the woman suffrage and civil rights movements to the welcoming of millions of immigrants from around the world. The museum also houses memorabilia and items that have been replaced on the statue, such as the famous original torch.

People admire the views from atop the Statue of Liberty Museum on May 16, 2019, the museum’s opening day. Credit: © Maria Kraynova, Shutterstock

Every year, some 4.3 million people take ferries to visit Liberty Island and the former immigration station on nearby Ellis Island. (Together, the islands make up the Statue of Liberty National Monument.) However, since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the National Park Service has restricted the number of visitors who can enter the Statue of Liberty’s massive stone pedestal and travel up to the crown. A stand-alone museum, then, was created to accommodate all visitors to Liberty Island.

The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in 1886. Credit: © Matej Hudovernik, Shutterstock

After the the abolition of slavery and the end of the American Civil War in 1865, the French politician and historian Édouard Laboulaye proposed the construction of a joint French and American monument celebrating the ideals of liberty. Laboulaye’s friend, the sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, chose Liberty Island (then called Bedloe’s Island) for the statue’s location, and he began designing the massive monument. Construction of the statue—fully named Liberty Enlightening the World—began in 1875 at a workshop in Paris, and work on the pedestal began in 1884 in the United States. The last pieces of the statue arrived in New York in 1885, and the fully constructed statue and pedestal were dedicated in 1886.

The story of Lady Liberty’s torch is an interesting one. The torch arrived in 1876, ahead of the rest of the statue. It was displayed—along with the arm holding it—in Philadelphia and then in New York City. Originally, the torch was not meant to be illuminated from within. The gilded copper of the torch would reflect sunlight during the day, and lights were to be installed below it. By the time it was placed atop the statue in 1886, however, portholes had been cut in the torch to allow interior arc lights to be seen at night. The portholes were soon replaced with windows, and a sky light was added. At that time, visitors could ascend to the dizzying heights of the torch.

In 1916, floodlights were installed at the base of the statue and the torch lighting system was changed. People were no longer allowed in the torch or on the torch’s observation deck. Hundreds of windows were cut in the copper flame of the torch, and powerful lamps inside lit the torch.

In 1984, age and weather damage forced the removal of the original torch. The new torch, in place since 1986, followed the statue’s original plans and has no windows. Its flame is covered with gold leaf and glows with reflected light. The old torch toured the United States and was displayed in the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal before finding a home in the new museum.

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The Statue of Liberty National Monument includes Ellis and Liberty islands in Upper New York Bay. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

The Statue of Liberty Museum is accessible to all visitors of Liberty Island, and the grass-covered green building incorporates an environmentally responsible design and sustainable practices. The museum offers audio tours in 12 languages and ties together the American and international pursuits of liberty.

The popularity and symbolism of the Statue of Liberty have led to its replication in many parts of the world. The most famous miniature copies of the statue stand in France (naturally), Norway (where much of the statue’s copper was mined), Brazil, China, Israel, and Japan. Lego-brick Statues of Liberty stand among other world monuments at Legoland parks in Denmark and other countries. Finally, a “lazy” Lady Liberty sits (rather than stands) atop a building in Lviv, Ukraine.

April 3, 2019

In February, the United States National Park Service announced its newest addition: Indiana Dunes National Park. Located along the shores of Lake Michigan in northern Indiana, the national park’s creation was the result of a conservation effort that began more than 100 years ago.

Indiana Dunes National Park includes numerous beaches along the shores of Lake Michigan. Credit: Pixabay

In the early 1900′s, the southern shores of Lake Michigan near Chicago were booming with new steel mills and electric power plants. The industrial development took its toll on the natural ecosystems of the lakeshore, however. In 1908, a group of conservationists created the Prairie Club of Chicago to help protect the area’s wildlife and natural landscapes. After the forming of the National Park Service in 1916, the Prairie Club and other groups pushed for the creation of a “Sand Dunes National Park” in nearby northern Indiana.

In 1917, plans for the national park were interrupted by the U.S. entry into World War I (1914-1918). The war effort put heavy precedence on industrial production, and conservation efforts were pushed aside. In 1926, the creation of Indiana Dunes State Park protected some areas, but conservationists continued to push for a larger national park. The Great Depression of the 1930′s and U.S. involvement in World War II (1939-1945) delayed the park’s expansion until 1966, when it became the larger Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The protected area was then expanded several times before earning national park status in 2019.

Indiana Dunes National Park protects some 15,000 acres (6,070 hectares) of dunes, oak savannas, swamps, bogs, marshes, prairies, rivers, and forests. It also contains 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and beaches. More than 1,100 species of flowering plants and ferns live in the park, as do hundreds of species of amphibians, birds, fish, insects, mammals, and reptiles. The park is home to an important great blue heron rookery (breeding ground) and large populations of coyotes and white-tailed deer.

Indiana Dunes National Park also includes five historic homes that were relocated from the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. At the time of the fair, the homes demonstrated innovative architectural design, experimental materials, and such new technologies as central air conditioning and dishwashers.

February 25, 2019

Arizona’s spectacular Grand Canyon National Park celebrates its 100th birthday in 2019. Credit: © Digital Vision/SuperStock

To mark the anniversary, the park worked with Arizona State University and other partners to create the Grand Canyon Centennial Project—also known as “100 Years of Grand”—a series of programs at the park and online throughout 2019. On February 26, a special Founder’s Day Centennial Celebration at the park will include cultural, educational, and musical programs. In the following months, special events will highlight President Theodore Roosevelt (who created the Grand Canyon National Monument in 1908), the past and present efforts to map the massive canyon, and the history of the park. Traditional Native American arts and crafts will be demonstrated and presented all year long by the Desert View Cultural Demonstrators, members of the Grand Canyon’s 11 traditionally associated native peoples.

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Grand Canyon National Park Celebrates its centennial on Feb. 26, 2019. Credit: National Park Service

Various Native American cultures have lived in the Grand Canyon during the last 4,000 years. Today, about 450 members of the Havasupai people live on a reservation in a side canyon called Havasu Canyon. Other main Native American groups of the Grand Canyon include the Hopi, Navajo, Paiute, and Zuni. In 1540, a group of Spanish explorers led by García López de Cárdenas became the first Europeans to see the Grand Canyon. They were part of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado‘s expedition to the area. In 1869, the American geologist John Wesley Powell led a river expedition through the vast canyon, which he named the Grand Canyon. A forest preserve was created in the Grand Canyon in 1893.

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This map shows the location of the Grand Canyon National Park in northwest Arizona. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

About 5 million people visit Grand Canyon National Park every year. The majority of visitors drive along park roads and stop at scenic viewing points about the Grand Canyon. Visitors may also walk along the canyon’s rim. Many tourists hike along trails in the park. Some people ride mules into the canyon, and others enter by boat or raft on the Colorado River.

Grand Canyon National Park is home to a wide range of mammals, including bats, desert bighorn sheep, American bison, coyotes, elk, mountain lions, mule deer, and skunks. More than 450 species of birds live in the park, and reptiles such as gila monsters, short-horned lizards, and several species of snakes are commonly seen. Varied plant populations thrive in the park’s desert scrub, grassland, meadow, woodland, and high elevation communities.

August 25, 2016

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, in southeastern Alaska, is the largest national park in the United States. It covers more than 8 million acres (3 million hectares) and features many towering mountain peaks and glaciers. Credit: © David Muench/Stone from Getty Images

Today, August 25, is the 100^th anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service (NPS). The NPS is a bureau of the United States Department of the Interior. It manages the approximately 400 areas of the National Park System. The NPS preserves many natural landscapes and historic and archaeological sites and structures. To mark the NPS centenary, special events will take place across the country, and all national parks will have free admission from August 25 to 28. The events include a solar-powered vehicle race through nine parks in seven Midwestern states; classical music performances and naturalization ceremonies in several parks; and a special Girl Scout and Boy Scout chat from Lewis and Clark National Historical Park with an astronaut aboard the International Space Station. The bureau’s 100th birthday will also be celebrated at several Major League and Minor League Baseball parks.

This map shows the locations of the national parks of the United States, which form part of the country’s National Park System. Most of the national parks are in the western half of the continental United States and in Alaska. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Conservationist John Muir and President Theodore Roosevelt did much to create the parks and the protected lands that led to the formation of the NPS in 1916. Stephen T. Mather, the first NPS director, actively promoted and expanded the bureau and its protected lands. From 1916 to 1929, Mather increased the number of national parks from 16 to 25; the number of national monuments from 21 to 32; and doubled the total system area from nearly 5 million acres (2 million hectares) to about 10 million acres (4 million hectares). Today, the National Park System includes more than 84 million acres (34 million hectares).

Oversized representations of the U.S. Mint’s coins commemorating the National Park Service centennial stand on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Credit: National Park Service/U.S. Mint

The U.S. Mint is commemorating the NPS centennial by issuing three limited edition coins: a five-dollar gold coin, a silver dollar, and a half-dollar coin. The coins feature images of parks, the NPS arrowhead logo, depictions of the exploration of nature, and portrayals of the multicultural heritage of the United States. The U.S. Postal Service is celebrating the NPS centennial with 16 new Forever stamps featuring national parks.

June 30, 2016

The Stonewall National Monument is dedicated in New York City on June 27, 2016.
Credit: U.S. Department of the Interior

Today, June 30, is the last day of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) Pride Month in the United States. U.S. President Barack Obama has proclaimed June to be LGBT Pride Month in every year of his presidency. In his final Pride Month proclamation on May 31, the president urged Americans to eliminate prejudice and celebrate diversity. Recalling last year’s landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States guaranteeing marriage equality in all 50 states, Obama said, “for every partnership that was not previously recognized under the law and for every American who was denied their basic civil rights, this monumental ruling instilled newfound hope, affirming the belief that we are all more free when we are treated as equals.”

On June 24, President Obama capped eight years of promoting LGBT rights by designating New York City’s landmark gay bar the Stonewall Inn as part of the Stonewall National Monument—the first National Park Service monument to honor the LGBT equality movement. The monument also includes Christopher Park, a historic community park at the intersection of Christopher Street, West 4th Street, and Grove Street across from the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. The monument area was the site of a series of demonstrations for gay rights that took place in late June and early July 1969. The demonstrations followed a raid at the inn as police sought to enforce a law prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages to homosexuals. The demonstrations evolved into a series of riots that lasted, on and off, for several days. The anniversary of the Stonewall uprising is commemorated every summer as part of gay pride celebrations in the United States.

“Stonewall will be our first national monument to tell the story of the struggle for LGBT rights,” President Obama said. “I believe our national parks should reflect the full story of our country, the richness and diversity and uniquely American spirit that has always defined us. That we are stronger together. That out of many, we are one.”

Earlier this month, on June 12, the Stonewall was also the site of a gathering of LGBT people and their supporters who came to mourn the deaths of 49 people killed by a gunman at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida—the deadliest mass shooting in United States history. The White House, in its announcement about the Stonewall monument, referred to the Orlando shooting, stating, “Although the LGBT civil rights movement has made significant progress in the pursuit of equal rights and protections under the law, there is still more work to do. As seen two weeks ago in Orlando, Florida, LGBT Americans continue to face acts of violence, discrimination, and hate. LGBT people of color are especially at risk. The administration is committed to continuing the fight for dignity, acceptance and equal rights for all Americans—no matter who they are or who they love.”

Other World Book articles

• Behind the Headlines: Orlando Terror (June 13, 2016)