the national park service is unlike any agency. ese are not only as stewards of the nation's landscapes, but also the keepers of its cultural memory, and recognizing that is telling its story in its entirety. when i became the director in 2009 with the encouragement of , recognize that there are gaps in the american narrative as told by the national parks. we must recommend to the president to do designations to fill those gaps. to realize the inclusiveness and equality that had been part of the american vision, if not always the reality, we needed to start from the beginning. when summer day in 1619, a ship appeared off of what was known as point comfort. that ship later was known as the african mayflower. at the time of the civil war, point comfort had become the union stronghold known as fort monroe, the only union fort to stand south of the mason-dixon line. three escaped slaves appeared at fort monroe for sanctuary. general butler was at a command, and when slave owners demanded return of property, he refused, acting on his own

national park service. was signed into law on this date by president woodrow wilson in 191. congress established yellowstone national park back in 1872 as the world's first national park. 1916, the date president wilson signed the law creating the national park service and the system began to include areas of historical significance back in 1933 designated by president franklin d. roosevelt. and earlier this summer, president obama commemorating this centennial anniversary. president obama: we have to have the foresight and faith in the future to do what it takes to protect our parks and to protect this planet for generations to come. and that's especially true for our leaders in washington. it's what lincoln did when he set aside this ground for all posterity. that's what roosevelt did when he inspired the national park system. that's what our generation has to do. we have to sum up that same vision for the future. we made good strides and we're reducing carbon pollution and preserving landscapes. we're ra

the national park service is celebrating its 100 anniversary today. we will take you to the national archives for a discussion on how the service has evolved. that is the :00 on c-span. presidential candidate hillary clinton talks about her plans for the economy in reno, nevada. we will get your reaction with phone calls and tweets. coverage ofhave candidates for various teamsters leadership positions. nearly 1.5 million members will vote by mail this fall. >> 100 years ago, president woodrow wilson signed the bill creating the national park service. today we look back on the past century of these caretakers of america's natural and historic treasures. 7:00 p.m. eastern, we are live from the national park service's most visited historic home, arlington house, the robert e lee memorial at arlington national cemetery. we will talk to the former national park service director and the former arlington house manager who will oversee the restoration of the mansion, headquarters, and grounds. today, the 100th anniversary of the national park service from arli

the national park service is unlike any other federal agency. stewardsnot only as for the nation's landscapes, but also at keepers of its cultural memory, and recognizing the american narrative is many narratives. that is telling its story in its entirety. when i became the director in 2009 with encouragement, we recognized there are gaps in the american narrative as told by the national parks. we must recommend to the president new designations to fill those gaps. to realize the inclusiveness and equality that had been part of the american vision, if not always the reality, we needed to start from the beginning. one summer day in 1619, issue -- a ship appeared off of what the comfort. that ship later was known as the african mayflower. by the time of the civil war point comfort had become the , union stronghold known as fort only union for to stand south of the mason-dixon line. general butler was at a command, and when slave owners demanded return of property, he refused, acting on his own. butler's reasoning was that the slaves were confederat

bruce: it is the national park travelers club. have about 2000 members from all over the country. our goal is to visit as many parks as we can, tell the public about national parks, try to enjoy them, and collect the passport stamps. people ask what is your favorite, i love the parks in alaska, i love the parks out west. there are a lot of small parks that people need to go out and see. the historical parks, the small parks you have never heard of. there are 59 of national parks, but there are a lot of other units that are historical, battlefields, seashores and forth the people can see. and one in american samoa. bruce: yes, that was one of the most expensive trips. you have to be ready to invest some time into this. john: you do this with family? yes, my wife goes and my sister-in-law goes, and we have a good time visiting the parts. the of not been to all of them, but my wife got me started on this adventure, so i have to give a shout out to her. john: you are wearing your sin tenure t-shirt today. you're going to be part of th

national park service. united press international -- the president expands public lands more than any of his predecessors. more than any other u.s. president. says,tweet from edward they favorite park is yellowstone. mike is joining us from ohio. good morning. worry going live, just getting started, live coverage here on c-span. >> a long time washington, d.c. community activist suzanne meehan and september 13, author larry ty will be here to discuss and sign his book, bobby kennedy, the making after liberal icon. to find out about these and other programs at the national archives, consult our monthly events. there's a copy in the lobby and available on our website, www.archives.gov. in our role as the nation's record keeper, the national archives maintains and makes accessible the documents and materials created by the federal government agency, including of course the national parks service. through wednesday, august 31, you can view on display in our rotunda, the original organic act, the legislation that

the national park service is unlike any other federal agency. we serve not only as stewardess of the nation's greatest landscapes but keepers of its culture memory and recognizing that the narrative is not just one narrative but many and means telling the story in its entirety. when i became director in 2009 with the encouragement of many individuals in this administration and from the outside as well,er we recognized that there are gaps in the american narrative as told by the national parks. and we must recommend to the president new designations to fill those gaps, to realize the inclusiveness and equality that had been part of the american vision. we needed to start from the beginning. one summer day in 1619, a ship appeared off what was known as port comfort. an english fort overlooking the chesapeake bay, that chip later became to be known as the african may flow ber because they carried the first enslaved africans to the colony. point comfort had become the union strong hold, the only union fort to stand south of the mason-dixon linebacker

>> in yellowstone national park. there will be i understand a few thousand people at the arch, the roosevelt arch where president theodore roosevelt dedicated it many years ago celebrating our country through one of our venerable parks. along with a lot of other people. >> director jarvis had an editorial in "the washington post." he mentioned that a lot of those who work in the park service end up staying for life. why is that? >> it becomes for many a job that is a lifestyle as well as a life. and i think maybe military families can understand that. you often live and work together in places. you are transferred and moved around. so you develop sort of a family across this but you also become very dedicated to the resources. we have very passionate people and we look forward to improving their lives, also, in the next century of service. >> how passionate people and look forward passionate peo and look forward to improving their lives, too, in this next century of service. john: how long have you been in the service

they tend to be mostly historical national parks. so they commemorate all the contributions we've made to the history of this country. minutemen national historic park. lowell's national historic part. it was the first planned industrial city, changed the economy of this country. but we also have the national seashore in cape cod, a beautiful, beautiful site. like no other. and then we have the sites that commemorate the adams family. we have the freedom trail in boston that takes you from all the various landmarks, again, of the beginnings of this country. we're home to a lot of history, but some beautiful natural sites as well. as we know famously it's been called the national park system which will celebrate its 100th year has been called america's best idea because it protects for future generations these things that are uniquely ours. whether it's our history, our cultural, the great beauty of this country, the diverse beauty of this country. without it, in absent the federal support for it, i think much of it would be in a fragi

or the national park system. there are many gaps in that connection. and that is a great challenge. it's ultimately the salvation, if you will, the park through individual citizen carrier. if we don't create that opportunity for them to have that connection with their own parks, they will not be ultimate supporters or stewards of the parks. that is a continuing challenge. >> a tweet from yolanda paris who wants to know once they have a property, how do you figure out trails and allowing the trail system so that people can enjoy it and preserve the environment? >> the park service is given the responsibility to develop a park to meet the needs of the visiting public. and obviously has to be very sensitive to creating trails and other facilities that respect fellow citizens with disabilities. but any facility that is to develop in a park is subject to a planning process in which the american people, through the established procedures, have an opportunity to comment on the merits of that given area. in many instances

and that really began sort of the responsibility of the national parks service to tell america's storyhrough historic sites. and since that time we've added a significant number of places that represent the complexity of the american story. >> about two-thirds of the park service sites are historic or cultural in nature. how do you balance your response to history as well as the natural places. >> well both the natural places and the cultural sites have a story to be told. we tell story through place. we have great partners like the smithsonian. but we actually have the physical asset where history was made. in a national location like yellow stone or yosemite, you can tell the story of animal life or climate change. but in a place like gettysburg you can tell not only the physical activity of the civil war but the meaning behind it, such as the release and freedom of over 4 million africans that became african-american citizens. >> what would you say has been the most important change in the park service in the last 50 years? >> well i think that on one part we haven't changed that mu

members of the organization and their counterparts in the national park service. and similarly with local and municipal parks that have outstanding programs, and they work with the national park service and with their national association. i might add that the park service has a specific function that allows park service employees to provide technical assistance within the resources they have available to state and to local parks in terms of interpretation, in terms of planning, resource preservation, so is the shared experience and it's a shared opportunity between all the organizations, every spectrum of the government level, to cooperate and collaborate towards achieving effective and efficient stewardship. >> brandon bies, how did you get into this line of work? >> sure, so i started my parks service career, actually i started with an interest in history, american history, military history, and also in archaeology, so i began as an archaeologist for the national park service. i was very fortunate to do work as an archaeologist at a number of civil war battlefie

>> national park service director jonathan jarvis on the 100th anniversary of the nation's park system. he talked about environmental concerns come increasing fees to cover the cost of park maintenance and other park service is addressing recent allegations of sexual misconduct. we will bring as much of this as we can until the start of the summer on bullying. >> good afternoon, and welcome to the national press club. my name is thomas burr. i'm the washington correspondent for the salt lake tribune and the 109th president of the national press club. our guest today is jonathan jarvis, the director of the national park service. i'd like to welcome our cspan and public radio audiences, and i would like to remind you that you can follow the action on twitter using the hashtag #npclive. that's #npclive. now it's time to introduce our head table guests. i'd ask that each of you stand briefly as your name is announced. please hold your applause until i have finished introducing the entire table. from your right, dylan brown, a reporter from e&e publishing; gene tighe, director of bbn techno

he began to agitate for the creation of national park here. -- a national park park here. the first thing he did was wrote a lot of letters to prominent people trying to get it established as a national parkm , and he also constructed a lot --trails to afford axis access into the canyons. i am sure local people came out for a picnic and so on. one of the other things he did was in 1926, he started collecting buffalo nickels from the kids in town and used the at money to transport a couple of bison in here. he wanted to establish a herd of bison in the monument. the oaks club conspired to bring a couple of elk. john got some money from the chamber of commerce to build some fences to contain these and metals, and for -- to contain these animals. and for many years we had bison here. they said, they're out of here and went on south into the high , country. oddly enough, they're are coming back into the monument now. the bison, we removed in 1983 because they were confined to a small area, and they had a really adverse impact on the resource. that was the kind of thing he did.

now - the national parks service oversees 58- national parks and 150-national monuments. today - mayor pro tem steve ross and the city of las vegas presented a centennial proclamation to the national park service... at the tule springs fossil nevada has the great basin national park... but zion national park in utah is much closer to las vegas. but if you want to stay close to home - there is the lake mean national recreational areas. that's where we find fox five's abby theodros now. 100 years ago today president woodrow wilson signed a law that created the national parks service - fast forward to 2016 and there are hundreds of parks for us to enjoy. and here at lake mead - their gett started early - -if you ask this second grader his thoughts on the national parks services centennial godorov: it was probably around a really long time thats because it is. 100 years in the making and park visitors like ethan godorov celebrated at lake mead today. we asked him to share his favorite part about the lake godorov: hmmm and understandably- it was a thinker ethan godorov, second

park. next, an expert from the 1934 silent film national glacier park. if the spirit moves you you can hum along or whatever. and finally moving 50 years ahead and see a clip from the 1984 film the fountain of life; rocky mountain national park. without further ado let's roll those clips, please. ♪ >> in magnificent national parks of the civilian conservation core that will protect this from destruction by man and nature. it came into existence in 1916, the national park services has setup long range plans for the preservation and enjoyment of the parks. the coming of the core immediately presented the service with a strong young force to put the plans into action. atop the purple high country of north carolina and tennessee lay the great smoky mountains national park. 300,000 acres of wilderness that received national park services status in 1933. national parks are not built. god did that in the beginning. the making of the pictures work without disturbing national conditions. the act of congress establishing great smoky mountains national park prohibi

thank you for not making us the national park, by the way. you talked about new designations, this backlog. with all the new added designations, the new area, the hundreds of thousands of acres added to your portfolio, does it benefit the park service or does it become a challenge because you are to have a backlog? arvis: let me clarify, we are up 22 units to the park system. that is through congress and presidential acts. in almost every case, we have minimized our footprint. the actual amount of land or resource that we need to take care of. and, we have brought in, particularly through the park system, philanthropic partners to assist with that, and have been quite successful in raising funds. it does add to our overall responsibility, i think we have been very judicious in ensuring it does not add significantly to the backlog. >> how will you tackle the backlog? we have roaming roads and bridges, outdated electric and sewage systems. how will you tackle the backlog? we understands: excruciatingt detail. about half of the backlog is in what

the fee is retained by the national park service. but even with those new authorities and the direct appropriation, there isn't that much money. i mean there isn't enough money. then in 1997 the park -- congress established the national park foundation, which is the philanthropic corporate arm, if you will, of the park service to raise money and in kind services from corporate america. they're doing a bang-up job. and the american people, very generous, make donations. over 200,000 volunteer their services. philanthropy has been one of the mainstays. people donating lands, buildings. automobiles. but the park service would be authorized to accept donations i'd be standing outside the door at the end of the session. but i appreciate that question. the thing that's interesting is when -- i've got a little tally from the legislative office two or three weeks ago. i think on the average starting with president clinton up to this time when president obama said -- president bush, president obama i think over that span of time. 24 years. i g

they are in the national parks. y are the books that need to be opened and read in a different way in a different narrative to all of the places that we hold dear as a nation i firmly believe as a people wherever you are on this planet you preserve and you protect the things that are important to you our nation has protected and held aside 413 national parks full of the stories in places that are important to us as u.s. citizens and encourage us to begin to look at those stories through a whole different perspective i honor those who came before us in the work that they did and as we move into our next century i think i would like to charge the young people that are sitting and listening to this may be even in the audience if you've always wanted to be a national park ranger this is your time this is your time to step up and tell your story. to guide people in the places of our heritage. as i think about the youth that i work with in indian country. i think about the generational trauma that they carry with them but

pompeii pys pillar is on the national park service's national register of historic places. this is american history tv, only on c-span3. >> sunday night on "q&a." >> it was an average of one racial lynching a week in the south. and it was a brilliant psychological device to hold down a race, because if you were black, you were afraid this could happen to you. >> author lawrence talks about his literary career, including his latest book "the lynching." the epic courtroom battle that brought down the klan, about the trial following the 1981 killing of michael donald by the kkk in mobile, alabama. >> michael was this teenager. he's trained to become a bricklayer. he's the youngest of seven children. he's home with his mother in their house, and his aunt wants to ask him to go out and get a pack of cigarettes. gives him a dollar, goes out. this old buick pulled up behind him. and james tiger knowles pulls out his pistol and orders him into the back seat of the car. he knows when he gets in the car what's going to happen. black man in alabama, you know. >> sunday night at 8:00 e

is green, that means it's more e administered national parks service. rock creek park is one of the largest urban parks in the united states. it's the third oldest national park service unit, i believe, so you have lots of wonderful little green spaces that are parks here in washington and the washington metropolitan area. what i think is most amusing is within our region you could put our region inside yellowstone national park about 500 times, but at the same time one of the things that makes it significant and important region is right there. we are in the nation's capital. this is a basic floor plan of our building. one of the things that you can see is you have office spaces around the exterior wall. this is the main storage space, and what these offices around this wall basically provide a buffer, an environmental buffer, to help stabilize the environment inside the main storage area. when the building was built out, there is a gsa-leased building. this exterior wall and this exterior wall were built in, and there's a vapor barrier inside that wall

it commemorates the deep rooted history of the industrial revolution as well as obviously the national park service and the state of georgia as a whole. but you know, you have sites like this that are greatly significant to our nation. this particular site shows the resilience of a city, augusta, that used the canals frankly to reinvent itself and to define its own destiny. and it's a type of things that our nation has been built on. i think it's valuable that we remember those things and that we treasure them and take care of them, preserve them, and with the anniversary of the national park service, i think this is a great place to remember. >> join "american history tv" tonight live at 7:00 p.m. eastern time to commemorate the national park service centennial. >> 100 years ago, president woodrow wilson signed the bill creating the national park service. today, we look back on the past century of the caretakers of america's natural and historic treasures. at 7:00 p.m. eastern, we're live from the national park service's most visited historic home, arlington house, the robert e. lee memori

government gave her the yosemite valley until it went back to uncle sam to become part of the yosemite national park century she made a second effort buying 9,000 acres of redwood forest and creating california redwood state park. redwoods, the tall, tapering giants of the tree world are largely responsible for the fact that the golden state has a state park system, one of the finest in the existence. during the world war an extraordinary organization the save the redwoods league was brought into existence and they save as much as possible of the virgin redwood forest. out of the work of this league were the movement for a series of parks to contain liberal samples of the best of california's natural beauty. 3 to 1 californians voted in 1929 in favor of a bond issue of $6 million for parks. the bond act required that if that $6 million had been spent and for it, california has obtained mountain and sea, forest and desert, canyon, stream and waterfall with the majestic world, carpeted with the giant fern from which tree trunks rise 300 feet to the sky are found in state parks and saved forever from t

a national park is like multiple national monuments all thrown together. so for example, yellowstone, which was the first national park, wildlife values in the mountain range, running through a high huge elevation lake, all the thermal features and so on. that is generally what sets parks apart from monuments. there are, you know, it is a fuzzy boundary between them. so there are areas that are parks that probably more rightly should be national monuments and vice versa. otto's attempts to make the monument accessible included building trails into some of the canyons and also pioneering a road up the east side of the monument called the serpent's trail. the serpent's trail served not only to afford access to the monument, but it also afforded access for ranchers living south of the monument, access to their land and so on. at some point, otto envisioned the serpent's trail would be the starting point for the union road, which would continue all the way from the grand junction area to southern california. and he was a big schemer. he was always dreaming the

in his weekly address, the president talks about celebrating the 100th anniversary of the national parks service. and representative mimi walters delivers the republican response. she discusses the house republican legislative agenda and the impact on national security. hello,nt obama: everybody. earlier this summer, michelle and my children and i headed west to the national parks. and i have got to say it was a breath of fresh air. we explored hundreds of feet of underground, standing beneath stalactites in new mexico. we hiked up a trail next to a waterfall in california and i even took some pictures of my own, which i thought were pretty good. but the truth is, no camera, especially one with me behind it , can fully capture the beauty of america's national parks. in denali, to seneca falls, are more than 400 parks and other sites capture our history and our sense of wonder. as fdr said, there is nothing so american as our national parks. the fundamental behind -- idea behind the parts is that the country belongs to the people. this month, we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of th

thursday, the 100th anniversary of the national parks service, live from arlington house at 7:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. mr. burke: good afternoon and welcome to the national press club. my name is thomas burke, the washington correspondent for "the salt lake tribune" and the hundred ninth president of the press club -- my name is thomas burr. our guest is jonathan jarvis. we would like to welcome our c-span audiences, and you can follow the action on twitter. using the #npclive. now it is time to introduce our guests. i asked each of you stand briefly. please hold your applause until i have finished introducing the entire table. from your right dylan brown, the , reporter for the any publishing, jean tie director of , bbn technologies, a longtime national parks volunteer, correspondent from mcclatchy newspapers, president and ceo of the national park foundation, elizabeth miller, washington bureau chief of "the new york times," the honorable john warner, former secretary of the navy and senator from the commonwealth of virginia. [applause] mr. burr: a medical

today, the 100th anniversary of the national park service live from arlington house at 7:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on cspan3. >>> the 1600 acre monocacy national battlefield is about 45 miles northwest of the u.s. capital. the national park service property includes the best family farm, built in the 1790s by a family of french caribbean immigrants who owned about 90 slaves. c-span met joy beasley, the cultural resources program manager at the national park to learn how remnants of the 200-year-old slave quarters were discovered in 2003 and partially excavated in the summer of 2010. >>> we are at the best farm, which is named the best farm after the tenant that occupied this farm during the civil war. but what we know today as the best farm forms the 274 acres of what was originally a 748 acre plantation. that plantation was known as laramie todge. it was established by a family of french planters who came to maryland in 1793 from the colony known today as haiti. the family was called the vincent deere family. they came to maryland to escape civil unrest associated wi

it became cuyahoga national park in the year 2000. with that comes a new idea for bringing national parks to people. most of us aren't going to get to the gates of the arctic national wildlife refue, but if we had parks nearby, we could get to those. they started making national parks in urban areas. we have a backbone that's a braided backbone with the ohio and erie canal. braided backbone with the cuyahoga city railroad and the cuyahoga river. this national park was created out of land that had been used in some instances abused, left in ruin because it was a was wasteland in some places that people didn't see any potential for. and yet we cleaned it up. we let nature do what nature does. and now we're the 11th most visited national park. there's a huge story here. a story of can i say redemption? a story where if we allow nature to do what it does best, if we give it the chance to do what it does best and not interfere, or help it, then the land can recover with environmental legislation and laws and with things that we have in pla

we are proud to have a national park in our city, and it's growing. we have had some growing pains. it is welling up, and you have pains. we just completed the mariel and kramer park. she was the wife of one of the mayors of paterson, new jersey, who is still living. she is not still living. she was a great person. she got me interested in the falls. she got me into the preservation. preservation does not mean putting ropes around a place so people can't see it really or touch it. no, this is a very part of our community. it is a lifeline. we try to make it a destination, this national park, so that people will come here from all over the world. we want more to come. and so we are very proud of our national park, and i very proud of the park service. they do a fantastic job day in and day out. most of the time, we take it for granted, that we don't do that in paterson. they made a very, very severe move to make sure the immunity -- community is involved day in and day out at the paterson great falls. we have grown, the park has grown in a very short period of time. a lot of visitors

the national park here, the creation of a national park for -- national park requires an act of congress is much more difficult to do. and national monument can be established by a presidential proclamation. though john otto wanted a national park, it was easier to establish a national monument and that is what happened when president taft proclaimed the area in 1911. the other distinction is resource base, generally, a national monument is set aside in recognition of one spectacular feature. in this case, the erosional qualities of the monument. the national park is like multiple national monuments all thrown together. for example yellowstone, the first national park, wildlife values as a mountain range running through it, a huge, high elevation. all of the thermal features and so on. that is what sets parks apart from monuments. it is a fuzzy boundary between them. areas that are natural parks probably should be monuments and vice versa. early attempts to make the monument accessible included building trails into some of the canyons and also pioneering a road into the monument called t

i mean, it's the most visited national park in the country. most people don't know that. it has nearly 10 million visitors a year compared to the western parks that sometimes have 2, 3, 4 million. has more trees. different kinds of trees than all of europe put together. all sorts of wildlife. 80 years ago when it was formed, there were about 100 black bears. now there's 1,600. 315 wild turkey, i see two dozen in my front yard. i like the fact that i can walk out of my house, walk about two miles to conservation property, and walk into the great smoky park, which includes the highest mountains in the eastern united states. i like the stories about the people who live there because unlike the western parks which were built out of land that the country already owned, great smokies were created in 1934 from land that north carolina and tennessee gave to the country. and people were moved out of the park. and the park bought their land, so those of us who live around there feel like we own it because it used to be ours. so there's a sense of ownership about the smokies even tho

the civilian conservation for park recs are restored. here as an all nationalvice park work of this character exhausting the research is done to ensure it is accurate and authentic. all the surrounding property is being improved to make it assessable for thousands that visited each year. an interesting state park in georgia surrounding alexander stevens, vice president of the confederacy. it was honored on his home estate. now, that building is being restored and the ground is being made more attractive to visitors. strict details. along georgia's subtropical coast marks this part of the world essentially before james town. the national park service paints the history of these old ruins is still in progress. here is the first town in ohio being restored and beautiful spring their philadelphia was founded in 1772 and abandoned in 1777 and the site we discovered many years later. the government rehabilitation program is transferring citizens from localities in to desirable surroundings. this program is in the parkland -- it is being transformed into parks and rec

and i think from the standpoint of parks, i mentioned crater lake national park. this is a real treasure and it is enjoyed by not just people from the united states, but all over the world. it's 14 years older than the park service itself. and the water is absolutely incomparable. it's just surrounded by spectacular recreation and wilderness. this is a place like no other. the solitude, for example, is something that is treasured by all. in fact, couple years ago there was an effort to fly helicopters over crater lake and i stepped in and blocked it because the citizen outcry to helicopters was so great. i also believe that as we protect our parks and celebrate this birthday, we recognize that recreation and tourism is a huge economic engine for our country. it produces, for example, at crater lake $61 million worth of revenue every single year. i just look forward to celebrating with friends and neighbors and guests from all over the world. because this will be a very special time at a very special place to recognize what is best about our country. this, of course

next we tour the courthouse national historic park to learn about the events surrounding that day. >>> welcome to a mat cox courthouse national historical park. i'm patrick schroeder, the park historian and now we're standing in front of the cover hill tavern. this is the oldest building in the village built in 1819. in fact, this area was called clover hill before it became appomattox courthouse in 1845. this county was one of the later counties formed, and they took part of the four surrounding counties and formed appomattox county in 1845. this county had about 9,000 people in it. more than half of them were enslaved, working on the tobacco farms. as of 1860, about 120 people lived here in appomattox courthouse. folks would stay at the clover hill tavern as they traveled along the richmond-lynchburg stage road. the courthouse was built in 1846, maybe finished in 1847. there was a jail that burned during the war and a new jail was built across the road. interestingly enough, when people come to appomattox courthouse, they learned in their schoolbooks that the surrender took place at

>> 100 years ago, president woodrow wilson signed the bill creating the national park service. today, we look back on the past century of these caretakers of america's natural and historic treasures. at 7:00 p.m. eastern, we're live from the national park service's most visited historic home, arlington house, the robert e. lee memorial, at arlington national cemetery. join us with your phone calls as we talk with robert stanton, former national park service director, and brandon bise, the former arlington house site manager who will oversee the upcoming year-long restoration of the mansion, headquarters, and grounds. today, the 100th anniversary of the national park service live from arlington house at 7:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. >> i would like to welcome everyone to william howard taft national historic site on behalf of the national park service. the significance of the house is that this is the birth and boyhood home of our 27th president and 10th chief justice william howard taft. the house was built around 1840. that's the time that we like to use

i mean, it's the most visited national park in the country. most people don't know that. it has nearly 10 million visitors a year compared to the western parks that sometimes have 2, 3, 4 million. has more trees, different kinds of trees than all of europe put together. all sorts of wildlife. 80 years ago when it was formed, there were about 100 black bears. now there's 1,si600. there are about 315 wild turkey and i can see two dozen in my front yard. i like the fact i can walk out of my house, walk about two miles to conservation property and walk into the great smoky park, which includes the highest mountains in the eastern united states. now, i like the stories about the people who live there because unlike the western parks which were built out of land the country already owned, great smokies were created in 1934 from land that north carolina and tennessee gave to the country. and people were moved out of the park, and the park bought their land, so those of us who live around there feel like we own it because it used to be ours. so there's a sense of ownership about t

part of yosemite national park.of-the-century, she made a second effort, by 9000 acres of redwood forest and 's redwoodsifornia state park. redwoods are largely responsible for the fact that the golden state has a state park system, one of the few in existence. it was brought into the distance chiefly to save the redwood forest. of the work of this week was a movement for a series of parks to create liberal samples of the best of california's natural beauty. 1895 toians voted in give $6 billion to parks. it has been spent, and givenrnia has been from which great -- to fill all those who behold them with awe and reverence. california redwoods state park, consisting of 10,000 acres, two 2.5 hours from san francisco, was greeted when the state set out to create recreational areas second to none. it is a monument to the stately giants of the forest world. the park is splendidly equipped to serve the requirements of the visiting public and in the summer season is constantly filled with c cars. the members of the civilian

out to the parks to save this go maritime national historical park but the 14 other national parks in the bay area. >> us talk about what we can see this is the maritime museum give a sense of we are close to fisherman's wharf and ghirardelli square. >> there inside the museum and this is the stern of the ship found in san francisco. >> yes this came into the gold rush and brought passengers and the passengers left and so did the crew because they wanted to make there own fortunes. -- their own fortunes. the boat was stuck in the mud and found years later >> this is a model of what it would've looked like and this is a bit of san francisco's maritime history. >> that's correct. that history also willing people but ships like this reuse out here to wail on the west coast >> this is a replica but this would have been out on the bay and go out into the ocean. >> in the ocean would be a big ship have these smaller boats to take the crew out. >> reporter: it's free to come into business him today and national parks across the country today. >> this museum is always rebutted the national hi

a competitive funding source aimed at getting young people interested and connected with the national parks and providing them with on the job training that might help them consider a career in the parks service. i was able to apply for and awarded the yip funding that allowed me to hire the student interns involved in the project. this is jordan riccio, a graduate student at american university. and this is alex brueggeman. he is a senior at howard university. >> i'm of haitian decent which is why i wanted to do this project. it is an extremely unique place. you don't really think of a french immigrant family coming here bringing haitian slaves with them. so, i was incredibly moved by the story and it turned out to be really great. >> i got involved in the project through american yumpbt. -- american university. i heard about the project and applied and met with joy and was able to come here. i found it to be a very fantastic program, especially to learn more about the trade of archaeology and the methodologies involved. i learned a lot about many, many things. especially shovel test kits.

today there are 84 million acres and 410 sites including 59 national parks and 128 historical parks and 10 nationals seashores.

president woodrow wilson signed the act that created the national park service to conserve the scenery... wild life and natural historic landmarks for future generations to enjoy. back then there were 14 national monuments. now... there are more than 58 parks and 150 monuments. national park status doesn't come easy-- but lake mead was given the honor in 19-69. "lake mead national recreation area was established as a national park because the citizens in the local area, both in nevada and arizona pushed for it! national parks don't get established usually unless the local citizens are really in favor of it." to celebrate... there will be free entry to all of the national parks in u-s through the weekend. "we are not building this country of ours for a day, teddy roosevelt said. it is to last through the ages" president obama is making his virtual reality debut. it's all part of the national geographic's first virtual reality experience. in honor of the national park service's centennial. visiting yellowstone when i was 11 years old. and seeing bison and moose and bears for the first ti

. >> the great smoky mountain national park because i grew up there. because i lived there. and because i really love it. i mean it's the most visited national park in the country. most people don't know that. it has nearly 10 million visitors a year compared to the western parts that sometimes have 2 million, 3 million or 4 million. has more trees, different kinds of trees, than all of europe put together. all sorts of wildlife. 80 years ago when it was formed there were about 100 black bears now. now there's 1,600. there are about 315 wild turkey and i can see two dozen in my front yard. i like the fact that i can walk out of my house, walk about two miles through conservation property and walk in to the great smokey park, which includes the highest mountains in the eastern united states. and i like the stories about the people who live there, because unlike the western parts, which were built out of land the country already owned, the great smokies were created in 1934 from land that north carolina and tennessee gave to the country. people were move

to mark the centennial of the national park service we are featuring historic sites and national parks from tour. check out our website c-span.org/these two were. -- cities tour. louisiana on q&a, state university history professor and historian nancy isenberg discusses her book "white trash: the 400 year untold story of class in america." >> they were poor white ghettos in places like indianapolis, chicago. they were described in the same derogatory way as poor blacks who were living in the city. that is part of our history that we don't talk about. we don't ruin -- want to face of to how important class is. >> tonight at 8:00 on q&a. artifactsek american take you to museum and is stored places to learn what artifacts reveal about american history. next, national park service ranger matthew penrod leads a tour of arlington house, the robert e. lee memorial. today it is the most visited his stork home and the national park service system, which is marking its centennial this year. arlington house will close at the end of 2016 for a year-long restoration made possible by a $12.35 millio

we are proud to have a national park in our city, and is growing. up, and you have pains. t created the mariel and kramer park. she was the wife of one of the mayors of paterson, new jersey, who is still living. she is not still living. she was a great person. she got me interested in the falls. she got me into the preservation. preservation does not mean putting ropes around a place so people can't see it really or touch it. no, this is a very part of our community. it is a lifeline. we try to make it a destination, this national park, so that people will come here from all over the world. we want more to come. and so we are very proud of our national park, and i very proud of the park service. they do a fantastic part day in and day out. most of the time, we take it for granted, that we don't do that in paterson. they made a very, very severe move to make sure the immunity is involved day in and day out at the paterson great falls. we have grown, the park has grown in a very short period of time. a lot of visitors are coming here from all over the world. we have legislati

but it wasn't until 1916, a hundred years ago today, that the national park service was created to protect the rapidly expanding inventory. today the park service oversees 413 sites, including 59 major national parks, covering 84 mountains, the most visited, to the grand canyon, the everglades. and the newest addition katahdin woods and waters national monument in maine, designated by president obama just yesterday. mike reynolds is deputy director of the national park service. >> so if you're a science person, you can go to edison and be in his lab as if he never had left. if you're a rock climber you can hang upside-down on yosemite national park on 400 foot cliffs. if you're a history buff you can walk through the steps of jackson and lee in the civil war. >> decades ago some politicians wanted to turn this old towpath and canal in maryland into a highway. but nature lovers prevailed. today it's the c&o canal national historical park. it runs 185 miles all the way from west virginia to washington, dc. and it gets almost five million visitors a year, including the determan family whose f

and that doesn't even include over celebration -- visit one of colorado's national parks this weekend -- it's free! n-p-s is waiving admission fees to all of its parks - from today through the 28th. colorado has 8 sites around the state -- including parks, trails and monuments. probably the best known here -- rocky mountain national park is the third most visited in the country -- and saw more than 4 million visitors last year. the park its- than the national park service. president wilson established rocky back in january 19- 15. it's spread out over 415 sqaure miles -- and is open 24/7 - all year long. and while you're out -- grab a postcard -- and share the beauty of the parks. the u-s postal service is celebrating too -- they issued "national parks all showing different views and wildlife you can find during a park visit. you're definitely going to want to wash your hands after this -- and probably grab a tissue -- because new studies show - your sneeze goes way farther than you think. and these days - a thief's job can be pretty easy -- especially if you have one of those cars th