Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial

Horace Peaslee

Montgomery Meigs

A lot of articles have been written about the history of the National Park Service (NPS) arrowhead emblem. Many recycle the same content and outdated information that has largely come from the NPS itself. Challenging the traditional story has revealed new sources of information—and two previously overlooked arrowhead designs—that rewrite the arrowhead origin story.

Robert E. Lee returns to Harpers Ferry after 160 years! These proofs represent but one component of a collaboration between historic furnishing, conservation, waysides, AV media, and some custom in-house work.

Arlington House: The Robert E. Lee Memorial is located within Arlington National Cemetery and is managed by the National Park Service. Three main periods of significance can be traced to the site. In 1802-1861, the Custis and Lee families used the estate as a residence. In 1861-1865, the property was used as the headquarters for the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War. In 1865-1880, the site was transformed into a national cemetery.

The first Black woman in the United States to graduate with a degree in forestry, Audrey Calhoun committed to a career in national parks.

A panel discussion with Cheryl LaRoche, Sabrina Romain, Edie Wallace, and Kimberly Robinson about the influence of African Americans on park lands and landscapes in the greater DC region and our nation. Includes discussions of NPS research on the long history of civil rights, the Reconstruction Era, and rural African American communities, and the stories of black history that are an integral part of American history.

Learn about the Brood X periodical cicadas that emerged in 2021 throughout the Mid-Atlantic U.S.

In spite of programs to encourage hiring of individuals with disabilities, it was often others’ misconceptions or discomfort that prevented women with disabilities from getting National Park Service (NPS) jobs. Those hired in the 1970s and early 1980s brought diverse skillsets and new perspectives to the workforce. Like the earliest women rangers in the 1910s and 1920s, they often only had short-term positions. They all challenged ideas of what it takes to be a park ranger.

The Civil War showed the cracks in the loosely held peace between the North and South. As the end of slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation established a reason for African Americans to join the fight, the stage was set for African American men to fight for their own freedom and rights as citizens of America.