U.S. National Parks: America's History (Part 3)

Fast forwarding to the 20th century, my epic 25 day SW road trip did take in some U.S. National Park Service (NPS) sites including the homes of two United States' Presidents (Hoover #31 and Truman #33) as well as a couple of historically significant times in our American history.

The birthplace of Herbert Hoover is located in West Branch, Iowa.  While I had previously been there as part of my visit to his Presidential Library and Museum next door, I had been unable to visit inside the buildings that make up the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site.  This was an early morning stop . . . the first in fact . . . after leaving Milwaukee earlier that day.  A good place to get out, take a walk (and a few photos), eat breakfast and head on down the road!

The next morning was targeted for Independence, Missouri and the Harry S Truman National Historic Site.  While I had also been to Truman's Presidential Library and Museum a couple of years back, I was unable to secure a ticket for the tour of his family home, where he returned after his presidency until the time of his death.  Unfortunately, no photography was permitted inside the home . . . but I thoroughly enjoyed by private 9:30am tour, as there were no other visitors there at 9:00am on a Thursday morning.

In addition to the film back at the visitor center, the Trumans' story is told in the house across the street, which does not require tickets for admission and photos are permitted.  I would highly recommend spending a couple of hours visiting all three of these sites.  If you are also considering including his Presidential Library & Museum, you will need at least four or five hours and should start with the Visitor Center and Presidential Home since tickets are limited and only available in the visitor center on the day of your visit.

While in New Mexico, I wanted to check out Los Alamos and the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.  Having recently watched the movie "Oppenheimer" I was curious about the town and life of those working on the first atomic bomb.  I had hoped to learn more about the top secret project, but I guess much of that is . . . well . . . still top secret!  The NPS visitor center is located in the Los Alamos Visitor Center and doesn't have much to see there.  I was especially disappointed there was no film to tell at least some of the story.  The walking tour of the area where folks lived was interesting and there was a community museum in the area.  Since it was late in the afternoon, and I still wanted to visit Bandelier National Monument before they closed, I pushed on.  All in all, this was a let down, but it was also my own fault since I made a (bad) choice to make time for Bandalier.  To do it over again, I should have skipped that and done the museum!

My final "history lesson" experienced thanks to my NPS visits was also the last of my journey . . . Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park in Topeka, Kansas.  This was planned as the reason to come to Topeka while also wanting to watch the professional women bowlers in their first tournament of the year.

This landmark U.S. Supreme Court case rendered segregation in public schools based on race as unconstitutional.  The 1954 decision came as five separate lower court decisions were brought forward and collectively known as "Brown v. Board of Education."  The case was largely constructed by the NAACP with Thurgood Marshall arguing as lead attorney.  Later (1967) he would become the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.  This NPS visitor center and exhibits are located in the former Monroe Elementary School, which was one of four African American segregated schools in Topeka. The exhibits and films throughout did an excellent job of telling the stories and sharing the impact of segregation on a number of people, families and communities.  I was very happy to have made the decision earlier in my trip to return to Milwaukee via Topeka.