Score another one for President Biden
President Joe Biden believes that one of the National Park Service’s (NPS) roles is to be the “Nation’s storyteller” by managing sites that “help preserve and honor different chapters in our Nation’s history.” Through the issuance of a new executive order this week, Biden is continuing to ensure that sites across the country are recognized and conserved so that Americans can appreciate the full story of the nation’s past.
It is fitting that the order comes during March, which is Women’s History Month, as it strives to boost women’s representation in sites around the nation while honoring their legacy. As Biden points out, women are still underrepresented in federal parks, monuments, and historic sites, and improving this will “help create a more equal future.”
The order directs the Department of the Interior to assess the state of women’s representation in the NPS. At the core of this effort is the first full review of women’s history by the NPS throughout U.S. history, aiming to consider women from a diversity of backgrounds who have made significant contributions to America.
While this new order focuses on women, it furthers a larger endeavor to accurately convey the depth and breadth of the United States of America’s rich history. For example, in August 2023, Biden designated the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni National Monument, protecting nearly one million acres of sites near the Grand Canyon that are sacred to Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples. In March 2022, Biden signed the Amache National Historic Site Act, offering permanent protection to portray the history of Japanese American incarceration during World War II.
For as long as Biden remains President, he will remain committed to promoting America’s true story, a source of pride that informs and inspires while it moves the nation forward. A second Trump term would no doubt shift this effort into reverse—and it is yet another reason why this November’s Election Day is so important.
Ron Leshnower is a lawyer and the author of several books, including President Trump’s Month