I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 183 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasi-
bility of designating Oak Point and North Brother Island in the Bronx 
in the State of New York as a unit of the National Park System. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 6, 2009 
Mr. SERRANO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suit-
ability and feasibility of designating Oak Point and 
North Brother Island in the Bronx in the State of New 
York as a unit of the National Park System. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. OAK POINT AND NORTH BROTHER ISLAND 
STUDY. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘General Slocum Memorial Study Act’’. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds as follows: 
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(1) The Area would commemorate the June 15, 
1904, catastrophic fire aboard the General Slocum 
steamship, which resulted in the deaths of more 
than 1,000 people, most of them German immi-
grants and their children. 
(2) At the time of this tragedy, there was a vi-
brant 
German 
neighborhood, 
known 
as 
‘‘Kleindeutschland’’ or ‘‘Little Germany’’, located on 
the Lower East Side in New York City. 
(3) Among the churches in Kleindeutschland, 
St. Mark’s Lutheran Evangelical Church on East 
6th Street, held an annual outing to celebrate the 
end of the Sunday school year for neighborhood chil-
dren and their families. On June 15, 1904, more 
than 1,300 people boarded the General Slocum for 
the annual excursion which was a trip to Locust 
Grove on Long Island Sound. 
(4) Nearly everyone in the neighborhood knew 
someone who died in the ensuing fire or who per-
ished in the treacherous waters of the East River 
near Hell Gate. Many lost their entire families. 
While most passengers were German, victims and 
rescuers also included African-Americans, and Jew-
ish, Irish, and Italian immigrants. 
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(5) The Slocum tragedy also resulted in the 
devastation of a lively, bustling, and prosperous 
lower East Side community. Kleindeutschland dis-
appeared forever as its residents fled the reminders 
of their great losses. Germans left in record numbers 
and were soon replaced by a new wave of immi-
grants. The 1910 census showed only a few German 
families remained in Kleindeutschland. 
(6) In the wake of the Slocum disaster, mari-
time safety standards were considerably tightened— 
one of the doomed ship’s legacies. 
(7) The study area marks the location where 
the greatest loss of life occurred in this, the most 
deadly peacetime maritime disaster in American his-
tory. North Brother Island is where the General Slo-
cum beached and Oak Point is where rescuers as-
sembled and hundreds of bodies were brought 
ashore. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 
(1) AREA.—The term ‘‘Area’’ means in Bronx 
County, New York, the shoreline of the area roughly 
bounded by 149th Street on the west and Oak Point 
Rail Yard spurs on the east. It also includes North 
Brother Island. 
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(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di-
rector of the National Park Service. 
(d) STUDY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct 
a study of the Area to evaluate the national signifi-
cance of the Area and suitability and feasibility of 
designating the Area as a unit of the National Park 
System. 
(2) CRITERIA.—In conducting the study re-
quired by paragraph (1), the Secretary shall use the 
criteria for the study of areas for potential inclusion 
in the National Park System in section 8(c) of Pub-
lic Law 91–383 (16 U.S.C. 1a–5(c)). 
(3) CONTENTS.—The study required by para-
graph (1) shall— 
(A) determine the suitability and feasibility 
of designating the Area as a unit of the Na-
tional Park System; 
(B) include cost estimates for any nec-
essary acquisition, development, operation, and 
maintenance of the Area; and 
(C) identify alternatives for the manage-
ment, administration, and protection of the 
Area. 
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