Booker T Washington National Monument

Margaret Murray Washington

In 2020, Booker T. Washington National Monument experienced the wettest year ever recorded for Franklin County (since 1895). It was also the 7th warmest year on record.

In 2021, Booker T. Washington National Monument experienced a year that was much drier and warmer than average.

Booker T. Washington National Monument experienced warmer and much wetter 2022 than a typical year.

In all, 2023 was warmer than average, but precipitation was near normal at Booker T. Washington National Monument. It was the 7th warmest and 61st driest year in Franklin County, VA since 1895.

More than 1,300 people visited Booker T. Washington National Monument on Saturday, June 15, 2019 for the park’s annual celebration of freedom! Families began the day listening to the sounds of gospel music and smelling foods prepared by several vendors including white fish, hot dogs, hamburgers and barbecue.

Though the end of the Civil War brought the 13th Amendment, ending slavery and providing emancipation for more than four milllion enslaved people, the Reconstruction era during which Booker T. Washington came of age witnessed legislation that attempted to limit African Americans' new found freedoms.

While Ajena Rogers has had a variety of roles with the NPS, she became recognized for her expertise as a living history interpreter, portraying the lives of African American women at historic sites. In a 2020 oral history interview with the Park History Program, Rogers speaks of the privilege and burden of this first-person technique, experiencing racial dynamics of both past and present, and the family history that she carries forward.

Benthic macroinvertebrates are an important part of stream ecosystems in Booker T. Washington National Monument. NPS scientists are studying these organisms in order to better understand and protect park natural resources.