Outdoor Equity

Class Date: October 9th

Location: Your couch! See your weekly e-mail for Zoom link!

This week we are joined by a guest speaker from Mount Tamalpais State Park to talk about outdoor access and equity. We’re departing slightly from our usual timeline based lectures, so our reading will look a little different this week as well!   

First, check out the brochure that describes Mount Tamalpais State Park:

Instead of books this week, I have a number of links to reading about our topic this week. Last year, in 2023, the National Park Service actually completed two different studies regarding Black Americans engaging in outdoor recreation throughout history and segregation in national and state parks. 

Story Maps

If you don’t want to read a lot of text, this is probably the best place to start, since it is a very interactive site! Put together by the University of Virginia, this story map shows the locations of Black amusement parks, beaches, camp sites, and country clubs. You can click on each category to see them located on the map and click each location on the map to learn a little more about it. Find the story map here: 

Included with the map is a ‘Learn More’ tab is a series of essays about different topics related to outdoor spaces. Want to learn more about Black Americans and surfing? There’s an essay for that! How about organized sports? That’s there too! Simply click on the picture/title you want to read more about and then scroll through the story! ou can access the list of essays/stories by clicking on the “Learn More” Tab at the top of the page on the map. 

Readings

If you want to read more about the history of segregation in park spaces, this is the space for you!

The first reading presents a great historical overview - I highly recommend skimming at least the first pages of it. The latter pages are the study, which might be interesting, but not something vital to this week’s talk. The study is titled “African American Outdoor Recreation” and you can access it directly by clicking here:

The second study, titled “Segregation in Virginia’s National Parks, 1916 - 1965” is a more in-depth look at segregation in a specific area in the parks. This one is, in my opinion, a slightly drier read, but still interesting. I would particularly focus on the section titles “Landscape of Segregation” if you choose to peruse this study. You can access it here: 

There is a LOT of reading there, and how much or how little you do all depends on you! Tune in this week as we talk about the historic access to park and outdoor spaces, as told by the interpretive rangers at Mount Tamalpais State Park. It should be a fascinating talk!