Segregation in Virginia’s National Parks, 1916–1965
About this StoryMap
This StoryMap examines National Park Service (NPS) segregation policy and how it was applied at six national parks in Virginia before the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibited segregation in places of public accommodation such as parks, theaters, courthouses, sports arenas, hotels, and restaurants. These six case study parks were chosen based on available archival materials and surviving resources on the landscape associated with segregation. The StoryMap is based on a published NPS report, Segregation in Virginia’s National Parks, 1916–1965 (2022) .
This StoryMap is best experienced using a personal computer or tablet. Use the titles at the top of the page to navigate to the different sections of this StoryMap. The maps highlight historic points of interest overlaying current land holdings, roads, trails, and other features. Access the footnotes, citations, and credits with this link , or with the linked superscript numbers throughout the StoryMap.
National Park Service Segregation Policy
During the 1930s, the National Park Service developed segregated facilities for Black and White visitors in the south even though the NPS was not obligated to abide by southern segregation statutes in areas under its own jurisdiction.
Civil rights organizations opposed segregated facilities at national parks from the start. In 1937, NAACP Executive Secretary Walter White wrote to the Secretary of Interior, “If it be true that the establishment of such segregated colonies is being contemplated, we wish to go on record as most vigorously protesting against the inauguration of such a policy.” 1
In the 1940s and 1950s, Civil rights organizations and individual park visitors pressured the Department of Interior to re-examine its policy and move toward desegregated facilities.
A map of the six case study parks in Virginia. Note that all boundaries depicted represent the present-day land holdings of the parks. 2
Colonial National Historical Park
Denied Access to Facilities They Built
In the 1930s, men enlisted in segregated Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps provided the labor to develop many of the national parks in Virginia. The CCC was a Depression-era work relief program to put unemployed men to work developing parks, protecting national forests, and addressing soil conservation projects. Black enrollees assigned to camps in the national parks reshaped the landscape, preparing it for visitors, and maintained facilities like picnic grounds. They actively participated in research projects, and helped construct interpretive displays and park ranger contact stations.
When the CCC disbanded in 1942, visitor facilities in the national parks were still segregated. That meant the Black men were unable to enjoy the facilities they built if they were designated for White visitors only.
In Virginia, the CCC was segregated into White and Black companies. Five Black CCC companies (up to 200 men each) were stationed at Colonial National Monument (before it became Colonial National Historical Park). Company #323, pictured here, was stationed at Camp NM-2. 1
Black CCC enrollees were also denied promotions into supervisory positions that could lead to long-term employment with the NPS. A local Black newspaper noted, “There are graduates of various schools of engineering who could qualify as camp [project] superintendents, and there are more than 3,000 young men between 23 and 29 years old with from three to five years’ experience doing every job in the CCC who could be foremen.” 2 But those opportunities were largely given to White men. In 1942, the Fair Employment Practices Committee surveyed the Department of Interior’s workforce. At Colonial National Historical Park, where thousands of enrollees had worked for nearly a decade, only six Black men continued to work in the park as day laborers. 3
This “progress map” shows the landscape work CCC Company NM-5 accomplished at Colonial National Monument from April to September 1935. 4
CCC enrollees removed dead trees throughout the park to reduce fire hazards and improve views. Here, young enrollees in Company #352 show the size of the root ball of a tree they removed. 5
CCC enrollees worked to control erosion by laying sod along the park’s waterways. They also graded and constructed Colonial Parkway. 6
George Washington Birthplace National Monument
Children Denied Access to Dining Facilities on Field Trip
In the 1930s, the practice of segregation in Virginia’s national parks affected a full range of visitor facilities including picnic areas, campgrounds, and restrooms developed by the NPS, as well as dining and overnight lodging provided by “concessionaires” operating in the parks. Park staff directed visitors to segregated facilities.
In 1938, Sister M. Dominica led a group of Black children from the Catholic St. Augustine School in Washington, DC, on a field trip to George Washington Birthplace National Monument. She described how park staff, including Superintendent Philip Hough, tracked the group’s movement through the park and steered them toward some facilities and away from others. Sister Dominica and Superintendent Hough both left accounts that enable us to follow the discrimination and segregation the group experienced that day.
Duck Hall Picnic Grounds
The Duck Hall Picnic Grounds, illustrated in a detail from George Washington Birthplace National Monument's 1938 Master Plan. 1
The children arrived with lunch boxes to eat at the picnic area. Superintendent Hough told them they could not eat there because it was “the law that colored people should be segregated from the whites on the picnic grounds.” Hough later said he refused to allow the group to use the picnic grounds because White visitors were there and he “felt sure” they “would not like it to have the colored children mix with them.” 2
Bridges Creek Beach
Bridges Creek Beach, as seen in 1961. 3
Hough escorted the group to Bridges Creek Beach, a place he explained “was set aside for colored.” Bridges Creek lacked picnic tables or other amenities. Local Black residents used this site for swimming. In spite of this demonstrated demand and interest, NPS planners discussed but never formally developed a planned picnic area at the beach, and administrators developed regulations that actively discouraged use of the site. Hough contended that a fully developed picnic area was not necessary due to low Black visitation. 4
Log House Tea Room
The Log House Tea Room at George Washington Birthplace National Monument. 5
Sister Dominica also reported the students were refused sit-down dining service at the Log House Tea Room after touring the grounds. They were told the Tea Room did not serve soft drinks or ice cream. This was untrue; the concessionaire’s contract listed ice cream and soft drinks among the services provided. Sister Dominica perceived this as a thin excuse to turn them away from the dining room. 6
Post Office
The Post Office. 7
The group was re-directed to the Post Office to buy drinks and snacks. In several national parks in Virginia, Black visitors were only provided with takeout service without the option to enjoy sit-down dining.
Memorial House
A visit to Memorial House by students enrolled in the Zacata School on February 22, 1957. 8
Despite the tension surrounding the group’s visit, the children were able to tour the Memorial House. Hough’s report and documentation of other visits suggest that Black visitors had access to the historical interpretation in the house. “We do not ignore colored visitors,” Hough wrote, “but we do not go out of our way to encourage them to come here.” 9
Superintendent Hough reported that the school group’s appearance at both the Log House Tea Room and Post Office was disruptive, and they left the site only “after considerably disturbing the postmistress.” Although Sister Dominica was not privy to Hough’s characterization of the group, she vouched for the children in her charge. “We only take children on our trips who are well behaved and who know how to act as ladies and gentlemen.” It was Superintendent Hough, she suggested, who was uncivil and rude. “This is the first time they have ever been insulted on any trip they have taken either in the North or the South.” 10
Shenandoah National Park
Delayed Construction of Facilities for Black Visitors
In the 1930s, the NPS prioritized facilities for White visitors as parks were developed in southeastern states. Director Arno Cammerer did not believe that facilities for Black visitors should be constructed as a matter of course. “I don’t think we are required to anticipate all kinds of service in the parks by installing facilities unless there is a demand,” he wrote. “In the Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks, I have always said that we have a location for colored camps in each park, but that these will not be built unless there is proven demand therefor.” Construction of facilities for Black visitors proceeded unevenly. Facilities for White visitors were numerous, varied, and more evenly distributed across parks. 1
In 1939, the NPS inventoried facilities for White and Black visitors at Shenandoah National Park. The survey revealed a separate and unequal landscape with the vast majority of facilities designated for White visitors. Black visitors were excluded from many sites, and facilities planned for them remained undeveloped. 2
This interactive map displays sites surveyed in 1939 at Shenandoah National Park, symbolized according to whether facilities were available for Black use, White use, or segregated Black and White use. The vast majority of facilities at sites with segregated Black and White use were designated for White visitors. Please note that the historic survey sites are displayed here over the park's present-day boundaries. Click on the points to see more detailed information about the differences in facilities available to visitors in 1939.
In summer 1939, Sadie Evans Gough wrote to Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes describing her experience at Shenandoah. She requested overnight accommodations and “To my dismay I found there was no shelter for colored visitors, and no cabins for overnight guests.” Gough and her companion were directed to the picnic grounds at Lewis Mountain. While the NPS and the park concessionaire had discussed developing a lodge and cabins for Black visitors there, their construction was not a priority. The picnic ground was incomplete and had no tables.
Unfamiliar with the area, Gough spent an uncomfortable night in her car in a parking lot of overgrown grass. She appealed to Ickes to address this inequity, noting that the conditions in the park made it “impossible for anyone to enjoy the beauties of nature that one so deserves.” 3
Letters of complaint from visitors and advocacy within the Department of Interior such as Adviser on Negro Affairs W. J. Trent and Solicitor Nathan Margold pressured the NPS to equalize the quality and kind of facilities available for Black and White visitors at Shenandoah. In 1940, the NPS improved the Lewis Mountain picnic grounds and the concessionaire built a lodge and cabins.
Entrance Sign
The entrance sign to the Lewis Mountain developed area made clear that the site was designated for "Negro" use. 4
Lewis Mountain Lodge
The Lodge and its sit-down dining room opened for use in 1940. 5
Cabins at Lewis Mountain
An example of a cabin at the Lewis Mountain developed area, which opened in 1940. 6
Campgrounds
Black park visitors camping at Lewis Mountain Campground. 7
William J. Trent, Jr., M.B.A., University of Pennsylvania, 1932. 9
Department of Interior Adviser on Negro Affairs W. J. Trent challenged NPS Director Cammerer’s policy of constructing facilities only in areas with high demand. “Usually, upon presentation of the idea that it is necessary to provide facilities for Negro use in these parks, the first reply ready to hand is ‘When there is sufficient demand by Negroes for facilities in these areas, then they will be provided.’”
Trent countered that this principle was not applied to construction of facilities for White visitors. If the NPS provided Black citizens with access to facilities in the park, Trent reasoned that Black visitation would rise. “I say open the facilities—and demand will be there.” 8
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park
Unequal Facilities
NPS facilities for Black visitors were not developed to the same standards as facilities for White visitors. In Virginia’s national parks, sites for Black recreation were often screened from other locations, placed on separate watersheds, or accessed through segregated points of entry. In the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park 1940 Master Plan, lunch facilities were marked as “Negro” or “White.”
White picnic areas at the Fredericksburg Battlefield were located along Lee Drive, clearly visible and accessible from the main road. In contrast, the Black picnic area was located at the end of a parking circle with foliage screening it from view. This screening was consistent with NPS practices at other parks. 1
In national parks, just as across the south, facilities were separate but failed to be equal. Restrooms constructed in Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center in 1936 illustrate the disparity. 2
"Colored" Restroom Facility
Restroom facilities for Black men were more utilitarian than those for White men. 3
Restroom facilities for Black visitors were behind the visitor center adjacent to a service area. The men’s room was finished with pressed metal stalls, subway tile, and concrete floors.
"White" Restroom Facility
Facilities for White men were finished with higher quality materials. 4
Restroom facilities for White visitors were inside the main visitor center. The men’s room was finished with polished stone wall finishes and tiled floor.
Prince William Forest Park
Black Visitors Traveled to Parks for Day and Overnight Outdoor Recreation
Prince William Forest Park was established as Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area, and provided access to organized camping for social service agencies and organizations such as the YMCA and Girl Scouts. Cabin camps within the area were segregated by race, located along separate watersheds, and accessed by separate service roads.
The campgrounds in the northern section of the park (Camps 1 and 4) provided Black children with cabin camping that was denied to them elsewhere. All but one of the Virginia State Parks excluded Black visitors entirely. The YMCA’s Camp Lichtman (Camp 1) described itself as “The Nation’s Finest Camp for Negro Youth” and attracted campers from throughout the region. In a pitch to parents, the camp boasted, “Because of the scarcity of camping facilities for Negro boys we are glad to be able to announce that Camp Lichtman is open to boys from Baltimore, Alexandria, Fredericksburg, Richmond, Petersburg, Newport News, Norfolk, and all other communities where there are parents who desire to give their boys the advantage of summer camping." 1
Black day travelers, overnight guests, and campers visited national parks, enjoyed the outdoors, and made their own memories. Even in parks that reported low Black visitation, thousands of Black visitors sought out the parks for outdoor experiences. The Washington Family Service Association’s Camp Pleasant (Camp 4), attracted hundreds of campers who enjoyed nature study, athletics, archery, swimming, hikes, canoeing, music, and crafting.
Camp Pleasant offered a range of outdoor recreation activities for campers (1950). The Washington Family Service Association operated Camp Pleasant for Black children and Camp Good Will for White children. Although the NPS adopted a desegregation policy in 1945, patterns of segregated visitation persisted. The Washington Family Service Association began the process of desegregating the camps in 1956—two years after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional.
The director at Camp Pleasant wrote in 1941, “Our staff is deeply interested in each camper and are quite optimistic in the feeling that every boy and girl will return home with a more intimate acquaintance with nature, a keener sense of dignity as well as the joy of labor, a finer appreciation of the beauty of the trees, the streams, the flowers, the birds, the sky, a strengthened conscience regarding clean sports, a better understanding of team work, a well-defined tolerance towards others, and a deeper spiritual experience...We hope the campers will develop a sincere love for this beautiful area and carry back to their homes much of the inspiration that nature affords here in the Chopawamsic.” 6
Blue Ridge Parkway
Complaints Prompt the NPS to Review Policy
Black travelers encountered a landscape of segregation at Virginia’s national parks and wrote complaints to the NPS and Department of Interior to demand a change in policy. They challenged conditions in interactions with park rangers and others who attempted to constrain their movements or direct them to segregated facilities.
For example, in 1941, a group of Black travelers from Winston-Salem, NC, stopped for a picnic along the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Meadow Picnic Area but were directed away from this area designated for White visitors to a small group of tables in the Woods Picnic Area set aside for Black visitors. They objected, and volunteered to submit to arrest or citation, in order to challenge the NPS’s policy in court.
In response to the petition from this group, Secretary of Interior Ickes directed Blue Ridge Parkway to open the entirety of the Woods Picnic Ground for integrated use immediately. Ickes assured them that this shift meant that other Black visitors would not encounter the kind of discrimination they experienced. 1 However, it must be noted that in 1941, segregation continued to be maintained at other sections of the park, including at the Meadow Picnic Area where the group first stopped.
Many letters of complaint and appeals for change were ignored or rebuffed. Some produced incremental change. However, the routine arrival of complaints forced discussions within the Department of Interior. After an internal legal review by the Solicitor’s Office recommended the agency abandon its segregation policy, the NPS experimented with integration at some sites between 1939 and 1941.
This shift progressed further during World War II, when all picnic grounds were desegregated as part of a wartime effort to boost Black morale. Ultimately, the NPS adopted a nondiscrimination policy in 1945 that applied to all parks.
Pine Spur
Excerpt from the master plan for Blue Ridge Parkway, showing proposed facilities at Pine Spur. 2
The NPS planned, partially built, but didn’t complete Pine Spur, a segregated recreational area for Black visitors. The facility became obsolete when the NPS adopted a nondiscrimination policy in 1945.
Changes in Regulation
The NPS made limited forays into desegregating facilities between 1939 and 1941, and extended the experiment to picnic grounds in 1942. Other facilities—including restrooms, overnight accommodations, and dining facilities—continued to be segregated by race. This changed in 1945, when the Department of Interior amended the Federal Code of Regulations to eliminate segregation.
The amended regulations prohibited owners, operators, and individual employees at any public accommodations “within areas administered by the National Park Service” from “discriminating against any person or persons because of race, creed, color or national origin” by refusing to provide services “enjoyed by the general public.” Businesses and concessionaires operating within the national parks were prohibited from “publicizing such facilities in any manner that would directly or inferentially reflect upon or question the acceptability or the patronage of any person or persons because of race, creed, color, or national origin.” 1
Despite this critical change, the shift in policy was not immediately evident to travelers. National parks became “jurisdictional islands” in a sea of segregation, within a state and social climate that perpetuated established, segregated patterns of visitation.
Travel guides continued to steer White visitors toward formerly White facilities and Black visitors toward facilities that had been designated for Black use. Black visitors were largely left to infer that they would be welcome in developed areas and park concessions. It was not until the 1960s that the NPS required concessionaires to display signs stating that discrimination was prohibited in all areas under the jurisdiction of the Department of Interior.
The cover and an excerpt from the Travelers' Green Book: 1963-64 International Edition. Note the inclusion of the "Camp Lewis Mountain Tourist Home" at the bottom of the excerpted page. 2
In the Traveler’s Green Book: 1963-1964 International Edition, Lewis Mountain was the only facility listed in any of Virginia’s national parks. Victor Green’s publication was crowd-sourced from subscribers to help Black motorists identify safe places to stay, eat, and obtain travel services. 3
A 1961 advertisement for concessions operated by the Virginia Sky-Line Company in Shenandoah National Park. Note that facilities at Lewis Mountain are not included. 4
The 1961 advertisement pictured above for concessions operated by the Virginia Sky-Line Company in Shenandoah National Park describes the choices in overnight accommodations and sit-down dining. Although park facilities were desegregated by 1961, Lewis Mountain—originally designated for Black visitors—is not listed. Advertisements steered White visitors away from formerly segregated Black facilities. 5
