THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA UNTOLD STORIES DISCUSSION GUIDE

YOSEMITE’S BUFFALO SOLDIERS AND NATIONAL PARK RANGER SHELTON

JOHNSON

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www.pbs.org/nationalparks/for-educators/untold-stories-discussion-guide/

THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA Discussion Guide: Ranger Shelton Johnson 1

Yosemite’s Buffalo Soldiers and National Park Ranger Shelton Johnson

On July 25, 1958, Shelton Johnson was born at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. His father, James O. Johnson, Jr., joined the army and before Shelton was six, he’d lived in California, Germany, England, South Carolina, and Kansas City, finally returning to Detroit for elementary school. Growing up in a working class, inner-city neighborhood of northwest Detroit, Shelton was about as far from wilderness as one could get.

When I was a child in Detroit, national parks really didn’t exist, except on television, on PBS. There were no family trips to national parks. They really didn’t exist for me and for my friends. We didn’t sit around saying, “Boy, can’t wait to get to the Grand Canyon!” You know? That didn’t come up as a topic of conversation in Detroit. But always somewhere inside me there was this desire to see Yellowstone. There was a desire to see the Grand Canyon. —Shelton Johnson (Shumaker; Burns)

Shelton finally got his chance to visit a national park as a graduate student in an MFA writing program. Looking for a quiet place to write over the summer, he applied for work as a seasonal ranger in Yellowstone. “My intention was to write a book,” Shelton says. “Then, Yellowstone happened” (Shumaker).Section #1: PBS Untold Stories Project
View the video segment, read the PDF file, and complete the study guide for each of the Untold Stories on African Americans, Native Americans, and Japanese Americans.
Respond to each of the essay questions below to be included in your Portfolio:
Yosemite Buffalo Soldiers: African American tourists comprise less than one percent of the visitation to Yosemite National Park. Shelton Johnson has made it his life work to connect the general African American population to the national parks. Present ideas that you have that would result in the national parks being more attractive to African Americans as a tourism destination.
Video: http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/watch-video/#858
Document: Yosemite Buffalo Soldiers PDF File
Mount Rushmore, Telling America Stories: Gerard Baker is the first American Indian to be Superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Discuss your thoughts on the inclusion of American Indian history and culture, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. In other words, to what extent should Native American history be interpreted in our national parks? What should tourists be exposed to in terms of Native American history?
Video: http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/watch-video/#857
Document: Mount Rushmore PDF File
Manzanar, Never Again: How should our country at war balance our citizens™ civil liberties and the need for national security? What relevance does this period of history have in our world today and the statements and policies of President Trump? How does the fact that our country established a national site to honor a difficult period in our past reflect on us as a nation? What is it that tourists should learn about when they visit Manzanar?
Video: http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/watch-video/#856
Document: Manzanar: “Never Again”–PDF File
Length: Two to four pages, grand total, meaning that the entire Section #1 should be two to four pages. I will repeat this only because on occasion students will still ask me about how long, in total pages, Section #1 should be. So the answer (again!) is two to four pages grand total.
20 Points
Sample is below