Pacific Historic Parks

Programs: Pearl harbor, hawaii is a sacred spot entrusted to the national park service (nps) and pacific historic parks. Together we ensure that the stories of courage, sacrifice and the turning of the course of a nation and the world are told. Pacific historic parks provides park educational staff who provide standards-based onsite educational curriculum to over 55,000 school children a year from around the world. Additionally, annual workshops to train teachers in conveying wwii history onsite and in the classroom are supported. This year pacific historic parks is pioneering a new pearl harbor institute initiative as a means to expand innovative educational offerings to youth and adult audiences onsite, on oahu, and throughout the pacific basin. New investment in distance learning technologies provides means by which learners of all ages can interact with park and institute programming, including conversations with pearl harbor survivors and nps subject matter experts. Pacific historic parks also funds the development and distribution of nps orientation material for all ages and translated into numerous foreign languages that reflect the international composition of our visitors. The world war ii valor in the pacific national memorial audio tour is produced and distributed by pacific historic parks and provides in-depth information on more than 20 locations within the park and on the uss arizona memorial. This tour is available in numerous languages and serves as a "digital ranger" to allow the 1. 8 million visitors from around the world to hear world history in their own language. Pacific historic parks also funds a large portion of the curatorial program at wwii valor in the pacific national monument. In addition to cataloguing and protecting the documents, photographs and objects in the park collections, we are exploring innovative ways to bring this information out of archives and into public access via digital means. We also continue to financially support efforts to acquire oral histories of pearl harbor survivors, witnesses, as well as japanese-american internees.

pacific historic parks supports the annual december 7th commemoration at wwii valor in the pacific national monument. This support includes: event management; program printing; volunteer recruitment; logistical support for lighting, sound systems, tents, and seating; and other event-related needs. The event is not only open to the public but also attended by survivors from all across the united states, family and friends. On milestone anniversary years (65th, 70th, etc. ), pacific historic parks additionally supports large educational symposia on historic and political topics that reach an international audience. In addition to our work at wwii valor in the pacific national monument, pacific historic parks supports three other national parks in the pacific: kalaupapa national historical park, american memorial park on saipan, and war in the pacific national historical park on guam. Financial support for war in the pacific national historical park on guam during this period included funding to develop and install new exhibits at the primary visitor center facility, funding of the reef ranger camp and junior ranger academy programs, staff support for educational programs both in the park and as part of an outreach program to local schools, and logistical support for the opening of the new visitor center complex. Financial support for american memorial park in saipan during this period included funding for the annual eco fair presentation developed in cooperation with the national park service and the local community, as well as the ridge to reef school outreach program. Financial support for kalaupapa national historical park during this period included support of the park's curatorial efforts to catalog and preserve park collections and support of the annual earth day celebration.