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Park Perspectives: The 50th anniversary of a National Historic Site soon
by Pete Swisher, Hoover Park Superintendent · Op-Ed · December 18, 2014
We’ve heard a lot about anniversaries lately. Anniversaries offer an opportunity to reflect back on what once was compared to what is today.
Celebrating the anniversary of a wedding for example provides those involved a chance to look back and count the many blessings that the relationship has brought over the years. Historically speaking, anniversaries can mark a day of remembrance, like the recent December 7th, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.
Not long ago we began to speak about a new era of anniversaries relevant to the life of Herbert Hoover. We marked the 50th anniversary of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in 2012, and soon the Library and Museum will have a new exhibit: the Making of the Great Humanitarian, commemorating Hoover’s entry into public service.
Two anniversaries relevant to Herbert Hoover National Historic Site now present themselves with 2015 marking the 50th anniversary of the Historic Site itself; and coming in 2016 the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service to be celebrated nation-wide.
Your interest in these anniversaries is an individual experience. Just as you choose which programs you watch, which restaurants you patronize, or sports you participate in, so too do you choose how your surroundings influence you, or perhaps more importantly, how you can influence your surroundings.
Whether you have lived here your entire life or moved here recently, you undoubtedly encounter the National Historic Site either by design or happenstance. If you’ve attended a ranger-led program, seen the blacksmith at work, listened to music on the Village Green, or attended Hometown Days, you’ve experienced the park first hand. Similarly, if you enter and leave town via the I-80 interchange, you have at the very least driven through the park.
How many take notice what the park looks like when walking a pet, hiking the prairie, or bringing in family or friends? How many consider the small boy born in the cottage, and how he influenced the world? How many live here at least in part because West Branch offers something unique in all of Iowa?
The point being that now, after 50 years, sits a park that has become an important part of the West Branch community, contributor to regional tourism, one of a relatively limited number of nationally significant locations protected by the National Park Service, and an international symbol of compassion for humankind.
I indicated earlier that you too have the opportunity to influence your surroundings as they relate to Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. Along with our 50th anniversary, we will be simultaneously preparing for the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. We want to hear from our partner organizations and the public how they would like to celebrate this centennial observance. How can this park, and others, remain important to you in the next 100 years?
Getting involved is perhaps the most important way to influence the places and people around us. Your involvement can be as simple as a written letter, attending one of our soon to come public “listening sessions,” volunteering at the park to tell the story, taking care of the landscape, or greeting thousands of visitors annually. Simpler yet, attend one of the many free public programs offered by the park; in doing so you are casting your vote for your appreciation of this magnificent resource that only West Branch can deliver.
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