National Park Service Grant: Update Historic Study Resource to Improve Community Dialogue

As time has passed, multi-disciplinary approaches to scholarship, new social and environmental history, an acknowledgment of the diversity of the American story, and increasing commitment to delve further into the difficult aspects of that story have emerged. It is necessary to address these trends by supplementing our outdated baseline historical documentation. Themes to be explored include: an environmental history of park lands and the effects of logging, dairy ranching, military and recreational use; integrating the story of Hispanic, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese and African American into the narrative of park lands, including close examination Buffalo Soldiers and Nisei intelligence specialists; an operational history of the military and civilian prisons on Alcatraz and of people involved, set in the context of broader trends in American penology; the Civil War and the Bay Area military posts; the Cold War and its effects on parklands; the rise of the counter-culture and the evolution of the Bay Area away from its role as a military bastion; and traditional Native American use of park lands and resources.â¿¿

Updates to the parkâ¿¿s historic resource studies will result in grounded and integrated series of narratives that will help the park better fulfilling National Historic Preservation Act Section 110 responsibilities including amendment of national register nominations, its management decisions based upon contemporary and holistic understanding of cultural resources, and increased transfer of knowledge through dissemination of research results through a broad range of venues including, programs to park visitors, off-site presentation to community groups, and a robust use of web-based media.