Presidential Documents

20511

Federal Register

Vol. 63, No. 79

Friday, April 24, 1998

Title 3—

The President

Proclamation 7086 of April 22, 1998

National Park Week, 1998

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Within our national parks, we find all the rich diversity and extraordinary

beauty of America’s natural heritage. From the majestic Grand Tetons to

the mysterious Everglades, our parks preserve for us the treasures of our

magnificent country: the astonishing variety of plant and animal life, the

tranquility of forests and meadows, and the breathtaking grandeur of our

great rivers, deserts, and mountains. Our national park sites also provide

us with vital links to our heritage as a people and a Nation. They tell

us the stories of the individuals, places, and events that have shaped the

American character.

The Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island are tangible

reminders of the more than 12 million immigrants who came to the United

States through this small gateway to a new world and a new life. For

many Americans, this national park site tells a very personal story of family

struggles and triumphs and of the courage it takes to seek freedom.

Many African Americans took a different but equally brave route to freedom.

Their story has been preserved for us by the National Park Service in

the many historic sites marking the route of the Underground Railroad.

In homes, churches, and farms in communities throughout Ohio, Indiana,

Pennsylvania, New York, and elsewhere, we can experience the determination and indomitable spirit of African American men and women fleeing

the bonds of slavery, and we can learn more about the many heroes like

Harriet Tubman who helped them on their dangerous trek north to freedom.

This summer, our Nation will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first

Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York. That event will

be commemorated at Women’s Rights National Historical Park, where we

are reminded that the idea that men and women are created equal was

once considered radical. On this site, visionaries such as Lucretia Mott,

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Frederick Douglass helped our Nation take

an important first step toward legal, political, and educational rights for

American women.

At these and so many other historic places across our Nation, the National

Park Service preserves and protects the American legacy, reminding us

not only of who we are as a people, but also of how far we have traveled

together on our great American journey. Our national parks are classrooms

and laboratories, windows on our past and doorways to our future. As

we celebrate National Park Week, I commend all the talented and dedicated

men and women of the National Park Service for telling the story of the

people and places that have shaped our destiny and for preserving for

our children the riches of our natural and cultural heritage.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution

and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 20 through April

26, 1998, as National Park Week.
20512 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 79 / Friday, April 24, 1998 / Presidential Documents

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second

day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-eight,

and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred

[FR Doc. 98–11139

Filed 4–23–98; 8:45 am]

Billing code 3195–01–P

and twenty-second.

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