2016
EXHIBITION
Between 1950 and 1980, the US National Park Service added 168 park units to its system, and more than doubled attendance at its sites nationwide. This remarkable expansion included the reimagining of the role of NPS in urban and suburban areas. The 1962 establishment of the National Capital Region under NPS management reflects a new investment in planning parks parks at a regional scale (with an eye for urban and suburban accessibility). Similarly, the 1960s saw a reassessment of programming and management of Washington DC’s parks, as National Capital Parks (also managed by NPS) sought to better serve Washington’s Black population.
The exhibition Yes, it can be done! charted this moment of tumult and optimism through three case studies: Anacostia Park, in Southeast Washington, DC; Greenbelt Park, in Greenbelt, Maryland; and Grant Village, in Yellowstone National Park. Together these parks illustrate shifting attitudes towards conservation and visitor engagement in the mid-twentieth century United States.
This was the first exhibition of works from the Benjamin C. Howland papers, which were donated to the University of Virginia in 2016. I was the exhibition designer and curator. In 2015, I led the effort to document all materials in the collection before their donation to the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia.
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